A Snowy Vacation Home.. Where Should it Be?

[mntbikr15]

Raptor,

I only skimmed the thread for now but ill chime in and say that you will most likely have to raise ur pricerange if you want a nice place thats resonably close to the mountain and has even the slightest bit of seclusion.

Basically in these types of towns you can get.
-An on mountain condo
-A nice house in a development where you can reach out and touch your neighbors
-An ok house that you cant see your neighbors

For about the same price....with the last one maybe being the most expensive.

If you want a nice house AND seclusion....thats where the big bucks are needed, add mountain proximity.

Now, if you are willing to look at smaller less popular ski towns this maybe isnt the case. But then you often lose your proximity to airports, among other things

[snagglepuss]

huzzah!

[J.A.Sucker]

Steamboat has changed quite a bit recently because of ownership deals. So has Jackson Hole. I don't think you can get anything in town for what you guys want to pay. Steamboat is a cool town and the skiing is off the hook, but it's really remote. Also, it's at lower elevation so the season is about a month shorter than most other places in CO (i.e. Vail, Breck, Copper, etc).

Jackson has really gotten yuppified and therefore isn't what it once was. It's also beyond the middle of nowhere and it gets COOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLDDDD there. Really cold. There's a joke about the Wyoming Windsock and it's a cannonball on a chain hanging from a tripod. There's more than some truth to that joke.

Tahoe is great and all and gets lots of snow (a lot more than Colorado does), but the snow quality is much more variable. I grew up skiing in Colorado and it's not nearly as good here in California. While you do get those epic powder days, the snow pretty much sucks a day or two later. The skiing is significantly better in Colorado.

I'd look at Breckenridge if I were you. The mountain has plenty of great terrain, the skiing is consistent, and real estate prices are still fair (and will likely go up). The town has lots of real locals spots that are lots of fun and it's less than an hour and a half from the airport. Weather is never an issue on getting up there, either, unlike California. The ski season is very long, with the best skiing starting in March, peaking in early April, and rolling on until they close (which is usually the first weekend in May, when they close because the help goes to Durango to go whitewater rafting). Then you can hit A-Basin and ski/BBQ/party until June or so.

My two cents.

FWIW: Utah would be at the top of this list, but the Mormons managed to take over the most perfect place on Earth, so too bad. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[James282]

As a side note - and this could be huge for you guys - when I lived in Tahoe, I actually lived juuuuuust over the border in a town called Zephyr Cove, which was a 2-3 minute drive to the downtown club/casino and skiing area. As a Nevada resident, you don't have to pay state income tax, which for big spenders like you guys might be enough to pay off the mortgage alone. There are some gorgeous homes in this area - just a thought.

Oh one other thing I forgot to mention is that I don't think I'd ever live in a ski town again without a great shuttle system. When i lived in Tahoe, we didn't have great access to the shuttles(which primarily go to hotels), so great powdwer days were spent digging out the car, putting on the snow chains, and then MAYBE getting out for first tracks. In Steamboat, which has an absolutely amazing shuttle system(bus came about a block from my front door, always on time, every 15 mins) I could just strap into my boots and walk over there...not having to worry about having a locker, finding a parking space, or any nonsense like that. the same bus would also take us downtown, or basically anywhere we wanted to go, so it wasn't even realy necessary to have a car in town. Not something most people think about as being important in ski towns, but having spent the last 2 winters in places that routinely get 20 inches of snow in a day, I can say that it vastly improves the quality of life.

James

[James282]

Sucker,

Steamboat is remote relative to other ski towns for sure, but it has the equal or better airport proximity as any resort in CO. A taxi service will take you anywhere downtown or on the mountain and you'll be there in 30-40 minutes of landing if you use an organized company.

Regarding the Breck ski season... I really disagree that it peaks in March and April. I mean I guess it depends on what you want, but the times I've been there in those times it's been very "touristy" nice...like blue skies and soft semi-slush..but stuff that would get super boring if you are skiing every day.


Your sentiments about Utah are perfect, though [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

James

[ahnuld]

[ QUOTE ]
Whistler is probably a hell of a flight, but it's great.

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what I was gonna say. + there are alot of ppl our age who vacation there/ work there/ go to school near there and visit

[J.A.Sucker]

[ QUOTE ]
Sucker,

Steamboat is remote relative to other ski towns for sure, but it has the equal or better airport proximity as any resort in CO. A taxi service will take you anywhere downtown or on the mountain and you'll be there in 30-40 minutes of landing if you use an organized company.

Regarding the Breck ski season... I really disagree that it peaks in March and April. I mean I guess it depends on what you want, but the times I've been there in those times it's been very "touristy" nice...like blue skies and soft semi-slush..but stuff that would get super boring if you are skiing every day.


Your sentiments about Utah are perfect, though [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

James

[/ QUOTE ]

James,

I've probably skied 300 days at Breck and another 200+ at A-Basin over the years. Summit County's skiing is truly epic in the spring, as they get most of their snow between March 10 - April 10. It's also warmer (which contributes to the moisture). The key is to be on the correct facing slopes at the right time of day, but slush is very rare until super late in the year. That said, the past five or so years have been brutally warm springs from what I've heard (Zee would bitch about global warming...).

You're right about Steamboat's airport, of course. My point is that there's NOTHING else to do there if you want to get out. There's not another mountain to ski at, and there are times when it's nice to hop somewhere else to ski. This is especially true at Steamboat because of the elevation.

[DeSaganaDiop]

Beaver Creek is incredibly nice. It's got great skiing (and a full halpipe for snowboarding, along with a pretty nice park) in the winter, and some great mountain bike trails in the summer. It's nice too because it's part of the Vail Group, which means when you have a pass at Beaver Creek you can use it at Vail, Breckenridge, and I think Copper Mountain/Steamboat (not sure about last 2).
The town itself is really nice, and sounds pretty close to what you're looking for. It's very upscale with a bunch of nice restaurants/art shops/etc., and almost all the houses/condos are ski-in/ski-out. If you do want to go out and party, there is a town just down the mountain (5 min. drive) that has a more social scene, but Beaver Creek itself is just a nice, quiet, relaxing place. Definitely worth a look there, but the real estate is VERY expensive (even more so than any of the other resort towns)--bordering on exclusive. Also, they have a nice golf course in the town.

[T_Nasty]

Are you planning on renting it out when you aren't there?
If not, this doesnt make a whole lot of sense (to me). You could just rent a place whenever you want to get away, that way you:

-save money (you don't have to pay for it when you aren't using it)
-don't have to worry about maintenence, etc
-can have a little variety when you vacation as opposed to going the same place over and over.

I seventh the Lake Tahoe choice btw, bayyoottiifulll. Good luck, I am eagerly awaiting balla pics should you find something.

[lippy]

[ QUOTE ]
As a side note - and this could be huge for you guys - when I lived in Tahoe, I actually lived juuuuuust over the border in a town called Zephyr Cove, which was a 2-3 minute drive to the downtown club/casino and skiing area. As a Nevada resident, you don't have to pay state income tax, which for big spenders like you guys might be enough to pay off the mortgage alone. There are some gorgeous homes in this area - just a thoug

[/ QUOTE ]

Wait, could they make this their primary residence (for paperwork only) and save oodles of money?

I know nothing about taxes.