Winter in Colorado

He snowboards, I Après…

My partner, Johnny, is an avid snow boarder. I am not. An arthritic knee that does not operate in the best weather circumstances, let alone freezing conditions where knee stability is the difference between staying upright and sliding down on your back, keeps me on the sidelines. I am however all about an après ski situation, reading books by a cozy fire, and sharing a house with 10 of my best friends.

Pack your coats, hats, & patience

With Colorado having some of the best snowboarding and ski mountains we decided to hit it up on a February trip back to the states. We flew into Denver and picked up a car to drive over to Breckenridge. Hot tip if you’ve never been, plan for the worst in snow conditions. We got lucky and timed it right, with just a bit of slow traffic but friends arriving in the next few days had a hard time with shuttles, closed roads, etc. Just pack some patience and be sure your rental is all terrain driving ready (most of them are in this part of the world).

Even when you don’t ski you can still Après!

Our house accommodated our group perfectly. We were half and half on who would partake in skiing/snowboarding and who would be après pros. For the non-skiers we were able to take the gondola up the mountain for free and hang out at some of the bars/restaurants. We held down a table, chair dancing with a DJ, while our friends snuck in for a quick bite or shotski before heading down the mountain again.

Ski crew meets Apres crew for some mountain fun

Late night dance parties- the best part of any group trip

Breckenridge had a fun town to explore, great food, and plenty of hot (boozy if you partake) drinks to keep us cozy and having fun. Johnny loved the mountains for snowboarding and did his daring/back country stuff that I don’t want to know about until I see him again all in one piece. The best times were when we were all back at the house, drinking wine, playing 90s music, talking and laughing in between scream singing and dancing around.

Aspen..I was way off…

From Breckenridge Johnny and I drove to Aspen– you know, where the beer flows like wine. I’d been once in the summer thanks to some of my beautiful friends who have a place there, and they were kind enough to set me up for this trip. On this leg of the adventure our friends the Rorrers came out with their teenage son. I played ski mom and dropped everyone off at Snow Mass and would return to the party bar when summoned for pick up. Jared, Dee, Johnny and Evan hit the slopes, while I tried to dress as winter chic as possible. It is Aspen after all!

Cocktails on the mountain while Johnny and Evan shred

High end meals with down to earth people

We had beautiful meals at Catch Steak, Clark’s Oyster Bar, and Duemani. We had cocktails and way too many laughs where Johnny was teaching Evan the intricacies of words that are offensive in American English, but not in Australian English at the St. Regis bar. We had late night chats over pizza about everything and nothing.

Dinner in Aspen- Every meal was top notch!

Turning virtual connections into real life ones

After Aspen it was time to say goodbye to friends and head back to Denver. Johnny and I went out to Boulder so that he could meet up with Barry, a friend from work who he only knew from zoom calls, and I got to see my friend Karen and meet her husband, John. Over dinner we learned these two sets of strangers were actually from the same place in North Carolina. We really are all connected!

Winter trips are best with people who make you feel warm

Some trips are about the place, others about a passion, and most of them are about the people. This one had elements of all three, all while getting to enjoy the perfect amount of snow and warming up by the fire. Next up for us is Lake Tahoe and Crested Butte! If you’re considering a ski or snowboarding trip, or even just somewhere for the winter scenery I would love to help you make that consideration something real!