A story of two sides

Loveland is divided into two different areas. Last weekend we checked out the basin at Loveland for the first time. Last season we had been to Loveland’s Valley with family from out of town and were itching to check out the big mountain. We found a vast mountain with a few things to like but an overall vibe that didn’t speak to us as a family. Let’s take a look at the break down.

Cost
At Loveland kids up to age 14 fall under the umbrella of child day ticket. Starting at age 15 one has to purchase an adult ticket. We would like to see a more differentiated approach like some of the other resorts use that offer youth or teen tickets that are discounted. Interestingly, Loveland has that option for their season tickets.

  • Adults (15-59): $79
  • Kids (6-14): $34
  • Family of 5 Total: $272
  • Adults (23-59): $459
  • Young Adults (15-22): $349
  • Children (6-14): $209
  • Family of 5 Season Pass Total: $1,545
  • Jumbo Hot Dogs: $5
  • Ski With Your Family Lunch Total: $25 (all of us ended up eating a very substantial hot dog and forgot to check the hamburger price)
Parking
For the Valley as well as the Basin, the farthest one can park away from the lift is about a 5 minute walk. Not too bad. At the Basin, however, that walk ends with a set of stairs that has to be climbed up to get to the same level as the lifts. There is another set of stairs if you are heading for the lodge first to get on gear before heading down that same flight of stairs again t the lift. Not ideal.

The steps up from the parking lot.

Lifts
The two Loveland areas combined have a total of 9 lifts and a covered magic carpet. We did not get to ride all the lifts at the Basin. The new high speed quad chair lift “Chet’s Dream” was fantastic. Quick, safety bar and foot rests. The three other lifts we took that day were all 2 seaters with neither foot rest not safety bar.
If memory serves correctly, the biggest lift at Loveland Valley didn’t have a safety bar or foot rest either.

Crowds
Last year at the Loveland Basin, there were times where we had to wait between 10 and 20 minutes for Lift 7. However, we were there for MLK weekend and assume that that might have played a role.
At our recent trip, wait times for the 4 lifts we were taking that day were all 5 minutes or less. Going up for our first run we took up Chet’s Dream and the runs coming off of that lift were slightly overcrowded for us. However, Loveland is a fairly big mountain and seems to absorb the crowds better as soon as one gets on the runs served by the other lifts.

Terrain
All taken together, Loveland has 94 trails. Of those, almost half are designated to be black runs. Even some of their blue trails were more challenging compared to blues at other resorts. Only 13% of their trails are green. Our favorite slopes were the ones off of the Ptarmigan and #6 lifts which were wide open runs.

Wide open trails off of the Ptarmigan Lift.

The Lodge
The lodge at the Valley was a good place to change and hang out. Lots of families. Due to the stair situation at the Basin we only made it to the changing area which was a bit tight as far as space is concerned but had a couple of changing rooms and a good amount of lockers.

Good to Know
  • The farthest you might be from a bathroom at the valley is under 10 minutes. For the Basin it could be an estimated 20 minutes.
  • We have smelled smelled Marijuana at the parking lot at the Basin.