Club Colorado  

Crested Butte has a reputation for steep, challenging terrain, plentiful snow, and a down-home atmosphere that core skiers love.  But I wouldn’t know, because I can’t seem to bring myself to actually go skiing.

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Ever have one of those dreams where you’re surrounded by munchkins wearing bright colored clothes and helmets? And they’re all smiling so big you think they’re a little too happy? You haven’t!? Well I have, and it’s a lot like my first few minutes at Eldora Mountain Resort.

I wade through a sea of four-foot-tall racer grommets on my way to the chairlift where I meet my crew. I’m headed out for morning light with the pride of the Eldora Snowsports School to shoot some footage and take photos. The corduroy is primo, the weather is superb, and the stoke level is high. I just hope I can keep up. These are future Olympians; kids seemingly born and bred to ski. There are literally hundreds of them. I ask Rob Linde, Eldora’s Marketing Guru, why Eldora’s such a popular place for kids to ski.

“Let me show you.” he replies.

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It’s dark, cold, and the chairlifts aren’t running. Let’s go skiing.

I’m at Arapahoe Basin on a chilly December evening, putting on my boots in the parking lot by headlamp. Somewhere up on the dark monolith before me lies the Black Mountain Lodge, and in it, a decadent feast. So while I wonder what’s wrong with this group of people gathering around me, I’m motivated to beat them to the grub.

We’re here at the Moonlight Dinner Series’ Swiss Night, a creation of renowned Chef Rybak. The full moon we’ve been promised has not shown its face yet, but if it’s anything like me it’ll come running once it hears the dinner bell. Sufficiently layered and lit with headlamps, we begin our trek.

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Kids. Sure, they look innocent, but they’ll turn on you. I’m about two hours in to a day skiing with a couple of kids at Echo Mountain Resort, and I’m in trouble. I shot myself in the foot by failing to share my Hershey’s Kisses on the chairlift. As I swallow the last of my tasty chocolate morsels, I can feel the morale plummeting. I worry they can smell the my fear… (continue reading…)

One gets a sense of the vibe at Arapahoe Basin long before you hit the slopes. Signs in the parking lot direct you with a playful, distinctive, and markedly human tone; “Almost There!”, “Keep Going!” Soon enough I ease my car in to a spot and being to slip my boots on carside. Adjacent me is a group of weary locals, all soggy socks and smiles as they load their boards in to their car after a half day at A-Basin.

I meet Kimberly Trembearth, the area’s marketing guru, at the base lodge. After briefly discussing what’s going on at the Basin today, Kimberly shows the area’s true colors: “The oyster bar doesn’t open for another two hours, so go ski. Have fun!” she orders. Yes ma’am.

Arapahoe Basin is one of Colorado’s Gems ski areas, which in essence means it appeals to those who will forego valley parking if it means they can have the whole place to themselves. Works for me.

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When you’re the lucky owner of a flying, reindeer-powered sleigh and only work one month a year, you can take your pick of ski destinations around the world. So where does Santa Claus choose to go snowboarding? Wolf Creek Colorado. Recently I caught up with the jolly old elf to take a few runs and learn why Santa rides Colorado.

Dashing through the snow...

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When you purchase your lift ticket at Copper Mountain, you’ll have to decide between a full-day, or a half-day ticket. Obviously you go with the full day (you couldn’t even scratch the surface of Copper in a half), but the whole question itself is misleading. You see, the team at Copper works around the clock, so even if you ski from open to close you’re really only skiing a half day in the eyes of those who work behind the scenes. For my most recent adventure in Colorado Ski Country, I tagged along with one of these everyday heroes, a man named Curt Bender, a Level-3 Operator on the Copper Slope Maintenance team.

Some folks call him "The Blademaster", but I just call him sir.

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