Travel: Beaver Creek, Colorado

Snowshoeing, skiing tree paths and searching for coyotes in the Rocky Mountains

It has started snowing hard again. So much so, in fact, that it's difficult to see more than a few feet in front of me, but I just manage to spot the black tip of an ermine's tail as it scampers up a large bank of powder and disappears off into a forest of lodge pole pines.

We have already been walking for two miles and there's still a fair way to go – unfortunately speed isn't really possible when you have two tennis rackets strapped to your feet. I'm in Beaver Creek, Colorado, and while the skiers and snowboarders are enjoying their first runs of the day, I've taken chairlifts to McCoy Park at the very top of the mountain to do some back country snowshoeing. To be fair, snowshoes really did once look like tennis rackets, but that was back in the 1900s. Today they're much slimmer, easy to put on (you can even wear regular hiking boots and you just pull a couple of straps to secure your feet), and the best part is there's no real instruction necessary. You just start walking.

Our guide, Alex, has lived here for the past 12 years and there are probably few people who know this part of the Colorado rocky mountains better than he does. He points out an old settler's cabin – now reduced to a sorry wooden ruin, but still unmistakable set against the bright white snow. Eventually, the path reaches a bend and the view over the rockies is incredible. In the distance is New York mountain – a 12,800 feet peak in nearby Pitkin County which, because of the large amount of snowfall, is at serious risk of avalanche. Snowshoers and skiers beware, Alex says.

Although the path we've taken is fairly thin, ahead of me I can see large snowshoe prints and to the right are two perfectly straight grooves, like tram tracks, from Nordic skiers who are now long out of sight. And to the right of them: coyote footprints.

“Must be easier for them to walk on the track we've made,” Alex says. “The snow's so deep. They usually come out around dawn and dusk looking for food.” One of the coyote's favourite meals round here is the snowshoe rabbit – so called because of its large rear paws.

“Look up at that tree and you can see evidence that porcupines have been round here recently too,” Alex says. “They've stripped all the bark away at the top of the Aspens with their teeth. If they completely circle the trunk, then that tree will probably die.”

Although the ermine is the only critter I'll actually see this morning, Alex manages to point out so many marks left by animals on this mountain, it's as if they're hiding just round the corner (which I'm sure they are). These include a pair of rather scary looking scratch marks fairly high up a tree trunk, which he says are from a bear.

That night we visit the nearby 8100 Bar and Grill at the Hyatt hotel where I tuck into line-caught Halibut and also sample my colleague's grilled elk loin as it's a local delicacy – and, appropriately, possibly the bear's favourite meal.

The next morning, we're given a guided tour of the mountain – but this time on skis. Beaver Creek Resort is a purpose-built winter sports community so everything is accessible – from restaurants and equipment hire to hotels and shops. It opened in 1980 and boasts almost 2,000 skiable acres, 17 chairlifts and 149 runs. But this area also shares a pioneering history like most of the rockies. It was settled by ranchers in the early 1900s and one of the original families, the Nottinghams, still owns land round here today.

What's great about this place is that there is so much to do: you can stick to the runs (there are also some world championship downhill courses), head off into the backcountry for some off-piste action, try Nordic skiing or snowshoeing, or even attempt the new four-lane tubing hill (which involves surfing down the ski slope on a tractor inner-tube). There are even things to do if you don't like winter sports: one afternoon we are treated to a performance at the Crystal Grotto – an 'ice music hall' built from the snow each winter by eccentric American Tim Linhart and his Swedish wife Brigitta, in which all the instruments are also made of ice.

We're staying at the Osprey hotel – a small-ish boutique establishment with wonderfully friendly staff, amazing food, and, conveniently, the closest chairlift in north America: a couple of steps outside the back entrance and I'm on my way to the first run of the day, then, at around 4pm I can practically ski back into my hotel.

That afternoon, I head off-piste to tackle some tree paths, avoiding the snowboarders who all week manage to put me to shame with their speed and agility. It hasn't snowed today so the runs are slightly icier than yesterday and the tree paths have an abundance of soft powder – plus it's good practice zig-zagging between the pines and avoiding the overhanging branches, and after a while I begin to feel like the Milk Tray man (sans all-in-one black bodysuit).

Later, I enjoy an apres ski foot massage (which comes with a much-needed beer) at the Allegria Spa in the Park Hyatt hotel, while my wife has the spa sampler foot and scalp massage. Afterwards, it's time to wrap up warm again for a 15-minute sleigh ride (no reindeer unfortunately, but a much faster snow cat) to Beano's Cabin – a restaurant at the foot of Grouse Mountain, described as a 'ballroom under the stars with its vaulted ceilings, chandeliers and inviting log fire'. But this place is the real deal – originally a settler's cabin that belonged to farmer Frank "Beano" Bienkowski. And the food (I have blue nose bass and bay scallops) is delicious.

Who says a fairly good workout on the slopes can't be offset with a little R&R in the evening? It makes you want to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. Which is exactly what I plan to do.

With thanks to Beaver Creek (part of Vail Resorts) (970) 754-4636; www.beavercreek.com; The Osprey Hotel (check the website for specials) ospreyatbeavercreek.rockresorts.com; For dinner, check out Beano's Cabin: www.beavercreek.com/groups/group-venues/beanos-cabin.aspx; and the 8100 Bar and Grill at the Hyatt: www.8100barandgrill.com

WideWorld also tested product during this trip – ski jackets, scarves, gloves and ice pants from Mountain Hardwear, Helly Hansen and Golite. See the reviews section this week for more.