Rocky Mountain High

Well, the trip out to Colorado was just about perfect. Since it was my first work vacation-- and therefore I would have been content to do just about anything so long as I wasn't at work-- I had minimal expectations, so it was just icing on the cake that everything about the trip was completely amazing and I was basically spoiled and pampered for 5 days straight.

After arriving on Saturday morning, we drove from Denver out to Beaver Creek and arrived at the beautiful Ritz-Carlton at Bachelor Gulch resort. After a long day of travel, we decided to hold off on cramming in any afternoon skiing and to just explore the area and kick back.

Check out the residence:

Sunday was our first full day of action and we immediately appreciated the wonder of ski-in/ski-out, as we put on our ski gear and were basically at the foot of the mountain and entrance to the ski lift. I started the day on my snowboard and it was like heaven to be on the wide open slopes of the West, complete with a few fresh inches of powder.

(Look how there's no one else in sight! It was like having a private mountain all to myself!)

The end of day 1 found us all aching and exhausted, and the best remedy for that was the spa/hot tub/heated outdoor pool. What better way to end the first full day on the slopes?

We started day 2 with a private ski lesson with Jim, an awesome instructor who moved out here a number of years ago to retire and is now a full-time Beaver Creek instructor. After realizing I was holding people up on my board and also that I couldn't take full advantage of the mountain as a "beginner," I decided to switch over to skis for a confidence boost and to be able to keep up with the gang. Before the lesson, all of us had different skiing styles, as evidenced by the fact that we ended up at the bottom of the runs at different times. Jim showed us some basic tips to improve our skiing, and by the end of the lesson we were handling a rough and narrow mogul run (not by choice!!) After the 3-hour lesson with Jim, it seemed we were all on the same page and suddenly, according to My-Van, we looked almost like clones coming down the mountain at exactly the same speed and form. This made the rest of the trip really great, though, as I really felt like I was skiing and truly enjoying it for the first time, comfortable in my form and not exhausted or too sore at the end of the day.

Here's the group on lesson day:

We all suddenly felt like pros on our skis, so we decided to venture out to Vail for our last full day of skiing. We made the short drive over to the village and spent a great day out on the mountain. We explored the front-side bowls, some other nice blue runs, and ended the day with one great run down the China Bowl, on the back-side, which opened itself up to some incredible views.

In the midst of all this ski excitement, I forgot to mention that we ended every day with a hot tub soak followed by a delicious dinner. We enjoyed quite a variety of Colorado's finest: Frites, a fun, french style Brasserie, Blue Moose Pizza in Beaver Creek village (where I got to fulfill my Fat Tire beer craving), Sweet Basil in Vail Village, and finally Splendido, in a lovely mountainous Chateau. Let's just say it was good thing we squeezed in some daily exercise on our skis!

Lastly, I must give another huge thanks to Co Chau, Bac Thong, and Meevs (we missed you Tweevs!) for inviting Dad, Auddie and me out to spend the week with them. It was definitely memorable and though it was short, Auddie was quick to dub it as her "Best vacation of all time." And we all know those are big words coming from a well-traveled gal like her! On the drive to the airport she and I decided that I'd move out to Colorado, she'd go to college there and we could just become a couple of ski bums. Sounds pretty appealing right now, that's for sure.

To conclude, here are some additional photos... you know, the requisite cheesy "poles in the air" pose as well as some other postcard-worthy shots.

I swear there were other skiiers on the mountain...

From the room balcony:

From the top of Vail: