On this (week)day in late January, my better half and I dropped the kids then headed west. It's about 2 hours from Colorado Springs, CO to one of the most popular resorts in the state: Breckenridge, Colorado. After several days of 6"+ of new snow, we expected to find very good conditions and fewer crowds than we're used to.
In keeping with our 'relax and enjoy' idea of a ski day trip, we took in a few brews and enjoyed a lovely lunch at Breckenridge Brewery, one of our top 10 in Colorado. The Vanilla Porter was excellent, as was the Reuben sandwhich & fries that we shared.
Finally, 3 hours after leaving home, we dressed out and headed for the lift.
While Breckenridge is one of the busiest mountains during the week, and also a top vacation spot for non-locals, during the week it can be rather quiet. Even though the mountain recieved over 18" of new snow in the previous 3 days, there was no real wait on the Independence SuperChair on Peak 7, and we slid right onto the chair on both the Zendo and the Kensho lifts on Peak 6.
Due to limited amount of time before heading back to Colorado Springs, we chose not to hike up to Serentiy Bowl for the freshest of in-bounds powder. Instead we headed down the bottom half of the bowl on Bliss from the top of Peak 6.
In our short day of only 5 runs, we found some really great pure powder stashes. Much of the lower side of Peak 7 was a bit skied off, but the top side of Peak 6: a day trippers heaven. We managed over 6,500 vertical in just over three hours of riding. Considering most of our normal ski-days invlove coaching our 3 year old on the beginner lift, and chasing our 6 year old down intermediate terrain, pulling a day trip of mostly black runs in fairly fresh powder is, substantial.
For the Williams couple, a few cherished grown-up day trips to the mountain is absolutely worthwhile. It helps us to remember the original reason we fell in love with snow: amazing scenery, fresh air, and a his & her bond that will last a lifetime. Also, beer =)
