669. Aspen

Where: Aspen, Colorado
When: March 22-26, 2017
With: Jenna, Ashley, Steve

"Some place warm, a place where the beer flows like wine, where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I’m talking about a little place called Aspen." 

- Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas in Dumb & Dumber

Oh Aspen. While Jim Carrey's description of this old mining town turned elite ski mecca is not in any way accurate, his awe and wonder about this mountain resort is relatable. 

Our trip to Aspen came about like this: 

My sister spent a week in Aspen last year volunteering at the National Veteran's Winter Sports Clinic, an amazing organization that helps wounded veterans cope with their disabilities through sports. This is not limited to skiing, as they also practice scuba diving and rock climbing, as well as an assortment of other activities and games. It's a fantastic program that was incredibly inspiring to my sister while partaking. 

This year for the clinic, Ashley decided to head to Colorado a few days early which happened to correspond with her birthday. Not wanting to see my little sister turn 31 all by herself, and also itching to get a ski trip in this winter (it had been two years since my last one), I decided to join her. When my avid skier of a sister-in-law, Jenna, heard about the trip, she wanted in too. And finally, Ashley's fiancé Steve was able to secure a spot as a volunteer at the clinic as well. And just like that, we had a little family vacation to Aspen.

Jenna and I got in a couple days earlier than Ashley and Steve. The flight from Denver into Aspen is quite exciting with a lot of white knuckle moments through the Rockies. It was beautiful, but yikes, the whole plane was shaking as we descended and it looked like we were flying directly into a mountain. 

Upon landing, the weather was perfect: breezy and in the 60s. Well, perfect for spring, but maybe not for skiing (as a novice skier, I soon learned that slushy, spring skiing is not my thing). While the big mountains had snow on them, the foothills were an array of colors. 

We were picked up from the tiny airport and taken to the main town of Aspen to check into our hotel, the Hotel Jerome. The hotel had such a fun atmosphere, both chic and rustic all in one. The hotel bar, J Bar, is renowned as a hotspot at night and amazing food during the day. We grabbed lunch there, split a fabulous cheeseburger, and chatted with the bartender as he poured us way more glasses of champagne than we were acclimatized for at 8,000 feet. 

After lunch, we headed out to explore the town of Aspen and rent our ski gear. Aspen was surprisingly small, with only a few blocks in each direction to make up the downtown. However, each block was jam packed with boutique shops and restaurants. It definitely had the mining town look, almost as though tumbleweed would go blowing by at any minute before the noon shootout at the watering hole. This all sat against the backdrop of one of Aspen's toughest mountains, Ajax. 

After sorting ski gear, we decided to grab a drink at a bar right at the base of the mountain, Ajax Tavern. It was surprisingly dead, but again, it was end of March and the ski season was in its last days. We didn't totally mind, as we were able to grab a table at the Ajax base and enjoy the view. I loved watching the locals hike with their dogs up the empty, snow-covered ski trails. Ah, to live in a mountain town. 

That evening, we had an amazing dinner at the Grey Lady. We sat at the bar and got to meet the owner, bartender, and a couple of locals.  It's such a small community and everyone is very friendly. And almost no one is from Colorado, which is crazy, but lends itself to the friendly atmosphere. It was such fun vibe. 

The next day was the start of skiing, something I will admit I was nervous about. Jenna is a great skier and after a few run-in's in my younger days with some trees, I am a terrified skier. 

Aspen has four mountains associated with it: Buttermilk, Snowmass, the Highlands, and Ajax, in order of difficulty. Buttermilk was out of the question as it was way too easy for Jenna to enjoy, so we started with Snowmass. After a couple runs down their greens, I officially learned how much I don't like skiing in slush. But after a couple frustrating runs, Jenna thankfully pushed me to go higher on the mountain to where the air was colder, the snow was more powdery, and the runs well groomed and less used. Thank goodness, because despite the more "difficult" runs, the snow was so much easier to ski in and we ended up having an amazing day. We also got the better views from up there. 

After we finished skiing, we ended up back at the Snowmass Village with time to spare before the shuttle back to the hotel. We ended up grabbing a couple glasses of champagne, only to be served by the same bartender we had at J Bar the day before. He definitely hooked us up again and thus began our realization that as two girls traveling alone in Aspen, we'd be receiving a lot of free booze. 

Quick pause in my story telling to give a shout out to my amazing Hotel Jerome breakfast every day: avocado toast with scrambled eggs, greens, and some hot sauce. AMAZING. 

The next day we tackled the Highlands. I was feeling so excited after my successful first day and was so ready to get on the mountain. On top of that, there had been a storm the night before. As my sister called it, we had "fresh pow pow", and I'd never been more excited to see fresh snow. No more slush! Or so I thought...

 However, I quickly learned my Day 2 ski endurance was not quite there. I also learned another thing: skiing in fresh powder is quite difficult. My legs were quivering the whole day, and I needed a lot of breaks. However, the weather had cleared and the views from the mid-mountain lodge were gorgeous, so there could be worse ways to spend a morning. 

I tried one run all the way to the bottom that was longgg. But the views were incredible. I questioned whether it would be acceptable to spend a day doing just one run and taking photos the whole way down, it was that beautiful. 

Jenna patiently waiting for me at every turn. I am a very slow skier. 

Now, my legs shaking normally wouldn't be a big deal. I mean, I could always just stop, right? However, on this particular day, we had booked a very special aprés. (The word "aprés" is French for "after" and when in a ski town, it refers to happy hour.) This particular aprés would be at Cloud Nine, a chalet at the top of the Highlands mountain that is infamous for their champagne showers and raclette. I won't lie, I booked this reservation, but I was scared to death about how I'd get down the mountain of blues in one piece after drinking champagne at 12,000 feet. 

So I decided to take a permanent break and save all my energy for that last run once I realized that the shaky legs wouldn't be shook. I had mapped out my escape route down the mountain and reminded myself to take it as slow as possible the whole way down. 

There are two seatings at Cloud Nine, one at noon and the other at 2pm. We were advised that the 2pm slot is the one to be at; however, we had booked the noon slot. Jenna was able to flash a smile and work her magic to charm the owner into squeezing us in to the later time. Thankfully, they limit the seating to two hours, as the liability must expand exponentially with each hour the patrons are drinking. 

At the beginning of our time slot, everyone was fairly reserved, finding their seats, unbuckling ski boots and ordering their champagne and food. It almost looked tame, minus the magnums of rosé and Veuve Clicquot that were occassionally ordered by surrounding tables. 

We ordered a bottle of Veuve and settled in to take in the scene around us. 

Then about an hour into the meal, the music started getting louder and the DJ started calling for people to stand. Eventually, the techno music started pumping and the whole atmosphere changed. 

From there on out, my heart was pulsating with the sound of ski boots banging on the floor to the beat of the music. Everyone stood on whatever chair/bench/table they could get to and started belting out the lyrics to the songs. 

And then the champagne starts flying. In what I can only describe as the most frivolous spending of money I've ever witnessed, $125 bottles of champagne were purchased in droves simply to be sprayed on strangers. The table next to us let their 7-year-old child spray a bottle, which led us to ask ourselves the question "where does that kid go from here in life?"

Fun fact: Cloud Nine serves more bottles of Veuve Clicquot per year than any other restaurant in the world...and its only open four months out of the year.

While the scene was amazing to watch, I was trying to keep my focus on what came next: skiing down the mountain. While I did have a couple glasses of champagne, I definitely wanted to limit myself to keep my wits about me. As our two-hour window began to wind down, I had horrifying images of myself tumbling down the mountain alongside one of the people around me chugging champagne straight from the bottle. I did my best to get those images out of my head. 

At least the view before we headed down was gorgeous.

It was a long journey down with a lot of self-inflicted tumbles to keep myself from flying out of control. As we got closer to the bottom, the snow became slushier and slushier and I was moving slower and slower. However, long story short, I survived, I lived, and I have the trucker hat to prove it. 

That night we met up with Steve and Ashley. We were able to celebrate Ashley's birthday in style at L'Hosteria, and were surprised by a bottle of sparkling rosé from our cousin Pam. (We resisted the desire to spray it everywhere). Happy birthday, Ashley!

The next day, all four of us met up to ski the (dreaded) Ajax together. After how my thighs had felt the day before, I was not thrilled by the warning we were given that there is "no easy way down Ajax". However, I took heart in the fact that the gondola, the longest in the US, also takes people down the mountain. So I swallowed my pride and made the decision that if I didn't feel up for it, I would just gondola to the bottom. 

It started off beautiful, with views of the Highlands bowl behind us. 

Sadly, on the first run of the day, as I sat on top of a fairly narrow and icy blue (and yes I say sat cause I couldn't bring myself to stand after making another intentional, but graceful, fall), I decided that I was done. In the last couple days, I had pushed my body, my mind, and my fears far enough and I was tapping out. I had studied the ski map incredibly well and knew there was a little chalet around the corner from the run. And now that Jenna had Ashley and Steve to ski with, there was literally nothing stopping me from pitching up on the sunny balcony of Bonnie's and enjoying the warm weather while everyone else had a lovely day skiing without having to wait for me. 

I sat like a mom, holding extra coats and gloves, basking in the sunshine, and trying to spot everyone coming down the run. It was glorious.

The hours flew by while I aired out my crunched toes and took in the rays. Before I knew it, everyone was back and ready to enjoy a beer. Ashley proved rumors were true that she really doesn't take her goggles or helmet off, even when she's finished skiing. 

After our beers, Jenna and I decided to call it a day and gondola to the bottom of Ajax to get a good spot at aprés. As it was now Saturday and Aspen was finally hopping with people, we decided to go back to Ajax Tavern. The scene was completely different from how it had been on Wednesday. 

There wasn't a seat to be had and everyone there was trying to see and be seen. Secret service agents surrounded us as the Trump family was in town and was staying nearby.

 Real Housewives of Somewhere were dancing around and the twins that helped found Facebook were sitting around in matching ugly sweaters (all these sighting courtesy of Jenna's keen eye). A woman in a sparkly, fringed jean jacket played an electronic fiddle to popular songs as a bride toasted with her bridesmaids on the balcony above us. 

It was such a people-watching feast for my eyes to take in that we ended up sitting there for hours past what we had planned. It was incredible. 

Our final day in Aspen, we skipped the skiing, said our goodbyes to Ashley and Steve, and did some more exploration. We popped in and out of shops selling super nice (and expensive!) ski gear that was fun to look at, but unrealistic to buy as I don't know when I'll be skiing next. We eventually ended up back where we started at J Bar for lunchbefore jumping in our shuttle to head back to the airport. 

I do love the ski culture, though I'll be the first to admit I'm not really a part of it. However, it was a fantastic trip to take and experience. Though I still feel like an outsider to that "fabulous" life that Aspen portrays, it was fun to pretend for a few days. And maybe I'll take a few lessons before hurling myself down my next mountain.