Where to Find the Best Skiing in Colorado

Wondering where to find the best skiing in Colorado? You’ve come to the right place. Colorado is well known as an adventure wonderland and a winter playground with nearly 3-dozen different resorts to choose from. Many are familiar with the world class resorts of Vail and Aspen, so today we’ll focus on some great places where the best skiing in Colorado can be found off of the beaten path, often rivaling or surpassing their famous counterparts.

Champagne Powder Home to some of the best skiing in Colorado, Steamboat is about four hours from Denver and about two hours North of the popular resorts in Summit County. Encompassing an entire mountain range, Steamboat has something for everyone, including glade and powder skiing that is nearly unrivalled. The mountain is large enough that once you get away from the base area, crowds and lift lines are generally not a problem. Steamboat is famous for its “Champagne Powder,” pockets of powder last all day, especially in the pine and aspen glade areas. With some of the best skiing in Colorado, it is no wonder that Steamboat has produced more winter Olympians per capita than anywhere else in the country.

Deep and Empty Wolf Creek is on its own on the side of Wolf Creek Pass on U.S. 160. This quiet and unassuming mountain is a great place to go, if you are willing to get there. Situated about five hours from the metropolitan areas of the Front Range, few people elect to make the journey to Wolf Creek. Further, the part of the state it is situated in is sparsely populated to begin with. Combine the low numbers with the trend for Wolf Creek to receive more snow than anywhere else in the state and you’ve got some of the best skiing in Colorado. The mountain has a good mix of terrain, including inbound extreme terrain of chutes and glades.  

Extreme Skiing Crested Butte is another great resort off of the beaten path with some of the best skiing in Colorado. Priding itself on having some of the steepest inbounds terrain in the U.S., skiers can enjoy backcountry terrain, including chutes, cliffs and glades, with the benefit of avalanche control. Author and extreme skier Lito Tejada-Flores claims that the mountain has “the best adventure skiing in the Rockies.” In 1991, Crested Butte was the first mountain in the U.S. to host an extreme skiing competition and has often hosted the U.S. Extreme Skiing Championships.

Pure Adventure Silverton Mountain looms over the tiny mountain town of Silverton in the rugged San Juan Mountains. With fewer than 400 visitors per day, this is a special place to find the best skiing in Colorado. Silverton has one chair lift, heli-skiing, snow cat skiing and guided and un-guided options. Prepare to ski Colorado as you never have before.

Front Range Gem A last gem to consider for the best skiing in Colorado is Arapahoe Basin, sometimes referred to as The Legend. This mountain is in Summit County near big name places like Breckenridge and Copper Mountain. Fortunately, crowds tend to pass this one by and ticket prices are significantly lower. A-Basin offers some of the best skiing in Colorado and in particular has a huge selection of expert and extreme terrain, including the famous East Wall and Pallavicini area. The mountain has the highest skiable terrain in North America. The mountain is often open from October through May, giving it one of the longest seasons in the country.