With El Niño dumping epic amounts of snow on Colorado Ski Country, my old stomping ground, my thoughts turn to ski memories. I got my first job at a ski resort in 1982 if memory serves me right. Monarch Ski Area had run an ad in the Denver newspaper looking for a cook, and I took a bus to check it out. I was hired and soon sent for my dog to join me in a tiny apartment in the stables across the highway from the lodge. Life was good there except the pay was crap, and I left after just two months. The next big ski resort job was at Breckenridge, and it was there I started skiing again after taking seven years off due to a bad knee injury. It helped get me back on skis again when I thought I’d never ski for the rest of my life.
Snow and lots of it
Next up was Copper Mountain at the base of Vail Pass. I sold lift tickets in that ski resort for about four hours, three days a week and for that puny bit of work. I not only got paid but was given the gift of free skiing! It was heavenly. I skied about forty-five times that year and finally became a very competent skier. I ended up working there off-and-on for twelve seasons.
Over seventeen years I’d work for a total of five ski resorts and couldn’t believe how good I had it. I spent summers in Alaska for most of the 1990’s and winters skiing in Colorado. Life was good, and I didn’t take it for granted. Some seasons, I’d get in over sixty days on the slopes. The best thing was choosing the days I wanted to ski, unlike vacationers who feel they have to ski each day.
Copper Mt as seen from the base area
Now that I live in Baltimore I appreciate a trip to ski resorts in Colorado so much more. It’s a time to connect with friends and family to play in the snow. I’ve skied almost every ski area in Colorado and had my favorites. Copper Mountain is number one on my list due to the way experts runs are on the far left as you face the mountain, with intermediate runs in the middle, and beginner runs on the far right. This separates the crazy fast skiers, like me, from the snow-plowing beginners making it safer and more enjoyable for all.
Copper Mt from top of the American Flyer lift
Aspen with its four amazing mountains is my favorite place to visit since moving away from Colorado. When we go the bus system takes us to any of their four mountains effortlessly and the food scene is top notch. Even the ski area restaurants on the four mountains are quite good and not too expensive. The most expensive part of an Aspen vacation is the lodging and then the lift tickets. With the lodging one can finds great deals in the beginning and end of season advertised specials. For lift tickets you just got to bite the bullet and pay up.
Aspen Highlands reflected in window of Aspen Buttermilk restaurant
The eight Gems ski resorts are relatively unknown to most out of state visitors and include Eldora, near Boulder, and Powderhorn far away to the west near Grand Junction. At these smaller, more family friendly ski resorts, visitors get a bargain, peace, and quietness. The slopes are excellent at most of them, but the lifts are usually older and slower. If you buy the Gems Card for $20, you will get a two-or-one deal at each of the eight resorts! What a great way to ski for less while exploring these great smaller ski resorts. One of my favorites is Sunlight by Glenwood Springs where ski-swim-stay packages are offered for very reasonable rates. It’s hard to beat a day on the slopes followed by a soak in the world’s largest hot springs pool.
Me at Sunlight-photo by A. Okabe
This year I plan on taking two trips to Colorado for fun in the sun and snow. You too should check out the deals I’m using and go explore the best of the west skiing. Follow the links below to find some of the deals I’ll be grabbing because who wants to pay full price? That’s for tourists, not for us visitors!
To ski Aspen on the cheap:http://www.1043thefan.com/ski-escape/#
For the Gems program:http://www.coloradoski.com/gems/
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