Durango Mountain Resort

DMR or Purg as the locals refer to it has variety of terrain for the whole family. A great resort to bring kids to with a ton of activities off the snow. A recent expansion to the village and added expert terrain has been a hit. Be sure to check out the park on the front side and hit Rays Ridge on the back off lift 8. The ski and ride school is as good if not better than any in the US

OK, it's my hometown ski resort, so I have to give it a "5," but I will say that we have skied several ski areas in Colorado and New Mexico and continue to feel that Durango Mountain Resort is our favorite! There is an area devoted entirely to beginners and some nice green runs, the most excellent, scenic, interesting blue runs I have ever skied, and plenty of black runs as well. One area of the mountain is devoted to more extreme terrain. Durango Mountain resort is known for its terrain parks. There are four terrain parks, with other boxes/ jumps scattered throughout the mountain. My advice is to move away from the "front side" after a few runs, as there is a greater variety of runs, fewer people, and nicer snow on the back. Lift tickets are more affordable at DMR and it can offer the best of both worlds--with the feel of a smaller resort and many of the amenities of a larger one (such as more powerful lifts and a variety of runs). DMR's limitations may be a smaller number of green runs than other resorts its size--(although many of the blue runs are "easy blues") and its restaurants are somewhat limited in terms of what they offer. Try staying at a condo on the moumtain, as they also offer access to the nice heated pool/ hot tub and give you more space than the hotel. A shuttle runs between the mountain and condos scattered around the DMR area. We have season passes and never really seem to tire of the variety of runs that DMR offers us.

Durango Mountain may not be as big as some of the other ski areas in Colorado but but there's enough to keep you busy for a least a few days. When we visited there was about a foot of powder on the ground and it snowed pretty much the whole day. Is there such a thing as too much powder? Probably not but at DMR that day we got close to our limit! :)