Vail vs Breckenridge: which has better snow?
Vail gets snow more often than Breckenridge: about 49 snowy days across the four core winter months against 44, at mid-mountain, averaged over 2016 to 2025. Breckenridge goes higher, with a top lift at 3,914 m (12,800 ft).
Vail and Breckenridge side by side
Snow record figures are for mid-mountain, 2016 to 2025, from ERA5 reanalysis.
| Vail | Breckenridge | |
|---|---|---|
| Top lift | 3,527 m (11,600 ft) | 3,914 m (12,800 ft) |
| Village | 2,475 m (8,100 ft) | 2,926 m (9,600 ft) |
| Snowy days a year | 88 | 85 |
| Snowiest month | March | March |
| Snowy days in the four winter months | 49 | 44 |
| January temperatures | −15 to −4 °C (5 to 25 °F) | −16 to −6 °C (3 to 21 °F) |
| Snow on the ground on Christmas Day | 10 of 10 years | 10 of 10 years |
| Snowiest recent winter | 2018/19, 28% above average | 2018/19, 16% above average |
| Forecast, next 7 days | No snow this week | No snow this week |
What the numbers can and cannot tell you
Both resorts are measured the same way, which is what makes this a fair comparison: the same climate record, the same ten years, each at the height halfway between its village and top lift. It compares how often it snows and how cold it is, not total snowfall in centimetres, which the record underestimates in the mountains. It is also not a comparison of the skiing. Terrain, lift systems, crowds, price and how well a resort holds its snow on the slopes that matter are not in this data.
For the full picture of each, see the Vail snow forecast and the Breckenridge snow forecast, which include month-by-month records and every winter since 2016.