The 2 Best Ski Resorts For Beginners; Getting Your Shred On

When you’re new at skiing or snowboarding one of the most daunting tasks is learning where you should or should not go. In light of this, finding the best ski resorts in your area is extremely important.

Below is a short list of things you should know and understand while we look for the best ski resorts.

• Know Your Skill Level
• Understand What Will Challenge You
• Weigh The Costs Versus How Much Riding You’ll Get In

I picked the above criteria because they’re extremely important when you’re on the mountain for the first time.

I learned how to snowboard in Minneapolis, and if you know anything about geography you’ll understand that it’s really flat here.

The Mississippi River valley has some promising areas, it isn’t Vail or Aspen, but it does have Afton Alps. Travel farther north and you can check out Lutsen.

While I’ve just named a few of the best resorts in Minnesota (and one in Colorado). That doesn’t answer your question. What are the best ski resorts for beginners?

Know Your Skill Level: The Best Ski Resorts For Beginners

This is one of the most important rules when looking for the best ski resorts. Know your level and the level of everyone around you. I cannot stress this enough, if one of the people in your group isn’t up to par, everyone else will become frustrated. And that can be the least of your worries, injury or death can happen as well.

In addition to that, check out the difficulty percentage of the runs on that mountain. You can usually find a trail map on the Resort Website. Green Circles, Blue Squares, And Black Diamonds are usually broken down into a percentage rate. If you’re a beginner don’t go shredding on a mountain with a low percentage of green circles.

You’ll have a lot more fun and variety when you’re on the mountain.

A few of the best ski resorts I love to direct new shredders to are:

• Loveland CO
• Keystone CO

I like to direct people to these resorts for 2 different reasons.

1. Beginners and Advanced Shredders Can Enjoy The Mountain
2. The Prices of Both Places Are Pretty Reasonable (compared to the rest of Colorado resorts)

Loveland CO:

I’m a huge fan of this Loveland, it feels very homey, (if that’s even a word). The resort itself is fairly large but you can shred every run in a day (if you hoof it). It also has a good mix of Beginner to experienced runs and if you find yourself on a black diamond run accidentally. You can turn onto an easier run pretty quickly.

The top of the resort will give you some epic views and if you go to the peak you can look down on the Eisenhower tunnel.

Keystone CO:

Keystone is what I call my acclimation mountain. Most of the time I hit Keystone for my first day of shredding. It has some great beginner runs on the front side, some epic tree runs, and a few bowls.

In addition to that, there’s night skiing, which is a nice bonus.

Understand What Will Challenge You

Knowing your shred level is great, if you’re learning and this is your first trip to the mountains be wary of hitting up a black diamond. Instead, take your time.

Ride a few greens to get acclimated to the flow and feel of the mountain.

Then if you’re not being challenged enough, hit up some blue runs.

Keep in mind, if you’re from the midwest like I am, a Green in Colorado is a blue in Minnesota. (At the very least it feels that way.)

Looking for the best ski resorts around you can be difficult, and it can be frightening. However, with a little searching and determination, you can find exactly what you’re looking for.

Weigh The Costs: The Best Ski Resorts For Beginners

The reason I recommend Loveland and keystone is not just skill level. They’re also very affordable (Loveland is the less expensive option). However, if you have an epic pass, Keystone is included in epic, then you won’t have to worry about the cost.

I hope you enjoyed my latest post. Don’t forget to check back here for tips and tricks when you’re out shredding.