Colorado Epic Pass Resorts Review - Winter 24-25

First year living here in Colorado, and the most frequently asked question was: what pass are you getting?

Ikon vs. Epic, its been a battle royal for dominance here in Colorado. Being first timers, we made the rookie mistake of buying the Epic pass after we had already booked our Thanksgiving trip to Steamboat (which is part of the Ikon pass). Even with the day pass discounts we were able to use from my brother (25% off for friends and family), it still ended up costing Joe and I just under $1000 to ski for 3 days, plus take lessons. From that point on, we wised up, and only went to Epic pass resorts in CO for the rest of the ski season. Here are some key takeaways from each resort:

Crested Butte - MLK weekend:

It was so cold this weekend, like not normal cold, negative temps and snow showers. However, we bundled up and made it out 2 days to the slopes. We stayed in town so we were able to walk to the main street which had a grocery store, several bars/restaurants, shops, etc. We stayed at an airbnb right across from the bus stop so we were able to take a 15min ride straight to the mountain. The restaurants here were top notch- we had dinners at The Breadery (phenomenal), Two Twelve (a little on the fancy side and very good), Secret Stash (great vibes and great pizza), and desserts at Tin Cup (amazing oreo milkshakes big enough to split). About a 4.5hr drive from Boulder. Still being pretty beginner and freezing, we stuck to the Peachtree and Red Lady lifts- and did the Houston green run a bunch of times.

Telluride - Presidents Day weekend:

The best by far. Telluride was so beautiful, the town was amazing, the feel of the place was so great, we loved it. We booked to come back in the fall on the spot so we could do some hiking. The drive from Boulder is pretty far, about 7 hrs, so we broke it up by staying at Mt. Princeton hot springs on the drive there for a night, and the Surf hotel in Buena Vista on the way back.

Mt Princeton: hotel is definitely dated, and it was so cold when we went, but the pools were great (lots to choose from, and the views are really pretty). The restaurant Mary Murphy's steakhouse was fine- not much else around to choose from. They have a ton of private cabins on the property which might have been better than staying in the lodge.

First day in Telluride- we drove there in the morning, dropped out stuff off at the Hotel Telluride- they have a private shuttle that takes you right to the gondola which is only about 5mins away, so we headed to the gondola and hit up Mountain Village coffee in the resort for breakfast. We took a lunch break from skiing at Tracks in Mountain village (great hot chocolate). Dinner after a day of skiing at 220 S Oak- very good, very pricey but worth it. The town is so cute, I cannot wait to go back in the fall and do some hiking. We had dinners (all in town) at the Grand, and The National, and lunch at Brown Dog Pizza. All great, no notes. The breakfast at the Hotel Telluride was also pretty good, they did run out of a bunch of meals but we still found stuff we liked. For skiing, we stuck to double greens and the Sunshine Express for the most part. The Galloping Goose run might be my favorite run of the year. We also tried some green runs down from Gorrono Ranch which was good- took us right into Mountain Village.

Telluride is super exclusive- even with the Epic pass you only get 7 days there, I highly recommend using all of them!

The Surf Hotel in Buena Vista was a good pit stop for the night- the hotel restaurant Wesley and Rose was great- and packed for a Sunday night! But the wait was worth it- very good food and an extensive cocktail list.

Vail- day trip from Boulder last week of February

I gotta go back to Vail next year and stay for a weekend at least. We did a day trip (about a 2hr drive from Boulder), on a weekday, arrived for first chair at the Lions Head Village, and were home by dinnertime. Parked in a lot right off of 70, and walked about 5 minutes to the gondola. Believe it or not- still crowded but not terrible. Eagle Bahn to Avanti Express and Wildwood Express took us to some great green runs. This bluebird day could not be beat!

Keystone - mid March- 2hr drive from Boulder

Stayed for a weekend at the Keystone Resort and Spa. Not much going on at the hotel- nice heated pool and hot tub (both could have been a tad hotter), kind of a gloomy basement bar, breakfast to-go coffee shop which was way overpriced. Keystone itself didn't have alot going on in the resort town, but it is not far from Breckenridge and Frisco which do have towns with more bar/restaurants options. For skiing - many really nice greens all over- River run gondola to Montezuma Express- hit up Bergman and Ruby express, and were able to ski all the way down to the base on the Schoolmarm trail. For dinners we went to Frisco one night at ate at the 5th avenue grill, and the other in Keystone village at Rotolos craft and crust (both I would recommend). We did lunch on Saturday on the mountain at Labontes Smokehouse- not really my type of food but I found some decent snacks.

Breckenridge- first weekend of April- 1.5-2hr drive from Boulder

Stayed at the Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge. Loved this place- our room was huge and had 2 bathrooms, full kitchen. Walkable to the Peak 9/Quicksilver Superchair lift. Great heated pool and hot tub outside. Breckenridge is one of the best ski towns in my opinion- great selection of bars and restaurants so close to skiing. Dinners we had at Horseshoe and Aurum, breakfast at Brekfast - really good bagel sandwiches. Did my first blue runs off of the Colorado Superchair from Peak 8 Superconnect. It was the perfect day for skiing, great conditions and not too crowded which was shocking.

Beaver Creek- closing weekend April 12 - about 2.5hr drive from Boulder

I expected so much more from Beaver Creek- it had really been talked up- and maybe it was just because it was closing weekend and people were checked out, but the hotel to the mountain to the restaurants, everyone seemed done. Stayed at the Pines, which was a long walk to the mountain on ice. About a 10min walk to the village on sidewalk that was cleared. One dinner was great we had at Dusty boot, one was terrible at Hooked. We tried to get dessert also in the Village at Rimini but they were really bare bones at that point, a couple gelato options and some packaged cake slices- oof. For breakfast, the hotel was charging $25 for continental cereal- old bagels and spreads, so we drove to Village bagel about 10 mins away which was really worth the drive. We did have a great day skiing, the first half of the day we really had the slopes to ourselves. Most of the mountain was closed at that point, so we stuck to greens Centennial to Cinch Express- and ended up being able to ski all the way down to the base on the Dally trail (hit some very slushy and brown snow towards the end, but we made it!) Saturday was when Beaver Creek went full cookie- free cookies passed out on the plaza by Powder8, only lasted 15mins but we got a few. Then our hotel had cookies out around 4-5. Cookies are there thing apparently- not mad at it. We stopped on the way home for breakfast at Bread and Salt in Frisco to break up the drive- very good spot.

My takeaways from this season of Skiing all of the Epic Pass resorts in CO:

Where I'm definitely going back: Telluride, Vail, Breckenridge, and probably Crested Butte (when it's above freezing hopefully next time).

For 25-26, we renewed our full Epic passes again, and we are dipping our toe into the Ikon pass with a 4 day session pass- so looking forward to returning to Steamboat, and hopefully checking out Winter Park, Copper Mountain, and Eldora (which is practically in our backyard so we really should go).

Other Ski resorts in CO on the Ikon Pass:

Arapahoe Basin- seems out of my league for now

Aspen- also seems out of my league, and also has a limited number of days on Ikon even with the full pass, no access on the day pass.