It’s been some time since my last post, but I finally have a new trip to report on. I ventured over to Denver, Colorado for an extended weekend riding two amazing mountains: Vail and Beaver Creek. We were lucky enough to experience some phenomenal conditions, receiving about 11″ of new snow over the three days we were on the slopes. This made for some epic views, as you can see in my three individual vlogs below:
The adventure started on an early Thursday morning flying out of RDU. Immediately after my good friend Kevin picked me up from the airport, we made an essential pitstop at the legendary In-and-Out Burger. I’m not a huge homer for In-and-Out like some people are (I’ve only had it twice prior to this visit), but this time it definitely impressed me. Just like last time, the fries were still garbage, but the burger itself was phenomenal. It moved up on my cheeseburger list behind the big two, Five Guys and Shake Shack. I’ll for sure give it another go the next time I’m out west. We took it pretty easy Thursday night with a dip in the jacuzzi at Kevin’s condo complex and a local pizza for dinner. It was an early night for us, as we were up at 6am Friday morning to head up the mountain to our first resort: Vail.
The drive up I-70 was relatively painless, as we hit the road before the majority of traffic. We ended up being one of the first in line for the Vista Bahn gondola, and we were on our way up the hill by 8:30am. Our first day on the slopes was excellent. The snow conditions were so-so, but the warm weather more than made up for it. It was never below 40 degrees the entire day, with the sun shining all afternoon. I also was able to experience a few of the legendary back bowls for the first time. I have only skied Vail two or three times before, and each time I was unable to ride any of the back half of the mountain. We took advantage of it this time around, and were able to explore some really cool areas of Blue Sky Basin and China Bowl.
We made a pit stop for lunch around 11:30 at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Amigos. It is a great spot to recharge and has an awesome view from the back deck. We made a couple more laps on the main side of Vail, and we were back to the car by 2:30 or so to hit the road back to Denver. After another dip in the jacuzzi, we had another relatively quiet night at Kevin’s eating takeout and watching a movie.
Saturday was our “rest” day, and we were originally slated to play eighteen holes at a nearby golf course. With the largest storm of the season coming through just a week prior, the snow had not melted in time for us to get out on the links. We ended up making a reservation and meeting up with my other good friend Harris. Brunch was at a spot called Bird; it was delicious. I had two phenomenal drinks (mimosa and vodka mule) to wash down the hot chicken sandwich I ordered. A great way to start the day.
From there, we hit up a nearby driving range that was a bit unique. Instead of hitting into a grass range, the targets were situated above a reservoir that you would hit floating golf balls into. It was a good compromise for having our tee-time nixed. Next, we headed to grab some beers at one of our favorite local spots, Breckenridge Brewery. They have an awesome outdoor setup with plenty of seating and some delicious beers to choose from. After indulging in one or two tasty IPA’s, we headed back to Kevin’s to rest.
I thought that would be the end of my evening, however my good friends Jake and Paige (from St. Louis) happened to be visiting Colorado and just landed at DIA earlier Saturday afternoon. They are anticipating relocating to Denver in the coming months and were out to scope the city and get their bearings. Of course, I had to meet-up with them for more food and drinks downtown. Thankfully Kevin’s condo was just a short Uber away, and all four of us met-up at a spot called Wynkoop Brewing Company. Even more awesome, my college buddy Wes was able to come hang with us as well, as he lives in nearby Boulder. It was an awesome night catching-up, introducing new & old friends, and sharing some awesome food and drinks. I’m super glad I decided to make the trip out, even though I was pretty beat and Kevin and I were planning another early morning on Sunday.
5:30am came quickly, and once again we were back in the 4Runner heading up I-70. This time, with a bit of snow falling. Nothing unsafe of course, and we made it in good time—just as our resort for the day was beginning to spin the lifts. We went with beautiful Beaver Creek for our second mountain, and it certainly did not disappoint. I may be a bit biased as the Beav is my favorite resort to ride, but the overnight 5” of snow definitely didn’t hurt its cause either. After a bagel sandwich in town (Avon), we were one of the first riders up Strawberry Park Express. It began with a powder ride down President Ford’s. What a way to start the morning:
From there, we took-off across the mountain to ride Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead, eventually stopping for a lunch break at the latter. Unfortunately, my favorite cheeseburger location (Blinky’s) was closed for 2021 season due to COVID. I still was able to order a delicious cheeseburger from the walkthrough setup that they had in its place, and it was a great way to take a rest from our rather intense day of riding.
We ended the day on the main mountain at Beaver Creek, with a lap through the terrain park and one of my favorite gladed runs. It was an epic day, and we were downright exhausted. Lucky for us, we had previously decided to book a hotel at the base of the Beav in Avon for the evening. This was by design, as we knew we wouldn’t want to go far after such a long day of shredding. Because of this, we were able to secure a nice room at the Sheraton.
After showering and recouping a bit, we headed back out to the Beaver Creek village to check out a few of the local haunts. We started with some drinks at the classic Dusty Boot Saloon and ended with two delicious take-out pizzas from Blue Moose. Both places I repeatedly come back to and highly recommend if you are staying at or near the BC village area. After devouring our pizzas and watching some television, we were ready to call it a night.
It was pretty rough waking up on our last morning (Monday). We were both pretty beatup from two early mornings and two long days of riding, but we powered through and decided to head back to Vail for a few hours before my return flight home. It turned out to be an amazing decision, as Vail received 6” of snow overnight, in addition to a few the night prior. It made for an absolutely perfect last day. We rode a few more of our favorites from the Friday afternoon prior, and mixed in a few other new trails, all filled with some fluffy powder. After 4 hours on the mountain, we decided to call it quits and head back to Kevin’s condo, as I had a flight to catch at 6pm later that afternoon. We were able to get home, pack up, hit the jacuzzi one more time, and head to the airport to make the trip back to the east coast.
This vacation was such a blur but definitely one I was so happy I was able to experience. I had already ridden a healthy number of days this season, but I never really had that awesome powder day that everyone hopes to get when they head out west. We finally struck gold on this trip, and it was an awesome way to end an incredible season. Thanks to my good friend Kevin for letting me crash at his condo and safely navigating us to and from the resorts, as anyone that has skied the Denver area knows I-70 can be absolutely brutal. I already cannot wait for winter ’22 as I recently secured my Epic local pass for the season! Stay tuned for plenty more vacation content in the next few weeks, and thanks for checking out the trip report!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 