FRIDAY
I left a bit early to get breakfast with Jon & Malik. Definitely felt a little anxiety when leaving. For the first time, I don’t really have any sort of plan! No spreadsheets of places to go, no deadlines. Quickly got over that once I hit the mountains :)
I drove from Chicago to Omaha with the intention of finding some public land or a stealthy spot to camp. When I got there, it was about -5º…. a bit too cold for me! I think I draw the line at 10º with my 0º sleeping bag paired up with a few blankets & second bag. I found the cheapest Airbnb i could find, picked up a bottle of wine & a few Scotch Eggs with a burger from a nearby restaurant & spent the night indoors.
SATURDAY
I left early to drive the rest of the way to Breckenridge. I pulled in to the cabin around 4:30, during a winter storm. The cabin is AMAZING. Such a beautiful space, and the perfect amount of room for 6 people. Spent some time unpacking and figuring out the gas burning stove that we would be using to heat the house all week. I edited some photos & backed up my hard drives while waiting for the rest of the crew to get in from Chicago.
SUNDAY
We slept in on Sunday, and then went on a hike out to Blue Lakes just north of where we were staying, in Alma CO. It felt AMAZING to be back in the mountains, and with friends again. Beautiful hike through the snow, with moments of sun. Great spot for some photos!
At the end of the day we stopped by Breck Sports to pick up our rental gear & lift passes, then headed home to make some pizza & play Bannanagrams.
MONDAY
First day of snowboarding!! I haven’t snowboarded in 10 years or so, I was a little nervous about how I would be on the mountain. Day 1 Anne and I worked our way up from getting comfortable moving around on flat ground, to the “treadmill” thing, to the T-Bar, and then a chair lift up Quicksilver to a few green trails. By the end of the day, I felt really comfortable on greens, and had decided to do a few blues the next day.
That night we played a game called Cat Taco Goat Cheese Pizza. It’s SO FUN! Will definitely be picking up a set for myself soon.
Tuesday
Tuesday I started back on the greens, and then made my way to a few blues up the Mercury lift. The blues felt really good, and I quickly felt comfortable on them. Alex & Kelly also came up to the blues, with Kelly experimenting with how she felt on blues. I ended up feeling super comfortable, and Corey took me up to my first Black Diamond- American. Corey is an AMAZING skiier, and she felt that American was an easier black to experiment on. I felt pretty good down it, not flying, but not whimpering & going down completely sideways.
We skiied basically until 4:00 each day, when the lifts shut down. We made tacos & played a competitive game of rummy.
Wednesday
We got back to the slopes around 8:45, first chair starts up at 9:00. Corey and I went up the Falcon lift, up a bit higher on the mountain to a big mix of black and double blacks. We went down a few of the easier black diamonds. Each day around lunch we would stop and eat/drink together about halfway up the mountain at Ten High lodge. Super fun way to break up the day and catch up with everyone’s progress. Almost every day I would get a hot dog & a canned Paloma 😂 So good.
Alex & Kelly brought a ping pong net attachment thing, so we set that up on the kitchen table. Alex & I played a few games, while dinner finished. Anne made a super good chicken & rice soup!
THURSDAY
Thursday Jono was able to skii, he had to go to virtual class during Monday - Wedneday and was unable to skii. It was great to see him able to finally come along, after having to watch us leave every morning. I tried to get on even more black diamonds on Thursday. I hit every one up Falcon, and quite a few on Peak 8 as well. I stuck to myself most of this day, after I lost Alex, Corey, & Jono on a run somewhere.
After we got off the mountain we met up with Jono’s friend Adi at a local pub- The Blue Stag. Super cool place, had really good dry ciders. it was fun to hang out on the patio & meet new people.
Anne made an AMAZING veggie lasagna, which we all devoured while watching a crazy movie called Swiss Army Man.
FRIDAY
Our last day we skiied/snowboarded 9-3:30 or so. I spent most of this day up doing my own thing. It was fun to just ride whatever lift & ride down whichever way I wanted. I found out my favorite lift was Chair 6, up Peak 8. It’s super fun, full of black diamonds & more “choose your own adventure” through a bunch of trees. Suuuper fun.
The last run of the day we all met up, and made our way back down to the base. Definitely loved snowboarding, and I think I’ll buy one next season, and spend a few weeks snowboarding somewhere!
At the end of the day we met up with a few more of Jono’s friends at a local brewery. Had a great time hanging out on the patio & meeting new people. Ordered a pizza & headed home to crash.
