Our highlights

• Skiing at the end of February on the uncrowded slopes of Vail and Beaver Creek – we love it! Smiling lift operators who are genuinely pleased to see you (after all, the ski areas are huge so who else do they see all day?!).
• The concept of ski valets (aka ski concierges) – fabulous! What do you mean the European resorts want us to carry our own skis to the slopes? Us? Oh no no no…
• The brilliant ‘Wild West’-themed children’s ski school area in Beaver Creek – it will be difficult getting kids out of the ‘Okee Dokee Koral’ and ‘the Ranch’!
• Linking into Vail and Beaver Creek’s EpicMix system to track your skiing and the most vertical skied – it links to Facebook and makes you surprisingly competitive!
• Beaver Creek may be Vail’s ‘little sister’ but it boasts the ‘Birds of Prey’ World Cup downhill course – one for the experts to tick off their list!
• Having lunch at the charming Lynn Britt cabin on the Velvet Falls blue run in Snowmass – old skis on the walls, saddles on the balcony and country music makes it an atmospheric place for a well-earned ski break!
• Apres-ski at the 39 Degrees bar in the Sky Hotel in Aspen – it’s a must. Enough said.
• Sitting down with a warm apple cider and homemade cookies looking over the Highland bowls after making fresh snowshoe tracks on Richmond Ridge
• Celeb-spotting in Aspen – go on, you know you want to!
The cocktail menu at the Viceroy in Snowmass – again, enough said.
• Shooping down Gunner’s View on Snowmass on a sunny day – rolling blue run, pisted to corduroy and pretty much deserted!
• Hot chocolate and marshmallows waiting for you at the end of the day… (Everywhere!)
• Yellow slow zones in Whistler are great for beginners and skiers with little confidence - the best thing is that it is enforced by personnel on the slopes.
• In the ski school in Whistler, children will benefit from having a GPS tracking system on them - at the end of the day, parents can check their children’s progress and the kids can see how far they skied!
• The largest nachos you’ve ever seen at the Longhorn in Whistler village
• The best steak in town at the Four Seasons Whistler - this is truly incredible and everyone can eat the same piece of meat differently!

We recommend

• Not spending your first day on the mountains looking for all the black and double-black terrain – Vail, Beaver Creek and Aspen are all at high altitude and there’s simply less oxygen. Take it easy!
• Making a note of the ‘Noon Groom’ in Snowmass to ensure you get first run on a freshly groomed piste at midday. Booking a table for lunch at the Tenth, Vail’s newest mountain restaurant at the base of Look Ma run at Mid-Vail. Fine dining in slippers awaits!
• Getting in the queue early for Fresh Tracks in Whistler – it’s worth it for the first crack at the fresh powder!
• Making the most of both mountains at Whistler by using the Peak to Peak gondola.

Did you know?

• We all know about Colorado’s enviable snow record, but did you know that Vail has over 300 days of sun a year? Lots of snow and lots of sun – a perfect combination!
• The slightly Alpine flair to the architecture in Vail is due to the resort being modelled on Vail’s European sister, St Anton.
• Throughout Aspen Mountain's trees, you can find four hidden "shrines" made by locals in homage to John Denver, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and The Greatful Dead's, Jerry Garcia!
• Hotel Jerome in Aspen was one of the first buildings west of the Mississippi to have full electric lighting. The owner, Jerome Wheeler, wasn’t convinced it would be a success so kept candles in reserve just in case!
• Whistler’s Peak to Peak gondola breaks three world records – the longest unsupported span for a lift, the highest lift above the valley floor and it completes the longest continuous lift system in the world.