Colorado.com Staff Writer

Skiing and snowboarding come in many forms, and though every <a href="/articles/colorado-ski-resorts-snows-perfect-state">Colorado ski resort</a> offers a nice variety of terrain, each has its own flavor. Use this cheat sheet to find the slopes that might be the best fit for you.

Colorado Ski & Snowboard Terrain

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<h2>If You Like: Family-Friendly Groomers (Wide, Mogul-Free Runs)</h2>
Head to: <a href="/skiing-snowboarding/buttermilk">Buttermilk</a> 
Buttermilk in Aspen offers truly enjoyable, easy-to-intermediate trails ideal for those just getting their snow legs. You’ll still get a workout: The longest run is three leg-burning miles. Bonus round: <a href="/resortski-area/steamboat-ski-resort">Steamboat</a> 
Tons of easy and intermediate terrain (not to mention a super-friendly atmosphere) make Ski Town USA an ideal family resort. Oh, and the fluffy, trademarked Champagne Powder® makes falling not seem like such a terrible thing.
<h2>If You Like: Steep Slopes</h2>
Head to: <a href="/resortski-area/arapahoe-basin-ski-area">Arapahoe Basin</a> 
Looking for white-knuckle verticals? Take the Pallavicini lift up more than 1,300 feet in elevation to access wide-open, above-treeline slopes ranging from 38 to 40 degrees (translation: very steep).  Bonus round: <a href="/resortski-area/wolf-creek-ski-area">Wolf Creek Ski Area</a> 
Famous for receiving huge dumps of snow, Wolf Creek boasts 1,604 vertical feet. Expert skiers should check out the cliffy, straight-down Peak Chutes run.
<h2>If You Like: Moguls</h2>
Head to: <a href="/skiing-snowboarding/winter-park-resort">Winter Park Resort</a> 
Winter Park’s Mary Jane peak is famous for its knee-hugging bumps. In fact, it’s a training ground for the U.S. Freestyle Mogul Team.  Bonus round: <a href="/skiing-snowboarding/copper-mountain-resort">Copper Mountain</a> 
Feel like a pro at Copper Mountain, where perfectly round bumps make linking turns (combining several turns) a breeze. For a real challenge, hop the Super Bee or Alpine lifts; or go big on Far East — a long run with moguls that are mini-mountains unto themselves.
<h2>If You Like: Terrain Parks</h2>
Head to: <a href="/node/273197">Keystone</a> 
There’s always buzz around Area 51, Keystone’s terrain park, that impresses seasoned boarders, but the park has enough beginner features to ensure you don’t have to go big all at once. A dedicated chair lift means you never have to leave the park. Bonus round: <a href="/resortski-area/breckenridge-ski-resort">Breckenridge Ski Resort</a> 
The birthplace of Colorado’s snowboarding scene, Breckenridge is a park rat’s fantasy — five terrain parks have rails to grind, jumps to launch and superpipes to drop. You’ll at least understand what all of those things mean after a one-day Park &amp; Pipe clinic.
<h2>If You Like: Backcountry Exploration (outside a ski area’s traditional boundaries)</h2>
Head to: <a href="/resortski-area/silverton-mountain">Silverton Mountain</a> 
Heck, yeah, there’s heli-skiing in Colorado. Guides are a must at this experts-only, ungroomed mountain, which also runs helicopter drops to nearby San Juan peaks where you’re unlikely to run into someone else’s tracks. (For a glimpse of what the area’s backcountry terrain looks like, check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1Zoh2JC_XA">this video</a> of Olympic gold medalist Shaun White on his personal half pipe outside Silverton — just don’t expect Red Bull to build you one!) Bonus round: <a href="/skiing-snowboarding/crested-butte-mountain-resort">Crested Butte Mountain Resort</a> 
With many boundary-free areas, Crested Butte offers intrepid ski buffs 1,125 acres of ungroomed terrain, fields of powder, glades (wooded areas) and untouched bowls.
<h2>Want More?</h2>
<a href="https://www.colorado.com/articles/level-mountain-colorado-winter">Level up on the mountain this winter</a>
<a href="https://www.colorado.com/articles/awesome-adaptive-winter-sports-colorado">Check out adaptive winter sports in Colorado</a>

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