I've been to Colorado couple times during winter, for skiing, before I moved here for job. (actually waited until I can get a job here hehe). I live just north of Denver and was wondering which resorts you would recommend for one or two day - skiing trip every or every other weekend. I'm not very good at skiing (intermediate-ish) and I want to ramp up my skiing a lot with group lessons beginning this winter.

The reason I ask this is that I heard I-70 turns into parking lot during winter as well as the availability of seasonal pass deals with different ski resort companies. My friend who is a HUGE ski nut told me to go for the Vail/Brackenridge/Keystone epic pass but the bigger resorts seem to be farther away from here.

What are your opinions?