Plan on going in March. Any fellow clutchfan members have any good advice, tips, must do's or dont's? Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Don't get up there and start running around like you're at sea level. I learned that the hard way. Give your body a day or two to get use to the altitude. That Breckenridge/Keystone area is really nice though. You'll enjoy yourself.
You need to work out leading up to going there. Otherwise, you will be spent just walking around. It will ruin your vacation. You NEED to work out and have cardio to enjoy the vacation.
It is a fantastic place to go, but as the others mentioned - the altitude is no joke. Pace and prepare yourself.
You HAVE to do an Ironman competition before you go to prepare yourself for the trip. Otherwise you will have a horrible horrible time
Breck is definitely the best town the the central mountains, so good choice. Breck is a little bit higher up than other nearby places and also gets quite a bit colder, so prepare for that. Idk you skill level, but if you are a good skier, I would suggest the unmarked "windows" as well as rising the independence chair all day for some great skiing and amazing views of the 10 mile range. If you are more inexperienced, peaks 7 has a lot of fun blues you can spend all day on. For food, Eric's is great for burgers and whatnot, the Brewery is good for similar food and good beer. For more upscale dining Relish is excellent. I was also a ski instructor for Vail resorts so I can answer any questions about that if you have any
Breck is pretty awesome. Large town, wide open greens, good choice (especially if you're not all really experienced). No matter how much you work out before you go, the altitude will kill you the first day. If you have the chance, I'd stay in Denver the first night, then go to the mountains the next day. Going straight from Houston to Breck (13k ft) in a day is rough; adjusting in denver at 5k feet helps. You can do it, as I have before, but just drink plenty of water, take aspirin, and take the first day very slow. Oh, and you get wasted easily in altitude. So, don't pound shots like you would in Houston.
lines are ridiculous but it's damn good. we just got back, altitude is no joke. i spent the 1st 24 hours fighting headaches and nose bleeds. do not do anything physical the first day, it will ruin your trip. also try columbine cafe or blue moose for breakfast, empire burger a good burger joint. must ride the gondola, ride's are free. takes you to base of peak 7 and 8. peak 8 is good people watching especially the crazy dudes doing the jumps. no lift tubing in breck u have to drive to frisco (the closest area with a tube park) but you can sled/tube in carter park. buy a couple of cheap sleds at the grocery store right in town, head of to carter park for free sledding. no lift carpet though, gotta walk. but it's tons of fun.
eat red meat to get more iron in your blood... altitude sickness almost ruined my trip there. It effects some people worse than others. Also do some leg work outs ahead for skiing... or you will not be in good shape by day two.
Is this your first time skiing period or simply your first time going there? I assume you're flying to Denver...? Go ahead and reserve your car now, front wheel drive. You can get a 4WD but they run around $600 /day. If you don't need a car once you're there, then you can take shuttles directly from the airport to the mountain. As some have mentioned, start doing some workouts now if you don't already. I was already in a routine but I did change a few exercises in anticipation...i'd recommend doing side lunges in addition to regular lunges, plus the obvious running/stair step/biking. My endurance could have been a little better but then again, at the end of the day you should be a little tired. More importantly, I was fine the next day to hit the mountain again.
^ to follow in DonkeyMagic's advice It sounds like you will be there for Spring Break, even if it is not yours, it will be someone's. You should definitely rent a 4WD/AWD car right now, if you plan to rent. Also, if you can avoid KU's and CU's Spring Break, do so, unless you like that sort of thing. It will get crowded. You don't really need to rent though. The shuttle from the airport is reasonable, but it really sucks in snowy weather not to have your own car. (What should be 1.5-2hrs can turn into 4-5-6 hours. Peeing during a shuttle ride sucks.) And it will be packed due to Spring Break, so reserve when you can. Once you get to Breck though, you won't need a car. The Summit Valley Ski Shuttle will take you to Breck, Frisco, Keystone, Copper and others. It's free, and very short drives. Regarding nose bleeds, that can be an issue. The arid climate will get you. Some people put Beeswax in their nostrils. As for restaurants, Gold Dredge is a local favorite on the creek (block from main), and for some reason, not too many tourists know about it. Go upstairs after a day of runs, and they have a nice burger/beer happy hour special. Nice greasy-spoon burger. Nothing special though, except for the location and surprising lack of crowds.
This is my 1st time skiing. I'm willing to pay for a shuttle to take us from Denver airport to Breckenridge as I don't want to have to deal with driving in snow and ice on my vacation. I'd rather let a shuttle service get me from point a to b. My buddy mentioned that ski in/ski outs are great for lodging. I'll be going with 4 other people so 5 total. Any good deals or discounts if you have a party of 5 for lodging/ski lift tickets, etc? These may be newbie questions so don't flame me. I've always wanted to go skiing and if I don't do it now, we will be having kids within the next year or two and I'll prob. never get to go again without paying an arm and a leg for kids to go too. I appreciate all the comments!
Check out VRBO. There are a lot of owners who rent. But again, if you are trying to get a place during Spring Break, you should do it now. Also note, United does not charge for Ski Bag or Ski Boot Bags. You probably don't own any, but maybe your buds do.
Shuttle makes sense. We rented a car to drive to Aspen and then it sat there for the next 5 days doing nothing. Ski in/outs are great but you better get moving on getting things reserved. It's a busy month. I don't know about the discount, but i'm sure you can find some. I've heard Breckenridge is well priced. You will also need lessons. I'd do at least one day to get your legs under you and take it from there.
Avoid spring break like the plague. Or get ready for some serious standing in line. At least you'll have time to rest between runs. Run and or ride your bike before you go. If you go without cardio, it won't be fun. Also, it's 2014. Who skis that's under 40? Rent a snowboard.
