For our last trip out west for the 2022 ski season, me and my fiancé accompanied a good friend to the mountains of Colorado to snowboard for a long weekend. We were luckily joined by two of our other good “couple” friends to explore a some new and old (to us) terrain. Check out the video below to see a recap of our amazing three day weekend:
This particular weekend started much like my previous trip just a few weeks back in early January with a Thursday afternoon flight out of RDU to Denver. Much like last time, we had some gracious hosts that let us crash at their home that evening, and first thing Friday we were headed up I-70 to start the adventure. This trip we decided to kick it off with a resort we have yet to explore: Keystone. I’ve heard plenty of reviews and critiques over the years but I was ecstatic to be able to try it out myself.
After being some of the first guests up the mountain via the high speed quad at the main village (Summit Express), we enjoyed three runs with absolutely epic conditions. The front face was in the sun all morning so that played into our strategy, and I believe this was the right call as we were treated to some soft & beautiful groomers. After we had gotten our fill of the main lift area, we decided to hop on the Outpost Gondola to take us a little further back into the resort.
From the top of Outpost, we dropped into the furthest peak at the resort called the Outback. This area was super cool and had some excellent gladed areas just off the main blue runs. We were able to hit a couple of these before navigating to the Wayback lift to return us to the top of the Outpost area. This is where we decided to break for the day and grab a quick bite to eat. Thankfully, we were able to beat the lunch rush and were easily able to find a table and some room to stretch out & relax.
After wrapping up lunch, we dropped back into the Outback and hit the Ruby Express lift to return to the main mountain. We did a few more solid runs here before deciding to call it an early afternoon. Realizing we had three more packed days ahead of us, we were content with our decision to call it and head to a bar in the village. After a drink or two we piled back in my buddy’s 4Runner to make it back down the mountain and check-in to our accommodations for the evening–the Hampton Inn at Silverthorne. We landed on this area as the room for the night was relatively inexpensive and we knew it would ease our drive to Beaver Creek the next morning.
For dinner, we made the quick trip over to Frisco to visit one of my friend’s recommended Italian restaurants called Bagalis that had an epic happy hour consisting of a great selection of beers and pizzas. After our carba-load was complete, we walked around Frisco a bit before returning to the hotel for the evening where we proceeded to pass out within a quick thirty minutes. We were absolutely exhausted but it was an amazing start to our long weekend.
Saturday morning began with an early alarm as we had plans to head to the village of Beaver Creek, just a quick 45 minutes down the road in Avon, Colorado. I was slightly concerned about being able to get a spot in one of the main parking decks at BC, particularly because we were meeting up with another group of friends who had yet to ski the Beav. Thankfully, we rallied early enough and there was plenty of deck parking available by the time we arrived (around 8:15am). After gearing up and grabbing some coffee, we made our way to Centennial Express to kick-off the day.
I’m not going to go into great depths about our time at Beaver Creek since we have skied this mountain so many times in the past, but just like all my others visits it was an incredible two days at the resort. For my good friend’s first time, I was so happy to be able to tour them around and showcase all the great terrain and apres’ spots the Beav has to offer. Of course, we had lunch Saturday at my all-time favorite Broken Arrow Cafe at Arrowhead, followed by an afternoon of music and drinks at the Ritz Carlton at Bachelor Gulch. Saturday’s dinner was at a local spot called Benderz that we had recently discovered on our last trip in January and it did not disappoint in the slightest.
For our accommodations, we decided to return to Beaver Creek West (booked through AirBnb) that has treated us so well in the past. The condo was the perfect size for our group and we were even able to enjoy the hot tub after our full day on Saturday which was really just the icing on the cake. After plenty more turns on the mountain on Sunday, we sadly had to say goodbye to three of our friends while the rest of us held down the condo for one last evening. That night we made the trek up to BC village to show the group around and get one last meal in at one of our favorite pizza joints, the Blue Moose. The meal was bookended with beverages at the Park Hyatt and another one of our favorite local spots, the Dusty Boot Saloon. It was an incredible evening and a great way to spend our last night at Beaver Creek.
Monday hit us like a freight train and although we would’ve had just a few hours to ride anyways, we decided to take it easy for the morning and grab a nice breakfast instead. We decided on Benderz’ sister restaurant–the Northside Kitchen–which was absolutely incredible and definitely a spot we will be back to in the future. The meal was fantastic and we were able to grab some to-go donuts that the restaurant is famous for. All-in-all, it was an excellent last visit to the Avon area and we were content to head back down I-70 with our tummies full.
Unfortunately, this was our last ski trip of the season, but it was such an epic way to close the year out. We were not sad in the slightest but it’s always tough leaving such an incredible place–not to mention leaving behind good friends. We will most certainly be back though, sooner rather than later because one of my other hometown friends is actually getting married in Denver the end of June! We absolutely love visiting Colorado and are ecstatic to get return. Thanks for tuning in to another trip report–hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for plenty more upcoming adventures here at T-R Travels!!
– Walker
Texas-Ranger Travels 