Loveland Ski Area

Had a great time snowboarding I couldn’t have chosen a better spot. The snow so fluffy and soft ! Decent amount of people during the weekend. Wasn’t snowing when I went so it was perfect weather. It has snowed a bit a couple days before. The «bunny hill «was so not a bunny hill lol but I loved it regardless. It was pretty steep for me at least, but what do I know im just a beginner lol People are really nice and helpful at the shop! Will definitely be back. Had a blast with friends !

Whatever time you’re planning on leaving, don’t. Leave 2 hours earlier than that. Trust me. We left Auroa at 6AM thinking we’d get there at 8AM and have a full day to play. Boy were we wrong! We didn’t get there until 10:45! Traffic was absolutely horrible and we were pretty much parked on the freeway. There were so many crazy accidents. Way worse than I’ve seen in LA. Anyways, compared to Big Bear, this place is awesome. Very spacious. For a ½ day, it cost $ 103/​person for rentals + lessons. My snowboarding instructor was a jerk. He was really inpatient and annoyed with my group. What do you expected when you’re ski instructor for a class of 8 adults who have NEVER snowboarded?! Other instructors were much nicer. This guy (forgot his name) SUCKED. He ruined by snowboarding experience. Sure, I was the worst one in the class, but as instructors, I feel like they should be patient and encouraging.
Anyways, the snow is nice and fluffy. Would highly recommend that students who attend U of Colorado purchase discounted season passes at school. You’ll save in the long run as long as you ski more than 5 times/​year.

Was in Denver for work during the week, and decided to come here with a colleague randomly on a Saturday with no gear or skills. My colleague had some experience skiing, but I was a total newbie. We took advantage of the Day Tripper package, which provided clothing (bibs, jacket, gloves) and all the gear for skiing (skis, poles, goggles). The rental situation was a bit chaotic but all the staff were super friendly and eager to help. We were at the Valley location.
Since I was brand new, I enrolled in the two-​hour ski lesson for beginners. It was expensive but worth it! Troy was my instructor and he was great! There were a few of us at different levels of beginner and he helped us to develop skills at our own pace. The others in the group decided to quit early, and Troy ended up taking me on the lift and showing me how to get on/​off and gave me tips along the way down the slope. Recommend!

I have never snowboarded before, my sister nephew and I went to Loveland for three days. initially had signed up for one lesson, Kent was awesome, so we signed up for two additional lessons and received a season pass. Took two additional classes second day with Ryan he was spectacular and third day i was on my own with Wayne. Wayne was absolutely amazing he had me properly shifting weight and maneuvering like I had been boarding for years.
Nice slopes, friendly staff, very reasonably priced. The food is well not great but i have had far worse.
I am going back on 02÷10÷16 and plan on going at least once every two weeks through the season.

I’m a fan because ski lift prices are the best around and it’s a locals spot. All staff we met from gear rentals to security were helpful and pleasant.
Bunny slopes opening November 20, 2015 for the season. Call ahead to confirm. Otherwise, newbies SHOULD take at least 3 hour lesson. Green here is like east coast blue.

Great place to snowboard and learn! I took a full day first class with Kent, i believe that was his name sorry idr :(i learned alot that day on thursday the 14^th and the following day was able to take what ive learned to Loveland Basin and had a blast boarding down the beginner slopes with my boyfriend who is a beginner too but better than me hahah.
The place is easy to get to and renting things is easy as well. I was able to rent my jacket for 3 days straight and that was great i could take it back to the hotel since i didnt buy a jacket because at home in CA every sporting store stopped selling all their gear… Like really? Its still jan. Sure we dont get snow but really??? But whatever haha loveland is a great place to learn boarding and i cant wait to take the skills ive learned to other places around the country to snowboard.
Everyone was so nice and helpful. There was a time where i didnt get on the lift correctly and even though it was embarassing cause i fell over cause i psyched myself out, but the lift people were nice enough to slow it down for me and my boyfriend the next couple of times haha so that was awesome!
Thanks for a great time!

My family and I went to the Loveland Ski Village — the one for beginner lessons? I think it’s called that.
Due to massive traffic we arrived at noon and couldn’t get the full-​day ski lessons so we were offered a good discount to do the half-​day ski lessons that included full rental equipment and a ski lift pass. This was our first time ever skiing, but the staff was really friendly and answered any questions we had without hesitation. We’re planning to go skiing every year now and Loveland will be our place to be.

Great place to learn for beginners like us because there are less people on the slopes compared to the bigger ski resorts. The rental line for boarding gear is an easy and simple process, however the line gets long on weekends. Make sure to get there early on weekends because when we went on Saturday January 2, they were out of boots. Instead of buying lunch there, we made our own sandwiches and brought them with us to eat at our cars. We stayed in Loveland valley for most of the time since we are beginners but Loveland basin seems to have plenty of fun trails for more experienced boarders.

We recently purchased the 3 class pass for newcomers and it has been nothing but wonderful. We had our last lesson with Banks today and he was GREAT! Banks was our favorite instructor (although they were all great), he was very knowledgeable and very encouraging. We’re excited to upgrade to the basin.

Great value. Lots of great runs for a variety of experience levels. Lots of nice warm cabins for a cold day. Lifts are not high speed which is fine with me as long as ticket prices stay low. $ 60!

One of the best ski areas along I-​70 for what you pay for. Cheaper than Copper and other big resorts and great views of the surrounding area from mostly anywhere on the mountain. Great value and great mountain.

Loveland is a great ski area, and if you want ski lessons, I suggest you go here. The lessons are inexpensive and the instructors are great. When you buy 3 lessons, you get a free season pass.
The proximity to Denver makes this an ideal day trip.
Bring a lunch and use microwaves to heat your food to save money.
This place isn’t a resort, but it’s a great place to ski.
Traffic can be bad on 70, but I’ve gotten to Loveland at 8:30 and the lifts are up and running, even though they don’t technically open until 9.
My only complaint is that some of the trails aren’t clearly marked, so I we accidentally got on some more difficult trails that I was not ready for (a black). Other than that I love skiing here.

This review is mainly in regards to our instructor Bill (I don’t know his last name, but he is an older gentleman in his 60s who has been skiing for 50 years). If you go to Loveland I highly recommend taking a lesson with this particular instructor, as he was fantastic. Unlike some of the instructors, he was very patient, accommodating and well paced. He has us ALL (there were 6 of us) go from barely knowing how to stand on skis, to taking turns down steep slopes at the end of 4 hours (and there we no fatalities). He gives on pointe instructions and tips and he waits for you until you feel safe. He gears his teaching individual to the members of the class so that everyone receives the level of instruction appropriate to them. Honestly, I would recommend paying him in private for lessons if he hadn’t been our group instructor.

Loveland is a very affordable ski/​snowboard area. Bought a lift ticket and rental package for 60 dollars on liftopia during the early season. Also, the employees are very helpful. Parking was ample and no waits for lifts on a Monday. Would come back.

I visited during Christmas and it was too cold but an amazing experience. I got great lessons and then I think I did decent on the bunny slopes. Lol. If you are sensitive to the altitude, I recommend to take something to help with the motion sickness. I found that helpful. I liked that there was a large dining/​resting area and you can either bring your own food or purchase it. Everyone was very friendly and helpful.

What a GREAT ski area. Hour drive from Denver and really cool and old school. It was an early pre season day so understanding that, it was super fun. I;m sure when winter hits it’s awesome. I’m laughing at some of the reviews though, that one girl that gave it 2 stars because she fell getting off the lift, mind you she’s from Houston and hasn’t ridden in 14 years, pretty ridiculous. You got to understand what Loveland Ski area is … the whole point is, it isnt Aspen. That’s why I got to park right up front for FREE and my burger at lunch was affordable. GREAT day, GREAT place, I love Loveland. I’ll be back when it snows more :)))))

Loveland Ski Area was easy to get to since its directly off the interstate. We got decent parking, but I could see how that could be an issue. The snowboard rental people were very helpful and polite.
Their area for beginners to practice and learn was WAY too small. My mom and husband were trying to learn and there just wasn’t much room to really do much.
I realized the hard way that the lift in Loveland didn’t have a bar that comes down in your lap and felt very nervous the whole ride up the lift. At the top/​end of the lift where you get off, my husband and I both took a nice spill. The lift seemed to drop people off way faster than I remember other places, with a very steep drop right under the lift. But then again, I hadn’t been boarding in about 14 years. But the actual run we went on was pretty decent.
The food was OK inside, definitely not something to write home about.
Overall, I won’t be going back to Loveland ski area any time soon.

PROS
— Much more affordable than other nearby ski resorts
— Relatively close to Denver
— A good place to learn & take beginner lessons
CONS
— The lifts aren’t very fast, and the runs are short. Therefore, the lifttime-​to-​runtime ratio isn’t great… feels like you sit on the lifts for a long time and are rewarded with only short runs
— Not a huge mountain
— Terrain parks didn’t have many unadorned/​regular jumps — mostly boxes/​cannons/​rails/​rainbows

How to have a great day at Loveland:
1) Arrive early. Parking is first come first serve, and just because its the closest ski resort to Denver doesn’t mean you won’t get caught in 3 hours of i-​70 traffic. If the parking lot is full, you’ll have to ride the bus a short ways and park down in what I like to call, «Bunny Valley».
2) Bring your own lunch. Loveland isn’t Copper, Breck or Aspen and has terrible food that is still just as expensive as Copper. The bar has a good selection of beer on tap, but the food… :/​IF you happen to forget to pack your lunch, the only edible items are the fresh made Calzones (be prepared to wait 30ish minutes and only be able to order the special for the day if its before 12), and the Red Chili from the downstairs bar. These items are actually good.
3) For skiing; if you’re a beginner, stay on lifts 2 and 6. Intermediate, lifts 1 and 4 are best, especially 4 as there are less people on the north mountain and the lift is newer and nicer, plus there’s usually great powder on this side of the resort. I’m not yet very Advanced so I can’t attest to lifts 8 or 9, but they look really fun! I want to check them out soon. Yes Loveland is small and the runs are short, but the lines are too.
4) Loveland rarely has Bluebird days, its usually pretty cloudy and cold and can get windy. Check the Loveland website for the weather and forecast and definitely start with your warmest layers, you can always take them off if you get hot. The lockers are reasonable and they never run out of lockers at the basin. You can get a locker in the main lodge, both upstairs and downstairs, or in the ski rental shop.
Well! That’s how you have a good ski day at Loveland! Now, if you’re taking classes… that’s another story.. .
ON CLASSES.. .. I’d rate Loveland a 2.
We bought 3-​Class-​Passes at the intermediate level this year, and after coming up several days, advancing on our own (self taught), and buying all our gear, we decided to utilize our lessons yesterday.
Dear. God.
I booked a level 3 Intermediate Class and we were told –twice– by 2 different people to go to the Kiosk at the Basin next to the food court (in the main lodge, upstairs, by the bathrooms). Lo and Behold, someone finally shows up at the kiosk 10 minutes later and we’re supposed to be in the Valley.. . to keep this from being a rant let’s skip to the Valley. After finally finding where we are supposed to check in (back of the main building, lower level, below the food court) the lovely Peach at the check in desk advised us to «Get out there by the fenced area –they’re WAITING for you!!», I’m sorry, your people told us to go to the wrong place.
Then we get to the group of instructors standing around and an old man tells us to put on our skiis– he needs to see how we put them on. Um. Ok? …we ARE in the advanced intermediate section right? Right… OK come over here… No go over there. No take your skiis off! OK we will put you with instructor Dave’s class instead. Level 5 intermediate. OK we’re going BACK UP TO THE BASIN!!! Why couldn’t we just check in up there? Whatever.
Dave was very nice. He showed us how to turn properly and have the right stance. I’m…not sure this was Advanced Intermediate info… I haven’t done lessons elsewhere or ever before but.. . if intermediate goes from levels 1 – 5 and intermediate should be Blue runs, why did we only do Green runs and get shown how to turn… and…nope. … Just how to turn. And connect the turns. That should have been, IMHO, the first 30 mins? Then maybe something a little more advanced like, let’s show you how to get down a blue mogul run or, this is how you should control your speed on a steep blue or… i don’t know that’s why I wanted to take a lesson!!! Lessons to learn how to ski better should be somewhat hard… not a snooze. (Also IMHO).
Basically I felt like we spent a lot of time just practicing turns that an «Advanced Intermediate» should already know. We did. I guess we needed to invest instead in one on one or smaller group lessons, their website advertises «Loveland Super Sessions: Take a class taught specificly for high intermediate or advanced skiers & riders. These small, focused groups will adress your personal goals & explore the conditions of the day at Loveland Basin.»
I thought this would be what I was getting under the Master the Mountain Advanced intermediate class, it obviously was not. I’m not saying this is not the class for anyone, just not us. Well, you live you learn. We will probably try to use our remaining two classes towards these Super Sessions instead, if they let us. Though, the class pass is apparently only for Novice/​Intermediate Master the Mountain lessons. If they won’t let us then I guess we’re just SOL and know better than to get lessons at Loveland again.

Today we faced rude tickets salesman. He could not get it straight I wanted three tickets. After my unnecessary apologies the window was slammed in my face.
Then we encountered rude skiers on the slopes and more who stole tables in the cafeteria. (Twice).
The skiing was great despite the «you get what you pay for» crappy attitudes. Still had fun despite Loveland’s employees and rude skiers.
One star for the slopes. Minus three for the attitudes.