The Beaver Creek Experience

It's been far too long since I last went skiing.  For the record, it's my favorite activity of all time.  You simply can't beat it.  Others on this trip might disagree with me...greatly.  But that's ok...that's what makes horse racing.  It was my first time skiing Beaver Creek.  Well, actually second.  My first trip was when I was 5 and I don't remember much.  But, I was pleasantly surprised at a number of things.  

First, the mountain was huge.  You could stay there for a week and hardly hit every run.  It was awesome.  Also, I loved how steep the mountain was.  You could really fly down this thing.  A nice flat, well groomed blue or black is my heaven.  Leave the moguls out of it.  

Second, everything was extremely nice, which I guess you would expect from a place whose motto is Not Exactly Roughing It.  Our hotel was ski-in/ski-out, but unfortunately we didn't figure that out until the third day.  You had to follow a pretty narrow path down the side of the mountain, and if you made a wrong turn, like I did on the last run of the last day, you have to end up walking half a mile and catching two buses back to your hotel.  That was pretty much the only ending that I wanted to avoid.  Hardly anything to complain about, but it does make for a funny story. 

Thirdly, the weather could not have been any better.  It stayed in the 30's the whole time.  Anyone who's been skiing before knows that even the difference between 30 and 20 is monumental.  Zero to minus ten and you can forget about it- skiing is no longer fun.  It didn't snow, but the snow stayed soft and your bones never felt like they were going to shatter.  It was perfect.

We were also lucky enough to meet up with a few friends that now call Colorado home.

Jeff Rowland is an old friend and college roommate of mine.  I'm pleased to inform all who know him that not much has changed.  He can still find the best deal at any given Goodwill store in the country.  You'll see a shining example below.

Jesse Hernandez is out there doing his thing.  Skiing by day, managing front desks by night.  

Jay and Mia came over from Denver to ski with us, which provided a much needed break from the first day.  Mia, who not too long ago learned to ski herself, was able to teach Riki things that I would have never been able to teach her, despite me using the same exact words and same exact language.  And while that was going on I was able to get away with Jay and point my skis downhill.    

By the end of the trip everyone was a pro (sort of) and except for one person (I won't name names), everyone was very enthusiastic on making a return trip.  All in all, it was an extremely awesome trip that I feel very fortunate to have gone on.  A huge shout out goes to David and Chelsea for inviting us in the first place.  We were lucky enough to get a number of hook ups on everything from the hotel room to ski rentals, due to Chelsea's nursing conference that was in town.  So overall it was an extremely "cheap" trip (relatively speaking) and I promise, Chelsea went to every class she was supposed to.  ;)

Here are some pics from the trip, not in any particular order...enjoy!

Eyeing the mountain...

The coolest onesie ever?  Yep.  A $10 find at goodwill?  Yep.  

Awesome ain't easy... reppin' Team Gleason from BC.

Caution: Trees don't move.

David & Chelsea

The North Face Extreme!

Anytime a helicopter lands on a slope it's probably not a good thing...

Defending Team Gleason all week.

Good friends from Denver are welcome anytime.

Jeff comes prepared.

Ready for the hot tub time machine.

Pretty sure that map was upside down. Just kidding.

Tree break.

Beaver Creek Village from our balcony...not a bad deal.

So long Colorado!