Day 1 — A travel day (NYC to Denver, Colorado)
A pretty good travel day to Denver. Ended up taking the train to JFK, which was smoother than I expected. Got into Denver QUITE late, but got to stay with my friend and sleep on her very comfy couch!
Day 2 — A travel day (Denver to Breckenridge, CO)
Woke up pretty early due to the time difference and made the most of the morning by taking a quick walk around the Denver Botanical Gardens. Got a coffee at Copper Door Coffee Roasters. It was really nice to catch up with my friend who I hadn’t seen in a while. It’s very cool to see people evolving and thriving in different cities from the ones they grew up in. We packed up the car and headed to Boulder to pick up our other friend who was also coming on the trip with us.
The drive to Breckenridge was so pretty, especially since the city had gotten a lot of snow over the past few days. We reached Breck pretty early and got to explore the downtown area. There are so many outdoor stores, art galleries and souvenir shops. Had a nice coffee at Semplice Cafe & a yummy sandwich at Downstairs Deli. By this point, our Airbnb was ready for us. We checked in and flopped around until the rest of our friends arrived. The altitude was a bit tiring, but we rallied and got our groceries so that we could cook dinner. Had a tasty spaghetti & meat sauce dinner. By the end of the night, I was exhausted and ready for bed.
Day 3 — Breckenridge, CO
This trip revolved around skiing (which I am not the best at). My friends are all very talented skiers, so I accompanied them to the slopes to get the lay of the land. I did not ski this day, but I did wander around and get adjusted to the altitude. I took the main gondola to Peak 8 and picked up my lift tickets for the next day.
Breckenridge has a really wonderful free bus ride system that works pretty well. The town seems pretty understaffed, but this service is really nice for people trying to get around without renting a car. I was able to get to and from the gondola fairly easily and without waiting too long. Around 5pm, I went to go pickup my skis at Main Street Sports. They had a really great pickup system and my skis fit really well.
By the end of the day, I was really feeling the altitude. I’m not terribly unfit, but the altitude seemed to be getting to all of us. I highly recommend taking it easy so that your body can get adjusted before doing a lot of heavy activity. For dinner, we cheffed up a stir-fry & rice situation.
Day 4 — Breckenridge, CO
I woke up nice and early for my big ski day!!!! I had signed up for a lesson a couple weeks prior so that I could have a more structured day with an instructor. I hadn’t skied since I was in the 9th grade, and I was never that good. My friend and I took our ski lessons on the same day. We got sorted into groups based on our skill levels. If you are looking to gain some confidence, I highly recommend taking a ski lesson on a weekday. In the full day lesson, there were only 2–3 of us for the whole day. It was essentially a private lesson and it really helped me focus on the things I really wanted to learn.
By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty good. This was honestly such a beautiful day in terms of weather. The sky was a rich blue, and it was so warm! Around 3pm, my lesson ended and I joined up with my friends to do a couple of runs down the mountain. I was so slow, but a couple of my friends joined me and took me down a blue square!!! I was pretty proud of my progress by the end of the day.
This was such a fun day and I was really happy that I ended up skiing. I returned my ski rentals and headed back home. That night, we had another tasty home cooked meal of tacos!
Day 5 — Breckenridge, CO
Woke up with the presence of a moose right outside of our airbnb. I had a pretty light work day, and it was pretty fun to work on east coast time on the west coast. Wrapped up work and took the free bus to the Breckenridge Recreation Center. For $20 I was able to get a day pass and work out. Working out at high altitude is no joke. They had a lot of really nice facilities and I was even able to go into the sauna. This felt really nice for my tired, sore muscles.
Headed home and got changed to “go out”. We went to the Breckenridge Ale House for pizza & green beer (leftover from St.Patty’s day). This was such a fun night and the vibes were really good overall. We ended up going to play some pool at a separate bar and got smoked by a couple of people who were really good at pool.
Day 6— A travel day (Breckenridge, CO to NYC)
My last day in Breck was spent working and sledding. Yes, if you go to Breck, I highly recommend taking the sleds out. There was a hill close to our airbnb that was actually pretty big. Sledding is kind of a dangerous sport, but it is so fun. We wandered around town and picked up some souvenirs. Around 5pm, I got on the shuttle that I had booked earlier to go to the Denver airport. We got back pretty quickly. I had kind of a chaotic airport experience where some lady yelled at me, but other than that I got back to NYC in one piece.
Some reflections
This was my first time in Colorado, and it was such a blast! I wasn’t expecting to go on this trip, but I’m really glad I did. It was so nice to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while in a place that we don’t usually hang out. I can see why Colorado attracts so many people from so many different parts of the US. There is so much to do there and the landscapes are so beautiful. I don’t think I’d ever live there, but it was a cool place to visit in the middle of the winter. Overall, I’m pretty proud that I skied and did something out of my comfort zone. Perhaps, I will be skiing more in the future :)
