THEY say if Aspen is for millionaires then Beaver Creek is for billionaires.
May 6, 2015 - This story was originally published on news.com.au/travel
Sitting in the famous Colorado ski fields, Beaver Creek resort is renowned for its champagne snow but it is different from the rest. It has built itself around being exclusive, from its gated communities to private member clubs — it’s where the rich quietly go to play.
The best way to reach Beaver Creek is to fly into Eagle Vail airport where you’ll see more private jets than anywhere else in the world. From here it’s just a 30 minute drive away.
Beaver Creek resort’s luxury offering has earned it the tagline “not exactly roughing it.” As pretentious as this may sound, the resort is surprisingly anything but.
In fact Beaver Creek has a family feel. It’s friendly and low key. Skiers don’t go to Beaver Creek to be seen. It’s not about flaunting your thousand dollar fur jacket through the village, it’s more about a day on the slopes and a chance to “get away from it all”.
Instead of the celebrities you’ll find in Aspen, the Beaver Creek crowd are more likely to be CEOs, hedge fund managers and American Presidents. President Ford was a fixture at Beaver Creek owning a chalet on the mountain that even had a wing for his secret service.
Beaver Creek resort has three distinct mountain areas ranging from gentle, groomed slopes to open intermediate trails to steep bumps. It offers over 735 hectares of terrain and a 1018 metre vertical rise.
From its modest opening in 1980, Beaver Creek now has 25 lifts and over 150 runs. It is world class skiing and it attracts the skiing elite. The governor at the time, Richard Lamm, declared it the “Tiffany’s of ski areas.”
And that it is. Beaver Creek is a full service resort. A paved village links a thread of high end shops, a series of escalators take skiers to the foot of the mountain, and an on call village shuttle service picks you up and drops you up wherever and whenever you would like to go. If that’s not enough, free piping hot cookies are handed out at 3pm every day [during ski season], there’s an ice rink in the middle of town, and a ski rental company that even comes to your hotel to fit you out.
