Skiing in Colorado

This year I was a Colorado vagabond.

The past two years I’ve purchased the Epic Pass, which allows you unlimited lift tickets to participating resorts.

I typically stay with my aunt and uncle at their home in Denver, but unfortunately for me - great for them - my uncle got an incredible job offer at Vanderbilt, resulting in January homelessness for myself as they party in Nashville.

(Fun trauma to sprinkle in, three years ago I visited a guy in Winter Park for a week to ski with him and his friends. The first day I totally took out a child on a catwalk and he subsequently dumped me for being a bad skier. Out of spite I’ve been determined to get better and have purchased the Epic Pass annually. I can now say I’m solidly intermediate!)

Holding an $800 pass and stranded in New York, I reached out to the one human I knew living in Denver. His family has a house in Vail, and he previously said I could come anytime.

HE SAID YES. SCORE.

I booked a flight on the spot in December, excited to get some days in and use my pass I had purchased full of spite.

Three days before I left for my trip, my friend asked me for my flight details. I searched my inbox for EGE, and nothing came up. Panic ensued. My dumbass had booked a flight for DEN, most likely the result of utilizing Google Flights with their “nearby airports” filter turned on. BE WARNED.

I cut my loss for the Denver flight and rebooked straight to Vail. I like to call this the “Fuck it Fund” as things always go wrong and you just have to deal with it.

(If I was trying to be thrifty I could have spent the night in Denver then taken a bus the next day. Instead, I wanted to take the path of least resistance with a checked bag.)

NYC - DEN - EGE was my route on United. As I was drinking wine in the United lounge during my layover, my friend asked if I could take a taxi because he wanted to watch the championship game (I think it was college football, I don’t know sports).

My research showed that my options for the ~25 minute drive were a taxi for $120 or an Uber for $160. It’s wild how even though I live in one of the most expensive cities in the world I am constantly surprised by prices in traditionally wealthy areas (Vail, Montauk, Ibiza, etc.). Apparently renting cars is also a crapshoot in Eagle, so keep that in mind for your next trip.

I got on the plane cranky, tipsy, and on the phone with my dad, who I can always complain to and be one-upped for whatever reason.

“I’m going to murder him,” I groaned. My seatmate was unphased.

“How’s the job search coming?” my dad asked.

“Can you just let me complain?”

“You’re the one with the expensive hobbies.”

We finished boarding and I turned my complaints to my seatmate. He was visiting his girlfriend who was a ski instructor at Vail - they had been long-distance for three months, and he was meeting with an engineering firm to try to score a job to move out there with her.

Even though I had been plotting murder minutes before, he somehow trusted me and took pity for my plight. When we landed, he texted his girlfriend asking if I could hitchhike with them as my destination was on the way to her place in Vail.

“Does she look like she’s a murderer?” she texted him.

“I don’t think so,” he replied, forgetting/ignoring my earlier conversation with my dad.

I awkwardly stood by her Jeep as they reunited. She graciously dropped me off and gave me her Instagram in case I wanted to ski with them or get into the restaurant Sweet Basil where she hosted.

I can’t believe how nice people are!

When I arrived to the house my friend greeted me with a glass of champagne and a house tour. I had bought some rugelach that morning from Russ and Daughters so I didn’t show up empty handed.

My room had a king sized bed and a stunning view of the mountains. I patted myself on the back for springing for the last-minute flight.

I chilled the next day acclimating to the altitude as my friend worked; I figured out my rentals and researched the mountain for blue runs that I would be able to do by myself.

(As a rule of thumb, I avoid black runs unless I’m with someone more experienced that has either done the run before and thinks I can do it, or if they’re prepared to babysit me in case I take a spill.)

The next day I skied a half day at Beaver Creek off of the Centennial lift and ate in the Spruce Saddle Lodge. It was my first time skiing by myself, and honestly I didn’t love it. It’s definitely something you can do by yourself - I had my AirPods in and blasted my favorite music - but my extroverted self was lonely. I think the social aspect of ski trips is just as rewarding, but that could also factor into my skill level.

I ended up texting another girlfriend whom I traveled to Peru with in 2021. She was back home in Denver from her break from med school in Budapest and excitedly agreed to come out and snowboard with me in Keystone (she had a local pass that covered Keystone and Copper Mountain). I was stoked I didn’t have to do the next day alone, as my friend whom I was staying planned to ski Beaver Creek with his girlfriend’s family that day.

She came in and we drove the ~1 hour to Keystone. We got in a lot of great runs and thankfully our skill level was similar. I really loved Keystone! The runs were long, there were plenty of blues, and I was able to dabble in the trees a bit.

We picked up some JuneShine on our way home and had a great bonding sesh in the hot tub. We discussed our blooming travel blogs/socials (she’s @travelerstail on IG/TikTok if you want to check her out!), our dismal dating lives, and future travel aspirations.

On Friday we took the shuttle into Beaver Creek. Lift tickets without a pass were $265 for the holiday weekend, and my buddy pass option for $165 wasn’t the least bit appealing to her for just a half day. I opted to ski on my own since I still had my rentals while she explored the town and gathered content for her TikTok.

We were eating lunch at the Coyote Cafe in town when one of my college friends I studied abroad with responded to my Instagram story.

“How long are you out here for? We might be stopping by Vail on Sunday - we’re in Breckenridge through Tuesday”

“OMG HANG OUT WITH ME PLEASE”

“If you’re interested in coming to Breck we have plenty of space in our condo!”

With that, I had plans for the next two days. Alex dropped me off in Breck (it was on the way home for her) and I continued my Vagabond Platinum™ lifestyle.

My college friends Sebastian and Karolina are amazing people - I hadn’t seen them since they traveled to New York a few years back when we had brunch together at Bobo, a French restaurant in West Village.

They warmly invited me to their condo, a short walk from town and Peak 9. We made chili and chilled before our early wakeup to avoid the crowded lift lines.

The crew: me, Sebastian, his girlfriend Karolina, her brother Michal (pronounced Mihow), and their friends Jordan and Jon.

Karolina and her brother have been skiing since they were kids, aided by their dad who used to be a ski instructor in Poland. They gave me pointers on how to improve my technique - cheaper than buying a lesson!

We had a great day in Breckenridge skiing Peak 6 and Peak 7. We ate and warmed up in the Pioneer Crossing Lodge, and hit their condo’s hot tub at the end of the day. After we all showered, we went to RMU Breck for drinks followed by pizza at Tin Plate for dinner (their butternut pizza with goat cheese and chili-honey was to die for).

We crashed early for our 6am wakeup the next morning to head to Vail.

Vail is one of my favorite resorts to ski. It’s absolutely massive - I’ve gone four times over the past few years and have barely scratched the surface.

We headed straight for the back bowls and encountered some pretty shit visibility - we were all fighting for our lives on that first run no matter what color goggles we had.

We hit Blue Sky Basin for some tree runs hoping the visibility would be better on the back of the mountain and thank goodness it was! We spent the whole morning skiing off of Pete’s Express lift and grabbed hot dogs at The Dawg Haus at the bottom of the lift for lunch.

After a few hours (and at the end of my patience after being barreled into by a woman) we warmed up in the Two Elk Lodge with boozy hot chocolate. I did NOT want to get back on the slopes AT ALL, but the group convinced me to get my gear back on.

That’s the thing about skiing - there’s only one way down!

I asked them to babysit me on the blacks, but I crushed these moguls 😤

We bombed a few blues and a black run on the way back to Vail Village, dropped our gear in our cars, and headed to The Red Lion for après-ski. Karolina and I bought Vail branded long-sleeves at the store next door and we headed home for the night. Successful day!

They dropped me off back in Beaver Creek (~17 mins from Vail) and I relaxed my muscles in the hot tub with a glass of wine.

Until next year!

Beaver Creek Galleries

A Guide to Traveling Solo