Eldora Mountain — Attraction in Nederland

If you go here, do not delay in getting back to your car. There is a culture of allowing cars to behave recklessly in their parking lots and management does nothing to stop it.

Went up for a nice day of Nordic skiing at Eldora. Had a great time and stayed out on the trails a few minutes past closing at 4 pm. Got back to the car at 5:15 in the North lot to find that my car had been hit so hard in the side rear bumper that it was spun 45 degrees from the position it was originally parked in. An Eldora employee walked over to me to say, “yeah, happens all the time. Kids come up here and do donuts on the ice and hit the cars.” No note left, nothing. Hit and run, and not the first one of its kind. While I was sitting in the vehicle contacting police and my insurance, THREE other vehicles came in to the lot to do donuts, 1 of which came within 3 feet of hitting my still parked car. Now I am on the hook for my insurance deductible and the resort refuses to acknowledge any responsibility. At the suggestion of the employee that day, I called the customer service reps at the resort. I ended up getting transferred to the customer service manager and he said that its the first time in 8 years that he has had someone call to report this type of behavior. Somehow he thinks that my car being hit, and my eye witnessing if 3 other cars doing the same thing that caused this accident, all within the span of less than an hour, is not cause for alarm or in anyway the responsibility of the resort. They obviously take no responsibility in making sure their own rules are followed and that guests at their resort are safe. What if I had been loading gear into the car from the side where the reckless driver couldn’t see? It is incredibly dangerous to allow this type of behavior to be seen as excusable. They should be ashamed.

I really wish they would take responsibility for the safety of their guests on their private property, because I truly enjoyed my time there up until that point and would have loved to return. Sadly now I will not due to their complete lack of care and ownership over what happens on...

I don't typically review businesses as broad as a ski resort but had a few things to mention here that could be helpful in a ski day decision for others. I enjoyed the terrain at Eldora, it had a bunch of diversity from beginner to expert. Vertical rise isn't substantial, but enough to stay entertained. It felt like a blown up version of a small midwest hill I learned on. Getting here from Denver is so smooth compared to I-70. Arrving only an hour early is plenty early to find good parking and get geared up and in Alpenglow line before it gets too crazy. I'll certainly return because of these perks, but with a few things in mind.

All of the terrain with exception of the bunny hills and terrain parks is initially accessed from Aplenglow lift. Because of this, the base area can be super long. Additionally, there are lots of beginners here (which is completely fine and cool) but the gates and magic carpet are intimidating for beginners. On the 7-8 times I rode this lift, 5 of them had an altercation where a skiier didn't line up in time, lined up wrong, lined up with wrong group, and/or fell. There needs to be stronger direction here for the ones who don't get it, and assistance in demonstrating the importance of lining up properly and timely for a detachable lift with a carpet.

Although there is some great terrain to explore the runs are very short, lifts are slow, and lines are long. Doing 2-5 minute long runs at best, to stand in line for 10-15, to ride the lift for 10, makes you lose interest quickly.

Lastly, the staff all seem to hate their lives. In the 20 or so interactions I had with different sectors of staff, only 2 were positive. The rest were either unfriendly, rude or simply didn't want to do their jobs. The guys at the taproom bar, and the lady at the gift shop register were great, though.

So how I justify returning? Come back here on a weekday where you can run laps on any lift and hone in on your skills, where there isn't such a mass of people, and where the staff isn't under weekend stress. I think under these circumstances this place...

This review is for the kid's Trek program. I can't recommend it. Although the teachers are super, and the day to day folks running the program are nice if very disorganized, the class size is getting larger. Their policy of no make-up days even when the mountain is closed is a travesty. This year (2015) they closed the mountain on Sunday due to high wind and trees down (although by no means a unique weather event.) Honestly I got the impression they decided to close the mountain was because everyone wanted to go watch the playoff game and the Director of Programs (JP Chavelier) said as much. I probably talked to JP for over an hour the first time trying to convince him that it was in his best interest to try to make amends for the canceled program, but the best they would do was a 1/2 price voucher for a day lesson. He explained this was 'industry practice.' Well, look online, and you'll quickly find Winter Park will reschedule if the pass is closed (and that also probably means if they can't start lifts do to high winds). JP said 'this will happen again' and also said next time they won't be handing out vouchers. I suspect he knows it will happen again as they aren't properly taking care of their forests in order to save costs (they clearly and cutting costs everywhere they can) and wind will cause it unsafe to ski there.

So, if you don't mind paying higher prices than Winter park (7 week program, so although the total is slightly higher, the per-lesson is quite a bit less) for larger class size and the risk that you won't get one of the 6 lessons, then go for it.

Otherwise go somewhere else. We'll be going to winter park were the skiing is better for us, and if the lessons are canceled at least they will reschedule, and not just say 'Sorry!'

Eldora is clearly NOT the local's mountains. It's the 'how much money can we make this...