Riding at "The Beav" is an experience all its own. With so much grooming and round the clock snowmaking, the runs can have a consistency that's sometimes almost too perfect. Don't worry, though, because the natural deep powder can still be found almost all season—just look in the woods. The woods are actually Beaver Creek's No. 1 asset to snowboarders. Powder lines, world-class log slides that will make any skateboarder envious and cliff lines abound, making The Beav one of the favorites among Colorado locals in the know. Be sure to check the trail map for snowboard gladed zones.

Beaver Creek has gotten a bad reputation as being too ritzy to be a serious mountain for riding. Some still think of it as a cruiser mountain, but ask any local and they'll claim an allegiance to the mountain for life. The Beav's got everything…and more…the best part is that while Vail's getting tracked up on a Saturday, most of The Beav's lines will remain untracked for days, so make it a point to head here instead.

What's surprising is the amount of expert riding here in The Talons. Beaver Creek has an abundance of backcountry access gates that are perfect for any experienced rider. The best feature is that all the backcountry-accessible terrain funnels back to the lifts. So, in essence, you can ride up the lift with your family, run a line filled with drops and powder face shots while they're on a cruiser, and meet them back at the lift.

About 80 percent of the goods at Beaver Creek can be found off Centennial and Birds of Prey. It's actually kind of funny, because the best beginner areas are at the top of the Birds of Prey lift, but it's also the access point for the Bald Spot, a favorite among powder hounds and locals.

Insider tip: If you're interested in logging, ask around, check the woods, but beware: Log slides are a favorite among the locals at The Beav and they take their locations very seriously.

Intermediates should let it rip down one of America's best unheralded cruisers, Centennial, which dips and turns down the lower half of the mountain. All of the runs under the Strawberry Park lift, and just about every run under the Centennial Express, are great for intermediates. Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead also offer solid intermediate riding, with just the right pitch and pockets for first-time powder hounds.

Beginners should stay away from Cinch. It's a beginner's nightmare: Intermediate and advanced riders should have no problem maintaining their speed on this cat track, but to the first-time rider, it's literally a speed death-sentence.

The best place for the first-timer is the Haymeadow lift right at the base. It has the perfect pitch for learning to ride. Once you master the Haymeadow lift, move on to the easy carving family runs off Latigo. Don't learn to jump on the family runs off Latigo—ski patrol will not hesitate to pull your pass for airing in a family area.

Parks and pipes
Centennial brings you right to the Moonshine Terrain Park, which has definitely stepped up to the plate in the past few years. With every type of rail imaginable, logslides, hips, spines and some nice-sized tabletops—plus a yurt with foosball, cable TV and beverages—Moonshine Terrain Park is great for everyone from the intermediate on up. The superpipe is at the top of the intermediate Latigo run. From the expert who's working on backside rodeos, to the advanced rider learning how to do frontside airs, it's the ideal pipe to perfect your style and to get away from the crowds that some of the other mountains draw.

Zoom Room is a progressive beginner to intermediate park. It begins with smaller introductory features—including rollers, small tables and small rails—and moves to progressively larger features and rails. Park 101 has rollers, dots and other terrain features that allow lower-level riders and skiers of all ages to learn weighting and unweighting of boards and skis.