| Ski Resorts for Beginners | | | | beginner's venue, features long, smooth, |
| | | | well-groomed runs on which to practice |
| Breckenridge | | | | parallel turns and other skiing techniques. |
| | | | Crested Butte, recently the host of the U.S. |
| Breckenridge's Peak Nine training area is one | | | | Extreme Skiing Championship, offers advanced |
| of the best in Colorado for novices and those | | | | skiing and 150 acres of novice terrain. You |
| with intermediate skiing skills. The very | | | | can find discount accommodations and even |
| smooth, dry snow makes perfecting parallel | | | | free skiing at specified times. A popular |
| turns easy, and the high-speed quad chair | | | | resort for skiing holidays. |
| life means more time to practice and less | | | | |
| time traveling. Breckenridge also provides | | | | Deer Valley |
| challenging ski slopes for advanced skiers. | | | | |
| Many local hotels provide ski-in and ski-out | | | | Deer Valley Utah is another location that |
| access to Breckenridge's trails. | | | | features smooth, well-groomed, open ski |
| | | | slopes and runs that offer beginners a lot of |
| Buttermilk | | | | choice without pushing them past their |
| | | | limits. First-time skiers will delight in |
| Buttermilk took top honors last year in SKI | | | | Wild West, a beginner's-only area, free from |
| Magazine's ranking of ski schools nationwide. | | | | the unexpected assaults of hot-dog |
| Buttermilk is part of the Aspen ski resort | | | | professionals. Deer Valley reportedly offers |
| network, and is ranked second (after | | | | the best food and customer service in the |
| Snowmass) as the nation's best ski | | | | Rockies. |
| destination for families. Classes are small, | | | | |
| and the 200 instructors offer personalized | | | | Mount Snow Vermont |
| instruction designed to get novices on the | | | | |
| slopes quickly and safely. All 43 runs are | | | | Mount Snow Vermont is reportedly the best |
| easy enough for beginners, and once you get | | | | Eastern venue for skiers who want to move up |
| out of the glut of beginners at the bottom of | | | | from novice to professional skill level. With |
| the slopes, the well-kept trails offer scenic | | | | a wide choice of rapid lifts on its gentler |
| beauty and excellent skiing. | | | | trails, Mount Snow clearly values the |
| | | | beginning skier, and the excellent cruising |
| Copper Mountain | | | | runs will keep more advanced skiers happy as |
| | | | well |
| Copper Mountain is a perennial favorite, also | | | | |
| located in Colorado, and offers some of the | | | | Northstar-at-Tahoe |
| lowest-priced packages to be had in the | | | | |
| Rockies. Long, wide novice trails occupy the | | | | Northstar-at-Tahoe California offers a wide |
| west portion of the resort, and progressively | | | | range of ski slopes for the novice and |
| more difficult skiing can be found in the | | | | intermediate skier. The terrain is primarily |
| eastern half. Located near Vail, Copper | | | | intermediate, and the lower runs are as good |
| Mountain shares the high country's superb | | | | as any in the West. For novices who still |
| snow conditions and provides adequate if not | | | | fear lifts, Tahoe offers a conveyor belt |
| spectacular lift access. | | | | modeled after airport conveyors, called the |
| | | | Magic Carpet, that will whisk them up the |
| Crested Butte | | | | slopes without causing a panic attack. Tahoe |
| | | | also has slopes for more advanced skiers. |
| Crested Butte Another superb Colorado | | | | |