Copper Mountain or South Lake Tahoe?

Copper Mountain has no beach. The snowmelt reservoirs of Summit County are too cold for swimming even in July, and the largest is used for boating.

South Lake Tahoe has real lake beaches at Pope, Baldwin and Kiva, at Nevada Beach and Zephyr Cove, and among the boulders of Sand Harbor. The water is strikingly clear over white sand, but it stays cold, so swimming is mainly a July and August activity, and the rest of the year the beaches are for walking.

Neither place is a destination for food, but South Lake Tahoe gives you more choice. The casino side has steakhouses and late diners, Highway 50 has brewpubs and taquerias, and a few dining rooms have lake views. Its small craft breweries are the nearest thing to a local speciality.

At Copper Mountain, dinner means lodge burgers and chilli or one of a handful of pizza and pub places in the village. Anyone wanting more variety drives to Frisco or Breckenridge, and many visitors simply cook in the condo.

South Lake Tahoe has a little history to visit. There are the early 20th-century estates at the Tallac Historic Site, the Scandinavian-style Vikingsholm at the head of Emerald Bay, and a small museum on the Washoe people and the logging era. Copper Mountain is a purpose-built ski village with nothing of the sort, and the region's Victorian mining heritage lies in the neighbouring towns.

South Lake Tahoe is where you can stay out late. A short walk across the state line, the Stateline casinos keep their gaming floors and bars open all night, and a club or two fills up on busy weekends. The California side of town is brewpubs and early nights.

Copper Mountain's evenings end soon after après-ski. Bars at the lift base fill with skiers in the afternoon, and by late evening most people are back in their condos. There are no clubs, and the nearest livelier main street is in Breckenridge.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, but they offer different landscapes. Copper Mountain is about skiing at height. It has treeless bowls above 3,600m on the Tenmile Range and several major ski areas plus Vail within a short drive. In summer the Colorado Trail and fourteen-thousand-foot peaks such as Mount Elbert are close by.

South Lake Tahoe adds water to the mountains. The deep blue lake and Emerald Bay are the centrepiece, the granite lake basins of the Desolation Wilderness start just outside town, and summer brings kayaking and paddleboarding as well as hiking and the Flume Trail. In winter Heavenly's gondola rises straight from Stateline.

The two are about equal for outings, and both draw on mining history. From Copper Mountain the trips are shorter and more varied. Breckenridge's Victorian main street and weathered Leadville are each about half an hour away, Vail is just over the pass, and Denver offers a full city with museums, provided I-70 traffic allows.

From South Lake Tahoe the theme is the Gold Rush and the silver boom: the boardwalks of Virginia City, Coloma where gold was found, and Genoa on the way. It also has the Amador wine country and a loop round the lake through Truckee and Tahoe City, though most of these drives take an hour or more.

Copper Mountain keeps a family inside one car-free village, with ski school at the heart of the resort and snow tubing, a mountain coaster and an indoor trampoline and foam-pit centre for days off the slopes. The catch is the height. At nearly 3,000m the first nights can bring headaches and poor sleep, and very young children need careful watching.

South Lake Tahoe comes into its own in summer, when shallow sandy lake beaches, paddleboards and bike paths through the pines fill the days, and the short Taylor Creek trails show salmon running in autumn. It has nothing indoors for a stormy day, most outings need a car, and the casino strip at Stateline is no place to linger with children.

Copper Mountain is easier to manage once you arrive. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle link its villages, so a car can stay parked for days, and free county buses run to Frisco and on to Breckenridge and Keystone. Getting there is harder: Denver's airport is about two hours away by road, and the I-70 can be slow in winter.

At South Lake Tahoe only the small area around Stateline and the gondola base is walkable. The beaches, trailheads and Emerald Bay are spread along the shore, summer weekend traffic crawls, and winter storms bring chain controls on the roads in.

Neither is a place to shop. South Lake Tahoe has a little more to browse, with souvenir and apparel shops around the gondola base and a few galleries selling lake photography. Copper Mountain's shops are mostly ski rental and outdoor gear, so for anything more visitors drive to the Silverthorne outlets or to Breckenridge's boutiques.

Both are expensive in peak season, but South Lake Tahoe gives you more ways to save. Casino hotels on the Nevada side discount heavily midweek and in spring and autumn, and in summer the beaches and lake views cost nothing.

Copper Mountain is cheaper than the grandest Colorado resorts, yet lift access, slope-side lodging and equipment rental add up quickly in winter. Condo kitchens and staying in Frisco or Silverthorne help, and summer is noticeably cheaper.

South Lake Tahoe has a real if modest programme. The casino showrooms and arena host touring rock and country acts and comedians all year. In summer there are concerts and theatre at the Tallac estates and the long-running Shakespeare festival on the beach at Sand Harbor.

At Copper Mountain, live music is limited to summer plaza concerts and acoustic sets at après-ski. Breckenridge's summer classical season is the nearest real programme.

South Lake Tahoe makes it easier to unwind. Grover Hot Springs, with its mineral pool in an alpine meadow, is about 45 minutes away, the Carson Valley springs are closer still, and quiet lakeside mornings and cabins in the pines slow the pace.

Copper Mountain's version is an outdoor hot tub facing the slopes, plus pools and massage at the athletic club. The nearest hot springs are a long drive across the mountains, and the first nights at altitude can bring poor sleep.