Wow! Just spent 2 days skiing at Durango for the first time with my wife and 10year old daughter. I was shocked that the mountain was NOT crowded because of Spring Break. Did not wait one time (Friday/Saturday). Normally Ski Taos, Santa Fe, Angel Fire, but loved this mountain. Great Wide runs. Funs runs with trees and tons of up and down hills on the runs where you could not see what was next! Perfect Place for Intermediate Skiers. Stayed in Durango and arrived at resort in 25 minutes after leaving hotel in town.
All highway - easy access and safe road from Durango. Parking does need to be expanded - but minor issue compared to the positives. Two Great Lounges/Restaurants on Mountain with plenty of room and options. Suggestion: take Harris Hill Run to Lift 3 or you may be using your poles, especially with children. Great Signs unlike Wolf Creek. We had about 5 runs where we did not see one other person! We skied to 4:30pm each day. Favorite Part: The ability to sit in lounge chairs on the snow at the mountain restaurants and in front of the logde after skiing - Great Unique Culture! As a New Mexican, pleasantly surprised could get Green Chile on the mountain and in Durango! Two of the Best Days of Skiing we have ever had as a family!
Anonymous - February 25th, 2008
1 of 1 people found this Resort Review helpful.
Overall
3 of 5
Family Friendly
3 of 5
Downhill Terrain
4 of 5
Terrain Park
n/a
Apres Ski
n/a
Just returned from 3 days skiing (2/21-2/23) at Durango. The snow was some of the best I've ever skied. In 3 days it hardly stopped snowing, one day we had a bit of sun. Conditions and grooming were great. The area is large enough to enjoy for about 3 days, unless you are a tree skier, which gives you limitless possibilities.
I experienced a few lift lines on a crowded Saturday. Weekdays will be fine. When there are lines they are a bit disorganized. They have parking and vehicle access problems they need to figure out. Buses have a hard time with the icy hill leading to the drop off area.
This is a locals mountain and they pretty much have free run of the place. They haven't put much real noticeable work in "welcoming" outsiders, even though they are building like crazy at the base and do bill themselves as a "family ski area".
Overall, I liked the skiing. The new terrain on the west side along with another high speed lift will open new possibilities for better skiers.
Durango is best visited on a weekday, unless you don't mind riding the older, slow lifts, which never experience lines.
Bring your patience and enjoy the snow.
Anonymous - February 23rd, 2008
No one has yet recommended this Resort Review.
Overall
2 of 5
Family Friendly
1 of 5
Downhill Terrain
3 of 5
Terrain Park
n/a
Apres Ski
n/a
We were there for President's Day weekend and the mountain was so overly crowded. There were very, very long lift lines (no order - people push and cut in lines) and the runs were shoulder to shoulder with rowdy and crude local snowboard kids skiing out of control. This is not a family friendly mountain as advertised. It is very dangerous for young children and even adults due to all of the people. The main run is dangerous. There is a lot of construction at the base area and they don't have enough parking spaces. We had to park on forest service roads way away from the resort. Speaking of which - the resort is actually 45 minutes from Durango. So, if you stay at the resort you have to drive into town to eat. If you stay in Durango you have to drive up there to ski. If it is snowing, good luck getting back and forth. We will not be going back.
Me and 5 frieds go every year this time of the year. We always have a good time and the people that work there are really helpfull and nice.
we sometimes think about going somewhere else but end up at durango, simply because there not ONE reason to change. Durango MNT is just perfect.
Anonymous - February 18th, 2008
No one has yet recommended this Resort Review.
Overall
5 of 5
Family Friendly
5 of 5
Downhill Terrain
5 of 5
Terrain Park
3 of 5
Apres Ski
3 of 5
Durango Mountain Resort rocks! The snow has been incredible during our two visits this year. The new lodge and planned additional skiing on the backside will really open things up.
You're missing out if you've never been to Durango!
Anonymous - January 29th, 2008
0 of 1 people found this Resort Review helpful.
Overall
5 of 5
Family Friendly
5 of 5
Downhill Terrain
n/a
Terrain Park
n/a
Apres Ski
5 of 5
VERY kid friendly, LOCALs' favorite, best fish tacos in the San Juan Mountains...
Fresh, healthy, and fast!
Hit it on your way home from the mountain.
Delicious local brews and homemade margaritas, too!
Anonymous - January 25th, 2008
1 of 1 people found this Resort Review helpful.
Overall
5 of 5
Family Friendly
4 of 5
Downhill Terrain
5 of 5
Terrain Park
4 of 5
Apres Ski
5 of 5
The resort is awesome! I recommend coming not during holidays because that is when it is really crowded. And you should come during the week when the locals are barely even there. The terrain parKs are fun and the snow is great. The resort is very enjoyable except when it is crowded then the lift lines are really long. The food is very expensive and I recommentd bringing your own lunch. I do also recomend getting your rentals in town because on the mountain it is EXPENSIVE.
Anonymous - January 24th, 2008
1 of 1 people found this Resort Review helpful.
Overall
4 of 5
Family Friendly
4 of 5
Downhill Terrain
5 of 5
Terrain Park
n/a
Apres Ski
n/a
We just returned from four wonderful days of skiing. The ski runs were in perfect condition, the weather was wonderful, the mountain was ours as there were not many people on the slopes. We stayed in the Purgatory Village Hotel. Our window view was of lifts 4 and 6. The ski in / ski out was fine. The only problem we had was the availablity and varity of meals. The meals on the base of the mountain were the same as on the mountain. We drove into Durango two nights to eat dinner. Durango Mountain Resort must have more venues for eating.
I snowboard and live in Missouri. I went to Durango in January and they had no terrain park open. I went to durango because they preached about how awesome their parks were. Roped off their were some mounds of snow but no access. Wish I would of stayed another day at Wolf Creek but Durango did have open groomed trails which meant for lots of speed. Nice lift access and friendly staff makes for a nice day of riding.
Anonymous - January 10th, 2008
1 of 1 people found this Resort Review helpful.
Overall
4 of 5
Family Friendly
5 of 5
Downhill Terrain
5 of 5
Terrain Park
n/a
Apres Ski
2 of 5
Just got back from my 2nd trip to Durango - maybe we got lucky but there was incredible snow both times. Some great black runs on the backside - good mix of groomed and powder blue runs. Not huge, but definitely enough to keep things interesting for a few days. Instructors are were plentiful and looked pretty decent. Used the funjet charter from Dallas - super simple and cheap, SW airlines always a pleasure, stayed at Tamarron - nice place, good pool/spa area, halfway between town and mountian. Schoolhouse is a cool hole-in-the wall just down from the resort at Needles, some other cool places downtown Durango - and lots of good microbrews. Everybody's laid back, mountian and rental shop staff was hit and miss - some friendly, some still stoned (appears there is some love for the devil's lettuce in this town). Definitely need some Apres-ski action on the mountian, and the eating establishments are a little worse for the wear but nice because they aren't big cafeterias.
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