Things to do in Denver

The local paper could barely contain its excitement at the opening of the new hotel - the first in Denver to offer a lock on every bedroom door. "Guests may lie down to peaceful slumbers, undisturbed by the apprehensions of getting their heads blown off."

That was in Denver's gold-rush days, back in 1872. I wanted to know whether there was still any action 130 years on. Like just about every British skier to America - which, for the majority, means Colorado - I had passed through Denver's vast, futuristic airport and wondered what went on in that cluster of skyscrapers dwarfed by the 14,000-foot Rockies.

I knew there was a film called Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, but that didn't make it sound too exciting. Maybe that's why the local tourist board feels the need to overwhelm visitors with upbeat statistics.

Down the road, for example, lies the world's biggest brewery, spewing more than 17 million barrels of Coors a year. Despite this, Denver is the thinnest of the top 33 cities in the US. Only 22.1 per cent of the population are obese, half the national average. Denver is also home to the world's biggest performing arts complex under one roof - it can seat more than 10,000.

I set off for LoDo - Lower Downtown, the recently restored Victorian heart of the city, its warehouses and shops now home to dozens of bars and restaurants. At Redfish, a woozy blues band was serenading a packed bar. When a barman leaned over and said, "Hey, you've been waiting a while, this beer's on me," I knew this was my kind of town.

By the time I had drunk my way through some of the town's six micro-breweries, and a few cocktail bars including Sambucca's, where a woman in a little black dress was out-emoting Billie Holiday, I was discovering quite a few things I liked doing in Denver before being dead. Best of all was the Denver Art Museum, home to a superb collection of Native American art and artefacts as well as oriental, colonial American and pre-Columbian art. Runners-up included a new aquarium, the mint. which stamps four million coins a day, and can be visited for free, a zoo and of course the shops.

My favourite was REI, catering to the city's obsession with outdoor pursuits. It is vast. In one chamber stood a 45-foot rock pinnacle which several people, attached to ropes, were climbing - including a tot whose dad said she was just three.

The biggest surprise was my discovery of the other side of Denver: while the mountains lie some 15 to 20 miles to the west, the city itself sits on the edge of thousands of square miles of mile-high plateau - cow country. And once a year, in January, all the cowboys come to the National Western Stock Show. I agonised over the programme for the "largest livestock exhibition in the world". As well as the rodeo, there was a yak sale, Miss Rodeo coronation, and the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys service.

The showground, purpose-built on the edge of the city, was milling with people in cowboy hats - some looked barely fit enough to mount a horse, let alone ride one. Before settling down to watch the rodeo, I checked out the stalls, which sold everything from dog chews made of pig snouts and a barbecue big enough to roast a cow. I settled for a toy gun. And that night I locked my hotel room, just in case.

Way to go

James Bedding flew to Denver with British Airways (0845 7733377; www.britishairways. com), returns non-stop from Gatwick from £324. He stayed at the Hotel Teatro, on the edge of LoDo (001 303 228 1100; www.hotelteatro.com); doubles from £196 room only.

Eight great reasons to ski Stateside

Stein Eriksen Lodge, Deer Valley: One of the world's great ski hotels; starry guests include Russell Crowe and Dustin Hoffman.

A snowdeck: These double-decker mini snowboards are the latest thing to hit American slopes. Visit Sunday River in Maine to test one in its dedicated snowdeck terrain park.

The snow: America has had some of the best snow on the planet this season and the resorts of New Hampshire, such as Killington and Sugarbush, are heaving with the white stuff. Mammoth, California, has 245cm of snow on the lower slopes, 275cm on the upper slopes.

Fewer queues: The singles-only lines in resorts such as Vail and Steamboat help fill up chairlifts.

The Yellowstone Club, Montana: The world's only private member ski resort with 2,000 acres of pristine Montana mountain to explore. You'll need a cool $250,000 to join though.

Faster lifts: America has more fast lifts than any other country. Some whizz you back up at 1,200 feet per minute: among them the eightperson gondola at Stowe.

Telluride expansion: 700 acres of new ski terrain has opened this season in Telluride, with something for all levels of skier and boarder: Ute Park for novices, Prospect Bowl for intermediates and Gold Hill for experts.

Low-cost ... with frills: JetBlue, the classily designed US low-cost airline , wins so many awards for its service - and flies from New York to Salt Lake City and Denver. Mark Frary