by Elsewhere 7 Replies latest jw friends
A group of us here at work want to take a long-weekend ski trip. We are looking in the area of New Mexico, Colorado and Ohio areas.
Can anyone point me in the right direction for finding a good package-deal for about five people? It would be great if we can get rooms, airfare, equipment and the other needed items in one package.
Highpoint Travel in Dallas. I used to work there as a ski coordinator. They usually do large groups, but could probably get something for a little group too.
Whatever you do, don't rent one of those large 15 passenger "church" style vans to drive to New Mexico or Colorado, even if this is a purely secular group. No one ever gets home alive in those things!! Obviously a sign of Jehovahs displeasure with church groups, but I wouldn't take any chances.
Just chiming in to say before you go skiing, check to see how the snow is where you're going. Don't assume they have good skiing conditions.
That being said, I've always had a great time skiing in Colorado at Keystone and Breckenridge.
I've gotten my best deals by nailing down each thing separately. If you ski at Keystone, you'll fly into Denver and drive 70 miles west to the resort. Then you'll be surrounded by first class ski resorts.
Check Cheaptickets.com for packages.
Damn, I want to go skiing now.
David, should you call HPT (or any other place), please tell them what your ideal ski trip would be and what things you're willing to sacrifice. They can price a couple different packages, etc for you and then work from there. It can be as inclusive or exclusive as you want. Also...checking on the snow ahead of time is a great idea. One place may be first class and have a great reputation, but if it's an off season, then you've wasted your money. I haven't skied Colorado (I'm a newbie skier) but the good thing about NM is that it's great for beginners. You have Santa Fe (with a great downtown to browse/shop/eat/tons of art galleries, which is great for the beginner or non-skier), and close by is AngelFire, and close to that is Red River. You can go to several mountains all within a couple days in case you get bored with one particular slope.
Our family is skipping Christmas next year in order to go skiing together. More focus on the quality time with family instead of how much to spend on each other. Great idea I think. I can't wait!
I went to Crested Butte, Colorado, once and that was gorgeous. I found out that I'm a really lousy skier, but they also had great shopping and as long as I have a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, a good book, and a roaring fire, I'm happy.
Nina
Hey Elsewhere:
You might want to contact:
www.internationaltoursandcruises.com
She is one of our own here at the JW.com, and I'm sure she can hook you up with a good deal. Otherwise (from experience) I can say: ski at Vail, stay at Breckenridge, fly with Southwest, and definitely make sure you have a 4 x 4 if you rent a vehicle. Have a great trip!
CG
Elsewhere,
I could recommend http://www.theweathernetwork.com, it's a Canadian weather service, but place your cursor on "Features" to get the drop-down and then on "Ativities" to get another drop-down and select "Ski Report" and then you can click onto snow reports from ski resorts around the globe.
Or I could recommend http://www.onthesnow.com for ski resort info.
But none of that would matter to me as I would sooner ski on slightly frozen mud in Colorado than powder in Ohio! If you're gonna ski, ski the Rockies!
Eric
