One of the trips I look forward to most each year is a winter vacation in search of snow. For the past three winters, I've gone out west with a big group of friends for a 5-day snowboarding trip. (You can read about my previous trips here: 2016, 2015).
This year, we chose Breckenridge, Colorado because of the easy flight from Washington, D.C. to Denver and the fun reputation of the little mountain town.
Colorado has gotten multiple feet of snow this winter, so we were happy with our choice for the visit. We rented a house downtown for our group of 17 friends. This was the biggest group I've traveled with, but it allowed us to afford a great house in walking distance to Main Street and the BreckConnect Gondola.
Our trip was very focused on hitting the slopes hard each day and hanging out at the house at night. We cooked family style dinners and relaxed with cocktails in the hot tub.
The two places we enjoyed visiting in town were Downstairs at Eric's and Breckenridge Brewery. Eric's is great for large groups and has a bunch of good arcade games. Their Moscow Mule and fried pickles helped me forget about my sore muscles from long days on the mountain. Breckenridge Brewery has a good beer selection in a casual environment. I was drinking their Agave Wheat throughout the trip.
I'd heard warnings about how crowded Breckenridge can get, but we didn't feel that way when we visited. We were on the slopes Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On Sunday, there were lines at the lifts but not a long enough wait to frustrate us.
Peaks 8 and 9 were the most popular areas with other skiers. We had a lot of fun riding the almost-empty blue runs on Peaks 6 and 7 while enjoying the views from over 12,600 feet high.
While some people may want to visit other mountains close by, we were content staying in Breckenridge for the three days of snowboarding. Over three full days, we weren't able to hit every run or visit each bar on the mountain. We ended the trip with some parts still left to explore.
The 2017 snowboarding trip was a great success and I can't wait to get back to Colorado for another visit - whether it involves snowboarding or not. If you have any suggestions where we should go to snowboard in 2018, please let me know!
