Beaver Creek Ski Resort: How to Plan Your Week Across 3 Villages

Beaver Creek Ski Resort sits just 10 miles from Vail, with a calmer pace, immaculate grooming, and short lift lines. The terrain runs from a beginners' park at the summit to some of the steepest lift-served chutes in Colorado.

By the numbers, Beaver Creek is a substantial mountain with:

• 2,082 skiable acres
• 167 marked trails served by 24 lifts
• A base at 8,100 feet rising to the 11,440-foot summit of Grouse Mountain, a vertical drop of 3,340 feet
• An even spread of terrain for mixed groups, from gentle beginner runs to advanced and expert lines

What sets Beaver Creek apart is how the mountain welcomes skiers of every ability. A family that skis at four different levels can ride the same lifts, split at the top, and meet for lunch, each having skied terrain that suits them.

Beaver Creek is Ideal for Beginners and Skiers Who Want to Learn

McCoy Park sits at the summit: 250 acres of beginner and low-intermediate terrain reached by two dedicated lifts. Gentle trails wind through natural glades near 11,000 feet, with long views and plenty of sun on most days. First-time skiers get the same summit, and the same scenery, as the strongest skiers in the group, which changes how a beginner feels about the whole trip.

Beaver Creek's Blue Runs for Intermediate Skiers

Beaver Creek's blue runs are long, consistently pitched, and groomed to a standard that flatters your technique. Cruisers roll off nearly every lift, and the connections between the three villages are mostly blue, so intermediate skiers can cover the entire resort while staying on comfortable terrain. If you ski one level and want to spend the week getting really good at it, this is a wonderful place to do it.

The Challenge of Grouse Mountain: For Advanced and Expert Skiers

The hard skiing is real, and concentrated on Grouse Mountain, the high, steep flank on the resort's western side. The runs off the Grouse Mountain Express are long, sustained, and left to bump up into moguls, with a steady stream of skiers lapping them all day.

Below and around them, the Stone Creek Chutes are ungroomed expert terrain, narrow lines through rock and trees that ski like backcountry inside the resort boundary. The Talons area on Grouse gives its name to the Talons Challenge, a single day of 14 expert runs and 26,000 vertical feet that regulars train for. This is serious terrain, and it stays fresh long after a storm because Beaver Creek draws smaller crowds than Vail.

Every year in early December, the Stifel Birds of Prey World Cup comes to Grouse Mountain, and for one week the quietest big mountain in Colorado becomes the center of the ski-racing world.

The Birds of Prey downhill is one of the most demanding courses on the circuit, dropping off the top of Grouse at a maximum pitch of 63%, with racers reaching speeds most recreational skiers never approach. The event is organized by the Vail Valley Foundation. Watching it from the finish stadium, close enough to hear the skis chatter, is worth planning your trip around.

You can ski the Birds of Prey yourself. Once the World Cup wraps, the course runs reopen to the public, and skiing a World Cup downhill, even cautiously, is a story you'll take home.

Beaver Creek is really three base areas strung along the same mountain, and where you stay shapes your week. Beaver Creek Village, a compact pedestrian core of shops, restaurants, and the ice rink, with the main lifts rising straight out of the plaza, is the heart of it all.

Bachelor Gulch is the quieter, wooded village midway across the mountain, built around the Ritz-Carlton. Arrowhead sits at the far western end, the smallest and most private of the villages, with beginner terrain and short lift lines.

You can ski between all three. Start your morning in Beaver Creek Village, then work your way west for lunch at Arrowhead and back, all on the mountain, no car required.

From Beaver Creek Village, the Centennial Express carries you out of the plaza and up the spine of the mountain. If you're staying down in Avon, the Riverfront Express Gondola runs from the valley floor up to Beaver Creek Landing at the base, so you can leave the car and ride in. The Haymeadow Express gondola serves the ski school and family terrain at the base, and above it, the lifts fan out to McCoy Park, Grouse, and the villages.

The walk from the parking structures up to the village is done for you. Beaver Creek Village has heated outdoor escalators and heated walkways that carry you and your gear up to the plaza, a welcome relief after a long, exhilarating day. The resort keeps a current trail map online to help you plan each day on the mountain.

Beaver Creek is built for families in a way that's obvious within an hour of arriving. The learning terrain at the base, Haymeadow Park, has its own gondola, magic carpets, and an ice cream stop. The ski school runs out of the same area, so drop-off is simple.

Higher up, Red Buffalo Park is a network of themed adventure trails. These gentle runs cut through the trees with features that keep children skiing, rather than asking to stop. And through the Epic SchoolKids Colorado program, kids in kindergarten through fifth grade ski free on certain days, which is worth setting up before you travel.

At 3 PM each afternoon, staff in the village and at the bottom of the Centennial Express hand out free, warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. It's a small but sweet thing, and one of the details you'll always remember. Time your last run to end near the plaza around 3:00, and you'll understand why.

Beaver Creek is a Vail Resorts mountain, which means it's on the Epic Pass, not the Ikon. If you want to ski for more than a few days, or plan to ski Vail or Breckenridge on the same trip, the season pass or a multi-day Epic product almost always costs less than window tickets. Lift tickets are also much cheaper when you buy them online ahead of time instead of at the ticket office after you arrive. The Epic Pass also covers the other Colorado Vail mountains, so a week here can include days at Vail, 10 miles east, without a second purchase.

The season starts around Thanksgiving, and usually runs into early April. Early December brings the World Cup and reliable early-season snow on a mountain that makes a great deal of its own.

February is the classic Beaver Creek month, with deep snow and cold, clear light. March and early April have a quieter feel, with longer days, softer afternoons, and spring conditions on terrain that holds snow well, because so much of it faces north. Exact opening and closing dates are set each year, so confirm the current season before you lock in your travel dates.

After ski season wraps in April, the mountain reopens in June for summer. The warmer months bring scenic chairlift rides and lift-served hiking and mountain biking, plus a discovery zone of activities at the top. Down in the village, restaurants and events keep going all summer. It's a wholly different trip, greener and slower.

Once you know how you want to ski the mountain, the next questions are how to get here, where to eat, and where to sleep at the base of it. Our collection of Beaver Creek luxury vacation rentals puts you slopeside, with a local team looking after your stay.

Our InvitedHome guides get everything ready for you, including a kitchen stocked with your favorite food and drinks and plenty of room for everyone in your group to spread out, along with 24/7 concierge service.