Tips and pleasures for late season snow fun on and off the slopes
Wherever you opt to ski this spring break, expect plenty of sunshine, great deals and packages, even at the poshest resorts.
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Finding hidden gems in snow country
There are other hidden gems like Ski Cooper elsewhere in Colorado and around the country for snow-loving families, suited especially for those with young kids and families just learning. Here are five good bets:
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Destinations | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Snow Shoeing, Back Country skiing and horseback – Vista Verde Guest Ranch
Vacation days don’t often get better than this. After a hearty breakfast at Vista Verde Guest Ranch——think fluffy buttermilk pancakes, sausage, oatmeal and eggs all varieties—we head out together snowshoeing
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Far from the ski crowds: Vista Verde Guest Ranch in Colorado
Vista Verde Ranch, about 25 miles north of Steamboat Springs, is about as opposite a downhill mountain resort as possible. Set on 540 acres in the middle of Colorado’s Routt National Forest, this is the place to come to explore the wilderness on cross-country skis, horseback, fat bikes or snowshoes away from the crowds.
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Breckenridge CO: Plenty for families on and off the slopes
What I love about Breck, as locals call it, is there is plenty to do even if you aren’t a skier or rider. There are more than 200 restaurants, bars and shops
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Why Colorado’s Keystone Resort is such a hit with families
On the first day of his first trip with his grandchildren to the slopes — at Keystone Resort just 90 minutes from Denver — he couldn’t help getting emotional as the family dropped off the two grandkids, 4 and 8, at ski school.
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
At Ski Cooper – a half hour and a world away from Vail and Breck
It feels as if I have the entire mountain with its fresh snow all to myself—and it’s Saturday. Welcome to Ski Cooper, just outside of Leadville with 39 trails and four lifts spanning 400 lift-served acres and no artificial snow
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In Leadville CO — the highest town in the USA!
Just an after dinner stroll. In 10,000-plus feet altitude. In the snow. What could be more fun after a delicious dinner in a Yurt cookhouse?
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Woodstock VT: A Winter Weekend of Outdoor Activities
Vermont is loaded with quaint villages and covered bridges, but Woodstock stands tall even in state that’s chockfull of adorable.
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It’s time again for families to have some fun in the snow
Peanut M&Ms are good, too. The Aspen, Colorado, middle-schoolers I interviewed for my “Kid’s Guide to Denver and Colorado Ski Country” opine that it’s always smart to have “power candy,” in your pocket
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Gift suggestions for your favorite travelers during the holidays
There’s always that one thing you wished you had brought for the trip, but didn’t. Why not give your favorite travelers something that will genuinely make them happier and more comfortable on their 2017 travels? The best news: They’ll think of you, and your thoughtful gift, every time they travel.
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Angeleno Goes Full Cowboy in Colorado
At the Vista Verde Guest Ranch, it turns ranch life ain’t so bad. It also turns out, a city slicker can really look really really ridiculously awesome wearing a Cowboy hat.
At the Vista Verde Guest Ranch
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In Aspen, a hotel with great vibes and amenities – The Limelight
We’re atop Ajax—as Aspen Mountain is known—with just a handful of others for “First Tracks” at 8:15 a.m.—before the Mountain has opened.
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The mountain or the ranch – so many great choices
The staff at Vista Verde Ranch, about 25 miles outside the ski town of Steamboat Springs has obligingly left us an Evening Sky Map for this month.
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Families & Groups | Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
A visit to Strawberry Hot Spring Park in Colorado
Nestled in the hills about 10 miles outside the town of Steamboat Springs, Strawberry Hot Springs is a natural hot springs fed by heated underground aquifers that come to the surface to make a number of heated pools
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Families & Groups | Destinations | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Travel Diaries
Combining ski vacation and dude ranch in the Colorado Rockies
This year, I decided to mix it up—opting to spend half our winter ski week at a dude ranch, Vista Verde Ranch, on 500-plus gorgeous acres about 25 miles outside of Steamboat Springs and as far away from the crowds and tumult of a major ski area as you can get.
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Backyard Vacations | Destinations | Families & Groups | Parks & Outdoors | Snow Vacations | Weekly Column
Getting the whole family outdoors in winter
There’s nothing more fun than trying something new — wasn’t that one of your new year’s resolutions — especially in such spectacular country? And there’s no better time than January, which is designated Learn to Ski and Snowboard Month.
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Remembering Stein Eriksen; Rooting for Jake Burton Carpenter
Stein Eriksen, a founder of modern skiing, has died in Park City, UT at 88. Meanwhile, Jake Burton Carpenter, 62, is making an amazing recovery from a life-threatening illness.
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Fun in the snow off the ski slopes
It may be Christmas week, but we’re as far from a mall and city crowds as we can get. We’re hiking the Crawford Trail, the longest continually used trail in the country, snow crunching under our feet
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To a Colorado resort that’s no longer hard to reach
Tiny Telluride is a popular place. Nestled in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, the mountain range has the highest concentration of 13,000 and 14,000 foot peaks in North America
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Boarding, burgers and teen bonding in Bolton Valley, VT
A high school junior and scholar in the A Better Chance program writes about a weekend of snowboarding fun and bonding time with his housemates in Bolton Valley, VT.
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Telluride: An A-Lister’s Dream; a No-Lister’s Playground
Skiing down the “Galloping Goose,” it hit me — Telluride has something for everyone, even the 1 percent A-listers.
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Tapping his inner rebel at Crested Butte Mountain Resort
A die-hard snowboarder since his teens, Chris Yemma decided to try skiing on a blue-bird day at Crested Butte to see if his inner rebel still lives.
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Off the slopes and into the Spa: At The Peaks in Telluride
My daughters and I head up to one of Colorado’s biggest Spas at The Peaks Resort in the Mountain Village, where kids love the indoor-outdoor heated pool complete with water slide and is ranked a top spa by Conde Nast Traveler
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Let it snow! Transformational day at Telluride Ski Resort
After a week of bluebird weather, a much-needed winter storm has moved into Colorado and it is dumping snow at Telluride Ski Resort.
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Telluride CO: historic mountain town welcomes modern families
Welcome to Telluride Ski Resort, about an hour from Montrose and 2.5 hours from Durango (both of which have regional airports) in Southwest Colorado with just 2500 year-round residents who happily live in a box canyon 8750 feet above sea level. Yes you feel that altitude.
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Special challenges for special kids in Crested Butte CO
Tony suffers from dwarfism and is autistic. But here at Crested Butte’s Adaptive Sports Center, he literally is king of the hill.
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Our family trip back to Crested Butte, where memories were made
The 6 year old was determined to set herself apart from her older brother and sister on vacation. My youngest daughter declared she was a “big girl” and could decide for herself what fun she would have in the snow that week in Crested Butte CO
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Conquering my mountain meltdown with the help of a ski instructor
We’re at the top of the mountain in Crested Butte, CO, elevation over 12,000 feet, and I suddenly am too scared to move. To be fair, the wind is blowing hard and the conditions are a bit icy but it really wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle — or hadn’t handled many times.
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Plenty to do on and off the slopes in Crested Butte, CO
For a town of 1500 people, Crested Butte, CO has enough restaurant choices to please any palate, promises David Wooding, co owner of the popular new Mexican restaurant Bonez
