I compared ski trips in Colorado and Italy's Dolomites. One feels like a party, while the other is better for serious skiers.

When it comes to costs, skiing in Italy is typically much cheaper.

I haven't found many ski resorts in Colorado that offer lift tickets cheaper than $100. Popular resorts like Breckenridge, Vail, and Snowmass have tickets hovering closer to $250 a day.

In Italy, lift tickets were drastically cheaper. My ticket was just over $70 a day.

Lower costs seemed to be the theme during my trip to the Dolomites. Ski and snowboard rentals were cheaper, and food was more affordable. On the slopes in Colorado, it's tough to get a meal for less than $30, but in Italy, meals cost about half that.

After doing quick math, I realized that traveling all the way to Italy to snowboard in the Dolomites was cheaper than a weekend in Aspen.

Colorado has stunning views but can't compete with Italy's mountainscapes.

I'll never stop talking about Colorado's beauty. The striking Rocky Mountains are why I left New York City and moved to Denver.

So, while I know it's a privilege to spend weekends snowboarding down the state's stunning mountains, I have to admit that the Dolomites were even more impressive.

In terms of views, the mountain's 18 peaks are much more jagged. As I snowboarded on and around them, gorgeous views were in every direction. I felt like I was in the mountains, whereas in Colorado, I feel like I'm often viewing the mountains.

The Dolomites also take on a pinkish hue at sunrise and sunset each evening — colors I've never seen in mountains before.

Italy's ski culture was a blast and something I haven't experienced in Colorado.

From the top of the mountain, my friend and I could hear the bass of a nearby DJ. Every few minutes, a crowd would cheer. Instinctively, we followed the sound and ended up at an après spot where a group of a hundred people were jamming to music.

We grabbed cheap drinks (cheaper than anything we'd find on a Colorado slope) and spent the next hour dancing.

Rarely do moments like that happen in Colorado. Recently, I ended up at a mountainside DJ set in Steamboat Springs. As I looked around, only a handful of people were there for the music. Instead, most people were there to enjoy the views and sip beers.

It seems that après isn't the focus on mountains in Colorado. Meanwhile, practically every skier in Italy participates in the experience.

Getting to and from the slopes in Italy doesn't involve hours of traffic.

Getting to and from the mountains in Denver is an absolute drag. I have friends who wake up at 5 a.m. to make it on the first lift at 9 a.m.

On most weekends in the winter, what should be a one-and-a-half-hour drive typically turns into a three- or four-hour drive. The traffic is a nightmare.

While popular towns like Cortina d'Ampezzo can get congested with cars, the region doesn't seem to have nearly the same issue that skiers face in Colorado.

While Italy has some wins, Colorado has plenty of appeal, especially in terms of snow.

Of course, regions have good years and bad years, but the snow and conditions in Colorado tend to be better than in Italy.

According to OnTheSnow, Colorado's annual snowfall is, on average, 215 inches. Italy, on the other hand, gets closer to 55 inches annually. More specifically, as of Saturday, Cortina d'Ampezzo's snowpack had a maximum of 14 inches, and the Rio Pusteria - Bressanone area had 12.

In Colorado, I typically ski at Copper, which has a maximum of 70 inches, and other popular destinations like Steamboat have closer to 99 inches.

In Cortina d'Ampezzo, I slipped and slid down icy runs and longed for the fresh powder my friends were enjoying back home in Colorado.

Colorado's resorts tend to have a wider variety of runs.

I can spend a morning in trees, an afternoon on bumpy moguls, and end the day on groomed runs at the same resort in Colorado.

In Italy, the variety of runs was limited to groomed trails. While skiers and snowboarders can go off-piste, or backcountry skiing, I wasn't comfortable with that, so I stuck to groomed trails for my week of snowboarding.

And since the ski areas I visited in Italy sit above the tree line, tree runs don't exist.

My visit to Italy made me appreciate the variety of snowboarding I have back home in Colorado.

Italy's resorts were disconnected, which isn't typically the case in Colorado.

The Dolomiti Superski area has 12 separate resorts covering 1,150 square miles. While driving between resorts can take hours, navigating a single resort can also be tough.

Both resorts I visited weren't traversable on skis or snowboards. In Cortina d'Ampezzo, for example, my friend and I had to call a cab to get to another part of the resort. Plus, the town's buses only ran a few times a day, so public transportation wasn't an option.

It was a similar experience in Rio Pusteria - Bressanone. We skipped an entire area of the resort mainly because there wasn't an easy way to get there.

This is drastically different from my Colorado experience. Every resort I've visited in Colorado is skiable and connected once you're on the mountain. Sure, it might take some time, but you rarely have to get on a bus or call a cab to reach a part of the mountain.

This makes exploring swaths of terrain easier, faster, and cheaper in Colorado compared to Italy.

Both destinations are worth a visit, but if you're a serious skier, I recommend Colorado. If you're looking for a vacation, visit Italy.

Unsurprisingly, both regions have their perks. Overall, my trip to Italy felt like a well-rounded experience. I enjoyed delicious pasta, sipped on cheap spritzes at the top of mountains, and spent afternoons at DJ sets — all while getting in some fun snowboarding runs.

However, I think Colorado wins if you consider the sport itself. The snow is better, the runs are more varied, and the mountains are easy to navigate.