Best MVCI ski resort?

[GoldenVIKE]

I love that there are a ton of resort options for skiing within MVC, but curious which one(s) are situated with the easiest access to lifts and gondolas, for true "ski in/ski out"? We'd likely have at least one or two beginner-level skiers with us too, so another caveat is that the resort needs to have in/out access to green runs.

 

[catharsis]

Mountainside I'd have thought.
I think Ritz Tahoe might also be an option but recent TUG feedback on there not positive.
Summit watch is very nearly ski in ski out. You can get a lift outside the door and ski home.... But there are not beginner runs or ski school directly adjacent so until people can use a chairlift it's not perfect.
Tahoe isn't ski in/out but is right beside the gondola to the base lodge so is pretty close... You just cannot ski home.
Ritz Vail is less than 5 minute walk (or a free shuttle) from the slopes and they will valet your ski gear to/from the slopes for you so is also a nice experience.
Streamside Vail seems like it would be furthest from being ski in out because it requires a shuttle and is quite far from the slopes/town
Ritz Aspen I have no knowledge of personally.
Breckenridge IIRC is in town rather than slopeside.

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[Powderday]

Mountainside is located slope side in the PCMR Center, easy access to ski school and beginner area lifts. IMHO, excellent location for beginners, Summit Watch would require intermediate skills to ski back to the resort.

MVL Breckenridge would be my second choice for a beginner. It's a 3-5 minute walk to the Quick Silver Super Chair which accesses many green runs, ski school sign up and meeting area is also located near the chair. Caveat, MVL amenities don't compare to the PC, Tahoe and Ritz resorts. Although, it is well taken care of. Ski all of them over time, they're all located at top-notch mountains and ski towns. Have fun.

 

[GoldenVIKE]

Thank you, perfect responses! I was thinking MVL Breck and Mountainside PC too based on quick Google satellite searches, but tough to know so thank you for confirming

 

[frank808]

You can checkout marrriott grand residence tahoe. It is ski in ski out location. The lift is right outside the entrance.

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[GaryDouglas]

Tahoe isn't ski in/out but is right beside the gondola to the base lodge so is pretty close...

In case it's not obvious, you're talking about Timber Lodge or the Residence, South Lake Tahoe...

 

[catharsis]

Re: Gary Douglas post

I certainly was and thanks for the clarification ... I mention the Ritz Tahoe (Northstar) elsewhere in my post and was referring to the grand residence and timber lodge as not being *quite* ski-in ski-out since one cannot *ski* back to anywhere even remotely close

Can anyone who's stayed at the Ritz Aspen weigh in as it's the only Marriott ski property I've not visited personally. Is is ski in ski out? Suitable for beginners? Would be interested in opinions via a vis not being located in Aspen town itself also.

 

[chunkygal]

Loved park city ourselves,

 

[Robert D]

Streamside in Vail is only a 5 minute shuttle ride from the slopes. The Evergreen and Douglas buildings are the best and are very nice. Although the Marriott in Breckenridge is a short walk to the lifts, I would not buy there. There are only studios and 1BR in an older building with very high maintenance fees. I think Vail is a much better choice and a nicer facility.

 

[dlpearson]

Streamside in Vail is only a 5 minute shuttle ride from the slopes. The Evergreen and Douglas buildings are the best and are very nice. Although the Marriott in Breckenridge is a short walk to the lifts, I would not buy there. There are only studios and 1BR in an older building with very high maintenance fees. I think Vail is a much better choice and a nicer facility.

From what you're looking for in your description, hands down Mountainside in Park City.

 

[hangloose]

Of the two Park City resorts during ski season, we prefer Mountainside. It's location is truly ski-in/ski-out! It is situated at the bottom of PC Mtn at the PayDay lift near the beginner slopes.

Summit Watch requires a short walk with skis to the chair lift closer to town. The walk isn't far, but you cannot ski directly up to the resort. The town lift also places you into what I would consider intermediate slopes (not beginner). Beginner skiers may find this challenging.

As such, I prefer and also recommend Mountainside.

 

[Marathoner]

For beginners, Mountainside is the best MVCI ski-in/out resort due to the crowded but nice beginner slopes down Payday and Home Run runs back down to the lodge. The second best is Marriott Timber Lodge which has the Heavenly Gondola a few steps from the resort. The third best is Marriott Grand Residence which is also a short walk to the Heavenly Gondola. Fourth best is the Marriott Mountain Valley Lodge in Breckenridge which is a 5 minute walk to the Quicksilver lifts that serve plenty of beginner terrain but only has studios and 1 bedrooms.

This list would look very different if the choice of resorts was dictated by advanced skiers. Personally, I think Heavenly is not that good for expert skiers so would drop it from the list without the bias to cater to beginner skiers.

Summitwatch has great rooms and is next to the town lift as well as all the great Park City restaurants. Unfortunately, the Town run back to the lodge is a blue so not suitable for beginners who want a ski-in/out experience. Similarly, Vail is a great mountain for beginners and intermediates but the Marriott lodges are a short bus ride away and is not walkable to the runs.

 

[catharsis]

FYI, Downloading on the town lift to summit watch is possible... Which to me would probably inch Summit Watch upwards vis a vis Tahoe for a mixed group.

I've stayed at summit watch, mountainside, timber lodge, Ritz Vail and Ritz (hotel ) Northstar in last 12 months and of those Park City and Vail were our favourites. All are *very* solid options although I could not see myself ever spending a full week skiing heavenly...It's just not quite big enough on its own.

Marriott in Vail and Breckenridge I've never stayed in and I haven't skiied Breckenridge enough to come to a final conclusion but my impressions to date were that it wasn't comparable Vail Beaver Creek or park city in terms of difficult terrain... May have been that I missed the good stuff as every time I've been there things seem to be closed.

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[Marathoner]

Heavenly is 4800 skiable acres compared to 5300 acres at Vail and 2900 acres at Breckenridge and 1800 acres at Beaver Creek and 7300 acres at Park City.

But as we all know, size alone does not determine greatness and I've skied all of them. In terms of challenging terrain amongst this group, Park City is at the top followed by Breckenridge and then Vail. I would place Beaver Creek above Heavenly because the long, contiguous mogul runs is something that does not exist at Heavenly.

Breckenridge has a lot of very interesting terrain and is a very good choice for a mixed group of experts and beginners. Breckenridge has lots of trees, high alpine terrain off of Imperial, and lots of mogul runs. Many people see the wide groomers all over the mountain and underestimate the challenging terrain which exists.

I've stayed at all the resorts except Ritz Vail and Ritz Northstar.

 

[jeepie]

I love that there are a ton of resort options for skiing within MVC, but curious which one(s) are situated with the easiest access to lifts and gondolas, for true "ski in/ski out"? We'd likely have at least one or two beginner-level skiers with us too, so another caveat is that the resort needs to have in/out access to green runs.

If one defines true "ski-in/ski-out" literally, I think it boils down to Mountainside and Ritz-Carlton Club, Tahoe. You can put your skis on at both, then take an easy run down to lifts. When finished, you can ski right to the property (the R-C has ski valets who will actually put your skis out on the snow for you, and retrieve them when you are finished). Despite a couple of observations about the maintenance, I believe the R-C is clearly a cut above Mountainside. I really enjoy both, but I think the R-C fits your needs better. Cheers.

 

[Marathoner]

If one defines true "ski-in/ski-out" literally, I think it boils down to Mountainside and Ritz-Carlton Club, Tahoe. You can put your skis on at both, then take an easy run down to lifts. When finished, you can ski right to the property (the R-C has ski valets who will actually put your skis out on the snow for you, and retrieve them when you are finished). Despite a couple of observations about the maintenance, I believe the R-C is clearly a cut above Mountainside. I really enjoy both, but I think the R-C fits your needs better. Cheers.

You are correct, but many people are not so literal about ski-in/out. Both Marriott Timber Lodge and Welk Northstar lodges are not literally ski-in/out but the gondolas are so close to their respective lodges, that most would classify it as such.

I have no doubt that Ritz Northstar is very nice. However, the Northstar ski resort is not comparable in terms of terrain variety when compared to the other mountains so far mentioned including Beaver Creek and Heavenly. But ski acres is fairly large at 2900 acres at Northstar and they have a lot of beginner and intermediate terrain so the ski resort does appeal to a lot of people.

Beaver Creek can be thought of as a relatively small resort which skis big. In contrast, Northstar is a relatively large resort which skis small due to the lack of diverse terrain.

If the OP can be more specific about the ski terrain variety and skillset they are looking for, then perhaps we can offer more informed feedback.

 

[SkyBlueWaters]

Mountainside.

 

[catharsis]

Breckenridge has a lot of very interesting terrain and is a very good choice for a mixed group of experts and beginners. Breckenridge has lots of trees, high alpine terrain off of Imperial, and lots of mogul runs. Many people see the wide groomers all over the mountain and underestimate the challenging terrain which exists.

I've stayed at all the resorts except Ritz Vail and Ritz Northstar.

1 Guilty as charged re:Breckenridge - have spent 28 days or more in/around Vail pass and spent maybe 2 days in Breckenridge (actually preferred Keystone and A-Basin)

2. Ritz Vail is a great experience on MVC points. Did it a few weeks back (immediately followed by week at mountainside) and was blown away. 2 Bedroom + Den room is a 3 bedroom without ensuite/shower in the room. Larger than mountainside,. Facilities very high standard and service levels without hiccup.

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[Newport Drive]

Mountainside - especially for the kids with all the hot tubs and large pool that is Mountainside and busy all winter long even though its outside.

 

[tahoe]

The gondola side of Heavenly (Timber Lodge/Grand Residence @ Tahoe) has very limited options for beginners (though there is a tubing hill that costs extra, I think.) The California side is better, but you need to take a free Heavenly bus from the gondola base (about a block away from the gondola.)

Here's a trail map:
http://www.skiheavenly.com/the-mountain/trail-map.aspx

The Ridge Run (California side) is a fairly easy blue, with beautiful views of the lake.

I don't know about other MVCI ski locations, but there are better beginner options in the Tahoe area.

 

[Tokapeba]

I live in SF, and ski Heavenly every year for Christmas. I love Breckenridge, and have stayed at the Grand Lodge & The Grand Lodge at Peak 7 (That's ski in, ski out WOW!!!). I haven't stayed at the Marriott, or even been inside, it's on the other side of the mountain. I like Peak 7. (we traded in with our Worldmark 3 times)

The Ritz at Nortstar is amazing, we went inside once and had a drink, that place is EXPENSIVE, and it's not close to anything else.

We just bought 2 Mountainside Platinum weeks because it's accessible in many ways. It's in town, one of the city's main city bus hubs is just outside. It's 30 minutes from the airport (1 hour in a blizzard), it's SKI-IN, SKI-OUT. There is a beginner slope just outside the door. There are three lifts that will take you to Expert - beginner terrains for your next run, they have night skiing.