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Vail
French toast is about as ethnic as this winter haven ever gets. Vail is the ultimate no-brainer -- the snow sports equivilant of a safe school. This mid-Colorado resort boasts more runs than you could ski in a year and is one of the prime built-from-scratch mountain towns in America. And it has cachet, just not too much. Info: 800-270-4840.

The women:
Vail attracts a better than usual class of ski town woman-- the kind with jobs that pay more than minimum wage. Even that snowboard chick with bell bottoms and high heeled boots probably works as a graphic designer.

The mountain:
Most people equate Vail with the kind of buffed cruising runs that make hackers feel like heroes. But serious skiers come here for the accessible adventures offered by the Back Bowls. On one of Vail's frequent powder days, make a beeline to Outer Mongolia, the resort's most remote terrain, and get fresh tracks until your legs give out.

Great trails:
Riva Ridge, a steepish cruiser that's quintessential Vail

Local drink:
Mudslide

Dress code:
Anything goes, from hip-hop to Manhattan black-on-black to Wranglers and cowboy boots.

Eats:
La Cantina (970-476-7661) has great cheap Mexican. Eat the fish tacos if you're feeling brave. The Daily Grind (970-476-5856) is the best very early/very late place in Vail, featuring righteous java, unpretentious munchies, good music, and many female latte lovers.

Sleeping in:
The Vail Athletic Club & Spa (970-476-7721) is walking distance to the slopes, this luxe hotel features one of the best gyms in Colorado, complete with an indoor climbing wall. For more price-conscious types, the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort (970-476-4444) right by the gondola, is what passes for budget digs.

Local's tip:
Get off on the back bowls? Bribe an instructor to take you to the Mintum Mile. It's perfect intermediate back-country skiing or riding, and you can still slide down to the bar at the end of the day.

Bar Scene:
Sundance Saloon (970-476-3453) in Lionshead is the last ski bum bar in Vail, so get there before this institution is sanitized. It's also one of the few places west of the Continental Divide to get a serious game of pool.

The George (970-476-2656) is a faux pub that has all the essentials including Guinness and foosball.

Aspen
Are rich people more attractive? Well yes, actually. Imagine Halloween all year long and you've got Aspen dialed. Everyone in this ritzy four-mountain resort is tying to be something they're not: rich, young, hip, or a hotshot skier. This makes for a perfect getaway. Aspenites takes their partying seriously. At many ski tows, regulars wimp out when faced with that fateful decision between last call and first run, but Aspen's vampires feel no guilt about playing till dawn and sleeping till three. Info: 800-262-7736.

The Mountain: Separate but equal tells the story at Aspen. The resort consists of four mountains a shuttle bus ride away from one another. Aspen Mountain - known as Ajax - features a wide variety of intermediate and advanced terrain but is one of the few mountains in the U.S. that still bans snowboarders. Beginner boarders should head to Buttermilk, which sports some of the best learn-to-snowboard terrain anywhere; intermediates should head to Snowmass, with its wide, fast cruisers. Aspen Highlands is like an English muffin, full of nooks and crannies.

Great Trails: Ajax: Face of Bell. Snowmass: Big Bum, with widely spaced trees made wider by a fire.

Local drink:
The Aspen Crud.

Dress code:
If you've ever harbored a secret yearning to wear fur, this is the place.

Eats:
Mezzaluna (970-925-5882) features good pizza.
Su Casa (970-920-1488) offers tasty, uncomplicated Mexican food.

Sleeping in:
Skiers Chalet (970-920-2037) is one of the cheapest hotels in Aspen, offering no-frills rooms right at the base of Lift 1. The Little Nell (970-920-4600) ain't cheap, but it has the nicest rooms you'll ever trash. You can always stay elsewhere and mingle with the hoipolloi at the legendary bar downstairs.

Locals' tip:
Aspen Highlands often gets the fewest crowds.

Ski alternative:
Who says man cannot fly? You don't need anything but cash and cojones to try tandem paragliding off Aspen Mountain with Aspend Expeditions.

Gory detail:
Near the bottom of Copper Bowl, you can see where Michael Kennedy played his final game of ski football.

The Bar Scene:
Aspen's bar scene revolves around this holy troika of hot spots - one for the natives, one for the social climbers, one for everyone else.

Eric's (970-920-4244) is where young local's hang out. The pool shouting is pretty casual, the bar scene is not (it's a real meat market).

426 (970-920-3833) is where you need to ask how much it costs to enter this exclusive members-only club. If you can't afford it, too bad because this is Aspen's best after-hours prowl and one of the great people watching spots in the Western hemisphere.

The Tippler (970-925-4977) is big, noisy, and boasts one of Aspen's few nonprivate dance floors. This is a great place to have a drink or ten and, if you're really lucky, get into a fight. Or save the fistcuffs for '70s night on Tuesdays.

Steamboat Springs
Steamboat if one of North America's largest ski mountains, with six peaks of groomed cruisers, bumps, steeps, open meadows, world-famous tree skiing, and lots of that champagne powder.

Steamboat has produced 54 Winter Olympians, more than any other town in North America. Average snowfall is 337 inches and summit evelvation is 10,568 feet.

Eats:
Steamboat's culinary choices run from quick and easy to dinner under the stars with the finest Colorado-grown produce, wild game, poulty, fish, and meats. For starters, try dinner atop the gondola at Hazies, Ragner's or the Western BBQ.

Alternatives:
Try the hot springs, tubing, cross-country skiing, spa sessions, hot-air balloon rides, horseback rides, powdercat skiing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, fly-fishing, ice climbing, sleigh rides, ice skating, night skiing, or glider rides. 800-922-2722.

Biggest Event:
29th Annual Bud Light Cowboy Downhill, January 21.

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