Return to main articleColorado Skiing: The Big Mountains
BEAVER CREEK
Why Ski There: Beaver Creek offers remarkably varied terrain, impeccable grooming, a compact Euro-inspired village with an ice rink at its heart, and a high level of service for its well-heeled visitors. No other resort would build a children's gondola, The Buckaroo Express, which lays claim to being the shortest and smallest gondola in the world. Don't Miss: Beaver Creek has a new Ski with a Ranger program, a one-hour tour every Saturday at 1:30 p.m. You'll ski with a Forest Service volunteer and learn about the National Forest and local ecology. Where to Stay: The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch looks like a National Park lodge as done by the Ritz—a visual feast of stone and timber set at the mountain's base. The centrally located Park Hyatt Beaver Creek is also slopeside and boasts the new 30,000-square-foot Allegria Spa as an après-ski diversion. Where to Eat: The big buzz in December 2007 was the opening of Wolfgang Puck's fourth Spago (970/343-1555), this one in the Ritz-Carlton, which combines the famed restaurant's classic dishes as well as locally inspired creations. Still, a sleigh ride up to Beano's Cabin on the mountainside, where elk, trout, and buffalo are highlights in a cabin that is both elegant and rustic, is the quintessential Beaver Creek experience. In the village, casual Italian classics like pasta and pizza at Toscanini, which overlooks the ice-skating rink, are the way to go (970/845-5590).
