Mountain Review: Beaver Creek
MOUNTAIN SCORE
CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
See our criteria
8
Snow:
8
Resiliency:
7
Size:
7
Terrain Diversity:
8
Challenge:
9
Lifts:
8
Crowd Flow:
9
Facilities:
6
Navigation:
6
Mountain Aesthetic:
GOOD TO KNOW
Aprés-ski: Moderate
Closest Cities: Denver (3 hrs)
Recommended Ability Level:
+ Pros
Diverse below and near-treeline terrain
Exceptional longevity of certain expert runs
Modern lift infrastructure
Thoughtfully-designed on-mountain facilities
– Cons
Price
Lack of true above-treeline terrain
Flagrantly moneyed atmosphere in some areas
MOUNTAIN STATS
Lifts: 24
Trails: 167
Beginner: 19%
Intermediate: 43%
Advanced/Expert: 38%
VIDEO
Mountain Review
Long known for its expensive lift tickets and excellent customer service, Beaver Creek tends to draw fewer crowds than other Colorado destination resorts thanks to its family-centric reputation and world-renowned Vail’s presence nearby. The resort isn’t perfect, but don’t be fooled—Beaver Creek delivers an experience that more than just families will appreciate.
Like at other Front Range Colorado resorts, you can expect very good, consistent snow from Beaver Creek. The resort sees powder regularly each season, and while slopes can get crusty after a few days with no accumulation, truly thin cover is rare on all but the most formidable terrain. To ensure a consistent opening date and resilient base layer, the resort employs early-season snowmaking on a number of trails.
As you might expect from a family-friendly mountain, Beaver Creek offers excellent beginner and intermediate terrain. The best green runs exist in the beginner-friendly Red Buffalo summit area, which provides some of the most scenic beginner-accessible views anywhere. The only green trails from Red Buffalo back to the base are long, flat traverses, but those looking for a more direct way down can download the Centennial lift. The Bachelor’s Gulch area also offers decent beginner terrain, and the Haymeadow bunny hill provides a dedicated learning area.
Few blue runs exist in upper elevation areas—instead, the majority of intermediate terrain lives in the mid-mountain Bachelor’s Gulch, Arrowhead, and Centennial areas. Runs mainly consist of groomed, moderately sloped terrain, but some occasionally stay ungroomed. The Bachelor’s Gulch and Arrowhead areas also offer excellent beginner and intermediate glade terrain, which is hard to come by in Colorado.
Beaver Creek’s new McCoy Park expansion—opened for the 2021-22 season—brings a kick to the resort that elevates it even further for lower ability levels. The new zone entirely comprises beginner and intermediate terrain, but no other Front Range resort has terrain even remotely like McCoy; the area varies between tighter glades and bowl-like meadows, and its diversity of trees reminds of a botanical garden. A 250-acre increase is already sizable on its own, but each line down McCoy Park offers its own unique feel, yielding a choose-your-own-adventure-like atmosphere. One can probably spend an entire day finding new paths without getting bored, which is a remarkable thing to say about beginner terrain. It’s hard to find terrain this easy that’s this enjoyable anywhere else in North America.
While most resorts only do one or the other well, Beaver Creek successfully delivers on both steep, groomed bombers and long, trying mogul runs. The mountain produces a range of steep straightaways, regularly grooming the Birds of Prey double-black and a decent number of black runs. The resort’s surprisingly extensive selection of mogul terrain exists across multiple mountain areas, most notably the advanced-only Grouse Mountain, which rarely sees large crowds. These runs offer consistently steep pitches and tend to continue for much longer than you’d expect. While some lead to runouts that require a bit of catwalking, you’ll be hard pressed to find another resort with a similar concentration of comparably exhaustive terrain. The resort’s expert Stone Creek Chutes aren’t Beaver Creek’s longest runs, but they all contain precipitous pitches. A few Lower Stone Creek Chutes lines feature significant cliff drops.
Beaver Creek has a terrain park, but it’s nothing to write home about. The relatively short park offers a range of small to medium jumps, boxes, and rails.
Perhaps Beaver Creek’s biggest omission is its shortage of above-treeline terrain—despite the mountain’s relatively high summit, the resort doesn’t have any true bowl areas (although there are several wide-open, bowl-like areas). This is a major disadvantage compared to other mountains in the state, most of which offer at least some form of fully above-treeline bowl skiing. The terrain at the top of Beaver Creek Mountain is mellow compared to other major resorts, giving the resort’s summit a less striking aesthetic than you might expect. In addition, the consistent lack of accumulation around some lower mountain areas—albeit ones that are mainly used for parking access—doesn’t provide the most pleasing look.
Beaver Creek handles crowds well thanks to mostly well-placed lifts and fewer visitors than other Colorado resorts along I-70. Even on weekends and holidays, it’s uncommon to see lines of longer than 10 minutes. When it comes to the lifts themselves, Beaver Creek is hard to beat. Multiple lifts service major mountain areas, and nearly all lifts are high-speed. Of the three fixed-grip exceptions, two primarily provide real estate access, while the third offers egress redundancy from the McCoy Park zone.
Thanks to a bunny hill gondola that extends only 1,700 feet and a mid-mountain-access chondola, one could argue that the lifts starting at Beaver Creek’s main base area are over the top. The same can be said about the base itself, which includes escalators to the slopes as well as a range of luxury hotels and restaurants. Secondary base areas feature ultra-luxury hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton. Friendly staff often hand out cookies in the morning and afternoon.
If you’re looking to stop for a break on the mountain, Beaver Creek has you covered. The resort boasts large, well-placed lodges at major junction areas. In case the cookies weren’t enough, small cabins at the top of some lifts sell a range of desserts that kids will love. Beaver Creek’s base areas mainly feature sit-down restaurants, so you’ll want to stick to mid-mountain for more casual options. A few reservation-only restaurants exist on-mountain as well. As you might expect, all food options are incredibly expensive.
When it comes to getting around Beaver Creek, things aren’t bad for the most part. Signage is intuitive and the main base area provides easy access to the resort’s most popular terrain. However, the rather removed Arrowhead and Bachelor’s Gulch areas take a few lifts or some flat traverses to reach or leave.
Getting There
Of all the major Colorado Front Range ski areas, Beaver Creek is the furthest from Denver. With no traffic, the resort is just over two-and-a-half hours from the Denver International Airport—however, weekend drives often come with serious backups on I-70, the main highway to the resort. Visitors can also fly into the much closer Eagle County Regional Airport, which is about 35 minutes from the resort but typically pricier to fly into. A number of shuttle services exist to and from both airports.
Lodging
As one of the fanciest ski resorts in North America, Beaver Creek offers a range of upscale to ultra-luxury hotel and condo options on-site. These lodges boast world-class restaurants, fitness centers, and pools. Many feature ski-in/ski-out access, while others reside a short walk away in the base village. As you might expect, all of these options are extremely expensive.
Some lodges in the town of Avon feature easy access to the mountain thanks to the Riverfront Gondola. Most options here are quite expensive as well; a few are somewhat reasonably priced but a long walk from the gondola. The relatively affordable Cohabit Pod Hotel is the cheapest option in town, but it’s outrageously pricey for a hostel.
If you’re looking for cheaper, more practical lodging, you’ll have to look outside Avon. It’s worth noting that if you plan on driving to Beaver Creek for a full day of skiing, you’ll have to pay for parking. Prices start at $10 for shuttle-serviced lots a few miles away from the resort; these lots are free if you get there after 1pm. If you want to park in one of the garages at the main base area, be prepared to set aside a hefty sum of up to $35 for the day.
Aprés-ski
Beaver Creek is a heavily family-oriented resort, and as such, isn’t particularly known for having a wild aprés-ski experience. That’s not to say there isn’t anywhere to go—both the base village and the town of Avon offer a range of world-class restaurants with excellent beer, wine, and liquor selections. Both areas enjoy nice but expensive happy hour options as well; some venues feature live music or DJs in the evening, but nightlife after dinner is nonexistent.
Verdict
So Beaver Creek delivers on the family-friendliness it’s known for, but it also offers a surprisingly thrilling expert experience. Lift tickets are extremely expensive—and not everyone will love the resort’s flagrantly moneyed atmosphere—but the excellent service and lack of crowds will make it worth it for many. In addition, those who hold an Epic Pass will get a decent value for their day.
