WWMD: Season Pass Edition

**brice618** · 05-09-2007, 10:12 PM

Alright, being that I live in Lubbock, its my last semester as undergrad, and I have worked my ass off to get it to an easy schedule. I have 4 day weekends every week. Now that I finally have my own ski set-up I am debating buying a season pass to Loveland or getting the Colorado Pass. Is this a bad idea, if not, which do you think I should get?

Some considerations:

Drive Time = 8ish hours to Denver so another 1-1/2 to summit co resorts(I think ... someone can correct this).

A friend of mine has a place in Dillon I could possibly stay at some weekends but probably not every weekend. (Friend will also probably be getting a Colorado pass but not Loveland)

Gas

Difference in price is 100, that isn't that big of an issue, but cheaper is nice.

Finding somewhere to stay might be easier in Denver when I'm not with my friend.

Preemptive thanks to the collective

Edit: To add some more info...

The guy I am talking about is not big on skiing - "You want to go out in this? It will be really cold and the snow will suck." <-- from his mouth on a big storm day. A full day of skiing to him is 10 to 2 and I am a first chair last chair kind of guy. Its kind of difficult to ski with him as he whines about everything, but its a free house so its worth it. So for him to make the drive up there, and ski for four days is a lot to ask. I doubt I will end up doing that more than one time.

**Steepdeepnlong** · 05-10-2007, 12:15 AM

I'd go for whatever pass your friend gets. Might make it easier to snag a place to stay. Plus, w/ the Co pass, you get more than one resort.

**brice618** · 05-10-2007, 12:39 AM

I was thinking that, but i'll add a few things that may make that different.

**smmokan** · 05-10-2007, 07:25 AM

I'd go with the CO Pass if you had to choose just one. For an extra hundred bucks, the days at Vail and BC are worth it by far. You can easily find some maggots to ski with any weekend at either of those places. Then, if you need to, you can pick up a couple Loveland 4-passes for some extra days.

**yodaottis** · 05-10-2007, 07:53 AM

Say you're stuck on the east coast though and the only affordable pass that gave you access to your favorite mountains is gone?

Sort of waiting to see if SR or Sugarloaf changes hands before making a decision but sometimes I wake up in a cold sweat knowing my options are severely limited next season in terms of calling more than one mountain home.

Killington - 3hr drive, friend's family has a condo - love the mountain, crowd is non-existent on the terrain we like to ride/ski.

Sugarloaf/Sunday River - 4hr drive to my parent's house, 1.5-2hrs to either one from there - love both mountains, hopefully they're on the same pass since I always shoot for the loaf but if it's windy SR can run more lifts, plenty of areas hidden from wind.

Wachusett Mtn - 25min drive - terrain roughly resembles throwing buckets of ice cubes down my apartment stairs and straightlining it directly into the wall at the bottom.

Stowe and Jay would be options but I try to keep the # of nights per year I sleep in my car to a minimum.

Anyone have a master plan for the East coast conundrum?

**habituallybored** · 05-10-2007, 07:58 AM

I'd go with the CO pass. If you're an outta towner it is nice to have a variety of places to explore, chase weather the weather, or hid from the crowds. It is amazing to me how much the weather can change from Vail/BC to Keystone/A Basin. There has been numerous times where I've skied Keystone in the morning and bounced up to A-Basin in the afternoon....it is nice to have the option.

In my mind the driving difference between LL and the rest is not that big a deal. Most of the traffic is inbetween Loveland and Idaho Springs anyway, so you'd hit it no matter what you did if you were staying in Denver. I would think you'd be getting on HWY 24 in colorado springs and coming in the back way most of the time, so you'd actually hit Breck and Keystone before LL.

**buckethead** · 05-10-2007, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by yodaottis

Wachusett Mtn - 25min drive - terrain roughly resembles throwing buckets of ice cubes down my apartment stairs and straightlining it directly into the wall at the bottom.

Anyone have a master plan for the East coast conundrum?

ha! except for the wall at the bottom, wachusett sounds like gnarly fun!

pm sent