Copper Mountain or Taos?

Neither is a place to swim, as both sit high in the Rockies, far from any sea. At Copper Mountain the only water you will get into is a heated lodge pool or a condo hot tub, because the snowmelt reservoirs are for boating.

Taos has the same lack of swimming, though it is a little more varied. The Rio Grande in its gorge is for rafting rather than bathing, and in the warm months a hotel pool or a natural hot spring stands in for a beach.

At Copper Mountain meals are resort food: burgers and chilli in the mid-mountain lodges, pizza and Mexican in the village, and plenty of cooking in the condo. For a more interesting dinner, people drive to Frisco or Breckenridge.

Taos has a regional cuisine worth travelling for. This is northern New Mexican cooking built around red or green chile, with posole, carne adovada and sopaipillas served in long-running family places near the plaza and on the road to Ranchos. Beyond that the choice is narrow, but a week of chile gives far more reason to eat out than anything at the ski base.

Copper Mountain is a purpose-built ski village with nothing to visit. The area's mining-era history belongs to Breckenridge and Leadville, not to the base of the lifts.

Taos is a different matter. Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO site lived in for around a thousand years, is one of the most remarkable places in the American West. The San Francisco de Asís church in Ranchos de Taos, the Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums and the old art-colony houses add two or three unhurried days.

Both towns wind down early, and neither has clubs. The difference is the setting. Copper Mountain's evenings are winter après-ski, with skiers still in their boots at the base bars and some music on the plaza at busy weekends, then near silence once the season ends.

Taos is quiet in a more grown-up way. Evenings there mean margaritas in old adobe hotel bars, brewery taprooms and the odd saloon band, so the town keeps a little life outside the ski season.

Both are serious mountain bases, and the difference is in the kind of outdoors. Copper Mountain is about the amount of skiing: a large area with terrain sorted neatly by ability, open bowls above 3,600m, and several Summit County resorts plus Vail within a short drive. In summer it turns to hiking and biking on the Colorado Trail and the path over Vail Pass.

Taos pairs one steep, demanding ski valley with far more varied country: the Rio Grande gorge for rafting the Taos Box and walking the rim, Wheeler Peak and alpine lakes, sagebrush plateau and huge skies. Copper's village sits nearly 900m higher, so the first nights there can be harder.

From Copper Mountain the outings are short but rather alike. Breckenridge's Victorian main street, silver-boom Leadville, Vail and Frisco are all close, and Denver's museums are within reach when I-70 is clear.

Taos has the edge because its days out are more varied. The High Road to Santa Fe through Truchas, Las Trampas and Chimayó makes a memorable day in itself, and O'Keeffe country at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch adds another, although the drives are longer.

Copper Mountain is the easier choice for families. Its car-free core, the children's ski school, snow tubing, a mountain coaster and an indoor trampoline centre keep children busy without a drive, although the altitude of nearly 3,000m needs watching.

Taos welcomes children, with a good ski school and gentle Rio Grande float trips in summer. But nothing there is built for them, and almost every outing starts with time in the car.

Once you arrive, Copper Mountain is much simpler. Walkways, lifts and a free shuttle link its villages, and free county buses run to Frisco, Breckenridge and Keystone, so the car can stay parked for days. Getting there still means about two hours by road from Denver.

In Taos only the small centre around the plaza can be walked. The Pueblo, the gorge, the ski valley and every day trip need a hire car, usually collected at Albuquerque, about two and a half hours' drive away.

Copper Mountain sells rental skis, sunglasses and resort-branded clothing, and for real browsing you go to the Silverthorne outlets or the galleries in Breckenridge.

Taos has a real speciality in art and craft. There are galleries around the plaza and Kit Carson Road, turquoise and silver jewellery, Rio Grande weaving and carved santos, and micaceous pottery you can buy from the makers at the Pueblo. It is a niche, but a deep one.

Neither is a bargain, but Taos is noticeably cheaper. Copper Mountain has big-resort costs for lift access, slope-side lodging, equipment rental and meals. Condo kitchens, lodging in Frisco or Silverthorne, or a summer visit soften them.

Taos has simple motels and fairly priced New Mexican diners alongside inns that charge resort rates, though the hire car you will almost certainly need adds to the bill. In both places, the quieter months between the main seasons are the easiest on a budget.

Copper Mountain has summer concerts on the plaza and acoustic sets at après-ski, and little else unless you drive to Breckenridge.

Taos gives you more to plan around. On feast days such as San Gerónimo, Taos Pueblo holds traditional dances that visitors watch quietly and without cameras, and there is also a summer chamber music festival and a community arts centre with film and theatre. The programme is small, but some of it cannot be seen anywhere else.

At Copper Mountain, unwinding means an outdoor hot tub facing the slopes and perhaps a massage at the athletic club, and the altitude often disturbs the first nights.

Taos suits slowing down far better. The mineral pools of Ojo Caliente lie under an hour away, primitive hot springs sit beside the Rio Grande at the bottom of the gorge, and the town has day spas, yoga studios and retreat centres.