Travel times into the mountains from Loveland (Fort Collins, Boulder: rental, condo)

[Mack211]

My wife and I just moved to Loveland, CO last month. We both love to ski/board and now that we are in Colorado we are planning to take advantage of it the best we can. Sadly Loveland is the closest I could get to the mountains.

My question. If we plan to ski on a Saturday or Sunday day trip what is the normal times for traffic through the mountains to resorts like Keystone, Abasin, and Brek? We both have no issue waking up extremely early.

What would probably be the best times to leave Loveland (and return) to miss the heaviest part of the traffic?

I know it's probably best to stay a night but I am just curious about the times we want to just do a day trip.

[Mike Weber]

Without traffic, I have made it from the A-Basin parking lot to my house in west Fort Collins in 2 hours, and from Copper in 2.5 hours, with trips up to those resorts taking just over those times.

That being said, traffic is now your biggest enemy, especially on weekends. Traffic seems to be worst between 7 am and 11am going up I-70 and between 2-6pm coming back down. Poor weather makes things worse. Ttwo seasons ago, it took us almost 9 hours to get home from Copper and last season it took us over 4 hours to get there.

Leave as early as you can, preferably around 5-ish, and plan to have a nice breakfast at the hill before the lifts open. Plan to stay around for a nice dinner in one of the towns after skiing and don't bother leaving until 6 or 7 pm to let the downhill traffic clear.

As an alternative, look into skiing / riding at Eldora above Boulder, or even Snowy Range above Laramie, Wyoming.

Good luck,
Mike Weber

[Mack211]

Mike,

Thank you for the great information.

I definitely plan to try out Loveland mountain and Eldora. My wife and I just bought Epic Local passes for this season so we will be most likely try to make it up to the resorts as much as possible. When possible we will probably plan a Friday night stay somewhere on the mountain.

It sounds like there are two solid options for day trips: Both with the plan to leave at 5:00-5:30am to beat the 7am traffic window.

1. Ski/board 1/2 day: 9am-1:00pm (To beat the traffic home)

2. Ski/board full day: 9am - 7:00pm (Have dinner then head home)


My other question:
How bad is parking at the big resorts if we got there around 7:30-8am? When do the lots really start to fill up?

Also, are there any hints or tricks to the parking lots such as season parking pass or pre-pay parking? Sorry if this is laughable...

[Mike Weber]

I think you have your options pretty well figured out for weekend ski trips. Options open up a bit if you can get away during the week.

Most of the bigger resorts are charging at least an arm and a leg for anything within walking distance of a lift, if they have not already sold it to a developer for condo construction. Eldora, Loveland, and A-Basin are notable exceptions here. A 7:30 - 8am arrival would most likely get you pretty close to the shuttle bus stop at many of the top areas. Most people seem to roll in between 8:30 and 10.

I refuse to pay for parking, so end up riding a shuttle. If packing a lunch, it is too much a pain to leave it in the car and ride the shuttle back, so I ski with a pack or get a locker. The rental lockers are nice if you wear your shoes on the shuttle bus and then change into your boots at the base lodge. I especially like to change back into street shoes as quickly as possible after getting off the hill.

[StealthRabbit]

An you might want to pick up a few x/c supplies and go up the Poudre to Chambers Pass, Woods Landing, Encampment, Saratoga, Snowy Range.. (my personal favorites)

When in Loveland and nearby we left for downhill Skiing (i.e. I-70) about 6AM and usually beat the crowds
A Basin was a nice favorite. We could also catch the ski train to Winter Park out near Golden at the time... (circa 1960's & 70s).

Another good option is to take a motorhome up and stay in the lot for the weekend.

[Yukichon]

This is one of the things that I am really looking forward to when we move from Emgland. I'm a huge ski fan, but for us we have to fly to the Alps and then drive so it's always a minimum journey of around 8 hours and costs around £600-800 minimum for a weekend!
My two kids had their first taste of skiing in Italy last Febuary, so the thought of being able to take them many many weekends is fantastic.
Bring on the dry Colorado snow over our wet European snow any day.

[davemess10]

If you have season passes, I would recommend leaving later, getting up to the hill at 10 or 11 and skiing over half the day. Then just find a place to hole up for dinner and come home a little later after the crowds thin. Going up a little later seemed to work well for me. And with a season pass you don't feel like you have to "get your money's worth".