Greetings, Rocky Mountain/San Juan/Elk Mountains Sliders!

We're into Volume II of Spring Break Breaks, and if you missed Volume I last week, it's posted on the Sliding on the Cheap website (www.slidingonthecheap.com, Colorado link. It's definitely worth a look-see, as the ongoing deals and suggestions for everything from car-pooling to discount lift tix are simply supah! While you're there, go ahead and subscribe to the newsletter so you don't have to hunt for it every week. And this week we have TWO featured resorts, one in the San Juan Mountains and the other in the Elk Mountain range and eminently doable within a couple of days. The problem is choosing which one to ride and which one to write about first!

Tip o' the Ski Week: I have an incredibly savvy bunch of readers out there, and thanks for the info on other websites to visit for deals! At www.estays.com. you'll find lodging packages for Aspen/Snowmass, Crested Butte, and Steamboat - remember this is peak season, so the rates may be on the high side. Visit www.vrbo.com/vrbo/co.htm. for DIRECT contact with property owners in just about every ski town in Colorado - they are usually open to negotiating prices because they simply want their properties filled. And as always, you'll find exceptional deals at www.skitown.com. by going to the Last Second Club link. Yowsa, yowsa, yowsa, these are prices from yester-year!

Travel Scivvies: Looking for a few good fares? Most of them are eaten up by spring breakers, but do your homework and you might find last minute deals at either www.orbitz.com. or www.cheaptickets.com. (BULLETIN! BULLETIN! This just in from Cheap Tickets - fly R/T Boston to Denver for $207, or R/T Chicago to Denver for $195!) An insider's tip as well - see what airlines fly into your destination air terminal and head for their website. When passengers cancel at the last minute, airlines just want to fill their seats and may offer rates to take your breath away! BTW, DIA is hub for both United Airlines and Frontier, so you'll likely get the best rates from them.

Co' Sno' Repo': Heaven, I'm in heaven, and I think it's pro-bab-ly because it snooooowed! Thanks to the accurate forecasting of our happy sponsors at www.weather.com, I hit this past weekend in southwest Colorado perfectly - great fresh snow and great blue skies. What's in store for this week? Eastern Colorado is looking at the likelihood of mountain snow through Friday, partial clearing/isolated snow showers on Saturday, then clear and warmer (well, above freezing anyway) Sunday into partly cloudy Monday and Tuesday. The western slope is looking much the same but with a lot of wind attached - be certain to bring a face mask!

Thought of the week: Nothing happens in a hurry in the mountains.

And now for this week's featured resorts:

Hospitality, thy name is CRESTED BUTTE! The locals are enthusiastic about their mountain and their town, and well it should be so - the steepest run in North America, Rambo (54 board-smackin' degrees), is found you-know-where. For powder's sake, though, even if you're not an expert skier, don't let that deter you! There's more skiable terrain for intermediates and stellar beginner rides at the Butte than you can shake your ski pole at! If you've had your way with the boulders and steep Butte-chutes, you'll grok my ken and yearn to return, but if you haven't then you really do need to find out what you've been missing 'cause like me you'll just hunger to go back. Best thing you can do to find this terra incognito is hire a guide for a half-day and take a high-ride on the best snow in Colorado. They also have a bazillion enticements to get you to their K/O valley and village, so get on that wagon-train! Book a seat on the CB plane for $199 and you get two nights lodging at the Sheraton (ski-in/ski-out property) plus a one-day adult pass to la bella montagna. Visit the Safeway on G Street in Salida and pick up your adult single-day lift ticket for only $37. Kids 5-16 pay their age at the resort for a lift ticket all season long. Rumor also has it that if you purchase a 12-pack of Coors at select west slope retailers outside of Gunnison County you'll receive a 2-fer-1 coupon for lift tix at the Butte. Read about the Olympic sized deals in last week's newsletter, but sit down before you do! Better yet, grab yourself a Crested Butte Brew and bar stool at the Idle Spur pub in the historic Victorian town nestled low in the cleavage of the mountains and ruminate on your incredible fortune to be in Crested Butte! www.cbmr.com.

I can TELL-U-RIDE just by that silly grin on your face! If riders had to pay for natural beauty and Kodak moments around every corner, no one could ever afford to take Das Ride. But since the beauty's included with the lift ticket, you won't find a better value in the San Juans. To top it off, stay in Montrose at the Holiday Inn Express for only $89/pn/do and you'll receive two vouchers for half-price lift tix at Tell-U-Ride plus free breakfast bar at the hotel! Bring two friends and the room/four vouchers is only $109! Shoot, you can't afford NOT to go, 'specially give the premier College Pass/College Card deal ($175 for next year's season pass, and ride the remainder of this season for only $25/day!). If you're not college material, consider purchasing the Telluride Card for $150 and ride the remainder of March for $44/day as opposed to $63/day. Figure how many times you want to ride before season's end and how much you'll save! www.tellurideskiresort.com.

And since I've delivered the goods alphabetically A-Z to this point, we'll take it Z-A this week to give everyone a fair shot! Here goes:

WINTER PARK: Colorado's favorite is serving up some incredible lodging deals, including a B&B special at the Vintage Hotel (darned near the resort) for $69/pp/pn, breakfast included, some restrictions and black-outs apply. Visit www.winterparkresort.com. and click on the lodging link.

VAIL: Colorado's largest Skiway on the Freeway is serving up the chance to win $30,000 in prizes at this Saturday's Mogul Mania. Don't have to be a pro, just a maniac to enter. You'll need a room after all that - stay at the Destination Resorts/Lionshead/Westwind Hotel for $144/pn. Stop in for Happy Hour at the Larkspur in Golden Peak Lodge and get Bloody Mary's, Margaritas, or micros for $3.50. www.vail.snow.com.

STEAMBOAT: Rock the Boat with their Spring SnowSaver package - $297/pp/do includes four nights lodging and three days lift tickies. Rock Das Boot at the FREE concert Saturday, base of Headwall, to the tunes of the Young Dubliners - get ready to kiss the rockin' blarney! www.steamboat.com.

SILVERTON MOUNTAIN: Still goin' strong for only $25/day guided backcountry riding and a maximum of 475 people on the mountain in a single day, 600 annual inches of tru-pow! And please, please, PLEASE honor the warning signs for out of bounds, otherwise you'll pitch yourself headfirst into the Darwin Awards (www.darwinawards.com) for being the first person to go down with an avalanche charge in your ear because you ventured into the Twilight Zone. Duh! www.silvertonmountain.com.

PURGATORY MOUNTAIN [at] Durango Mountain Resort: Check out Internet Special #1 on their Vacation Planner/Packages link - five nights lodging, four days Total Adventure Tick, continental breakfast, only $279/pp. The Durango Film Festival ends this weekend, awarding the Golden Quakie to the best films followed by encore screenings on Sunday. Happy Hour at Purgy's Friday and Saturday features the Kirk James Blues Band, winners of the best new single at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival - beam me up, Purgy! Went for the burn and it's burning you? Stop at Trimble Hot Springs seven miles north of Durango and soak your pains away for only $8.50! www.ski-purg.com.

LOVELAND: The Land of Love is whispering in your ear - "ride the Basin, ride the Basin!" Visit participating Front Range Wendy’s locations to pick up a 2-fer-1 adult full-day lift ticket coupon, and get a Hot 'n' Juicy quarter-pounder while you're there! Now through March 31st look for special neck-ringer coupons on 6-packs of Moosehead Beer valid for a 2-fer-1 adult full-day lift ticket. And try your amateur alpine skills at the annual Dash For Cash this Saturday. Open to anyone with a valid lift ticket, two-stickers and knuckle-draggers sign up for a chance to be in one of the two groups pitted against each other - the uphill race yields a chance to grab a $106 bag of cash (they tried with their boots on!). If you're still walking, the Apres partee in the Rathskeller Bar will finish you off. www.skiloveland.com.

KEYSTONE: Keystone's a little out of control with these deals - bag the drive home on Sunday and stay the night for only $64.....stay in Keystone's Forest Neighborhood for only $65/pp/pn and ski FREE! The Colorado Adventure Mobile heads to Key's Threes Saturday - seating is limited, so make your reservations at www.coloradoadventuremobile.com!. www.keystoneresort.com.

COPPER: Last minute March breaks include deluxe studios for $89/pn, 1 BR condos for $109/pn. And remember the discount lift tix at King Soopers, only $43? They're still waiting for you! www.ski-copper.com.

BRECKENRIDGE: This week's hot-off-the-internet specials exclusively for you: Wildwood Suites through 3/11, 1 BR $165/pn, 2 BR $235/pn. Great Divide Lodge $119/pn. And this Saturday, check out the Mt. Dew Vertical Challenge, free and open to competitors of all sizes, shapes, and chronologies. In a dual giant slalom race, two-stickers and knuckle-draggers compete against other in one of 23 skier and 12 snowboarder age and gender categories (do they have an Old Fart category?). www.breckenridge.snow.com.

ASPEN: Aspen welcomed home Olympic medalist Chris Klug this week, so consider sharing the Buttermilk slopes with him April 5-7 at the Burton Klug Snowboard Camp - see www.chrisklug.com. for more beta. This weekend, stay at the Skier's Chalet, base of chair 1A, for only $100/pn, two night minimum, or at the Pokolodi Lodge (say that fast three times!) for only $89/pn. For more lodging deals, visit www.aspensnowmass.com. and hit the package/specials link. The Aspen Ski Plane is still running for day trips or overnighters - www.aspenskiplane.com. will give you everything you need (except a winning PowerBall ticket!). What a difference a train makes, and Glenwood Springs knows it - travel R/T on Amtrak coach from Denver or Salt Lake City to Glenwood Springs, add hotel lodging and transfers, and a 1-day hot springs pool pass - it will set you back (are you ready for this?) $127/pp/do for one night lodging, $170/pp/do for two nights lodging. Why Glenwood Springs? Well, Sunlight Mountain is a hoot and a holler away by FREE shuttle bus, and Aspen/Snowmass is 35 minutes away by FREE shuttle bus. What are you waiting for? Call RMA Tours at (303) 759-4600.

Till next week, stay low, stay smart, and stay luz,
Your Robin Hood of the Rockies,
Martha
skibabeage [at] hotmail.com