This past autumn I knew that I would be living in Colorado for a few months while I recalibrated my direction for 2018. In order to reduce the risk of state-side suicide I plotted with my friend Sam to spend three weeks skiing and working from the small ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado. We really lucked out because Sam’s friend happened to be renting out her very comfortable Breckenridge condo, 4 blocks from Main street. We booked it and Sam flew out from New York at the beginning of January for the month.
The condo we lived in is located two blocks from the free Breckenridge shuttle bus that drives to the lifts. We would ski either in the morning or afternoon and in the evenings we worked, slow-cooked pot roast, watched ski movies, watched the NFL playoffs and enjoyed the Summit county, Colorado lifestyle: the USA equivalent to last year’s Swiss Lifestyle. A friend asked how the two compare — I told him that the people are more friendly in Colorado but the lift tickets more expensive.
The second weekend I drove north two hours to Steamboat Springs, Colorado (two hours north from Breckenridge) to stay and ski with my buddy Eric and his brother-in-law visiting from Washington, DC. Eric had facilitated Medallion Passes for us to borrow. Medallion Passes are ski passes valid forever — so we could ski for free. Sam and I also skied at Keystone and Vail in addition to Breckenridge.
Our friend Jesse joined us two weeks in and turned up the intensity. He played the part of my personal trainer forcing us to go to the gym each day — the newly remodeled recreation center of Breckenridge — a ritual that was integrated into our daily routine. Jesse also led the charge on our post-Breckenridge week that included a weekend stop-over in Denver (thank you to my father for hosting us) and then two nights in Vail, subsequently. A highlight of our time together was a dinner on the mountain of Beaver Creek resort at a restaurant, Beanos, we needed to ride a snowcat to access.
After our two nights in Vail Sam and Jesse continued on to Tahoe where some of their friends have a house rented for the season. I opted not to join, instead focused on the next steps for realizing what 2018 has in store; which I’m still figuring out.
