DMC’s annual ski trip is the oldest Yearly Office Event. Recent YOE trips also include the first annual Seattle trip in the Pacific North West, a nostalgic summer camp-themed outing outside of Chicago, and a DMC East Coast adventure in Rhode Island.
We kicked off the 2020 YOE calendar with another spectacular weekend in Silverthorne, CO. Forty DMCers and their plus ones took on Vail, Breck, Beaver Creek, and Copper Mountains with steeze (that’s mountain slang for style + ease).
Shenanigans on the Slopes
Blue skies and warm weather welcomed the DMC crew to the slopes each day! With a few inches of fresh powder overnight on Wednesday, we had beautiful conditions all weekend at every resort. Our crew has grown significantly since the early years of DMSki trips, and we split up to different mountains during the day. About half the group had passes for Copper Mountain, and the other half explored different Vail resorts each day.
Blue Sky Basin at Vail really lived up to its name this year. The Epic Pass gang met for lunch outside at the peak where we enjoyed the warm sun, gorgeous views, and snow angels in fresh, deep powder.
Some of us took “hitting the slopes” a bit too literally. With almost everyone skiing and riding all day from the first chair until 4 pm, there was certainly no shortage of “yard sale” wipeouts, mogul mishaps, and close encounters with trees. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt – Jon’s jacket took the most damage, but still didn’t keep him off the slopes for the rest of the trip!
My crew, bored of the flat catwalk run we were taking down the front side of Vail, decided to take a shortcut back down to the base. We ended up on a black diamond trail called “Pepi’s Face,” infamous for being steep and icy in the afternoons, and became unwitting participants in a wipeout contest. Dozens of onlookers from nearby restaurants and base area gave a riotous standing ovation to Mike for a spectacular wipeout after hitting a particularly icy patch on our last run of the day.
Mountain Munchies
Even though our group varies significantly in skill level and fearlessness on the slopes, we all made sure to meet up for lunch each day. It was great to meet up with the whole squad and compare notes on our favorite runs while we refueled for the rest of the day.
John King made sure the entire Copper Mountain crew was aware of his favorite waffles at Flyer’s lodge.
On Saturday, part of the Epic Pass group decided to venture out Beaver Creek mountain. Rumor has it, Beaver Creek gives out free cookies every day! Sure enough, as we made the trek through the ski village up to our first lift in the morning, we were each handed a chocolate chip cookie. At 3 pm (which is official “Cookie Time”), we made sure we were at the base of Centennial Express to receive two more fresh, warm cookies each.
The Copper crew ended each of their days with an Apres Ski beer at the Ten Mile Tavern with gorgeous views and great company.
Apres-Ski Adventures
DMC engineers are some of the biggest board gamers I’ve ever met – we all had plenty of opportunities to jump in on new games and old favorites when we got back to the house each evening. From the most intense game of Bohnanza, a bean farming card game, to thought-provoking rounds of Codenames (“Is a ship a place?”), there was no shortage of (mostly) friendly competition to join in on.
A new favorite this year was a card game called “Oh Fruck!” which combines rules from games like Uno and King’s Cup. We tried to play with more than the recommended number of players. We ended up going around for over an hour as we tried (and often failed) to remember all the special rules, which might require someone to wiggle their spirit fingers over the card they just played while saying, “I love you, Madam Diet Coke. 10-4.”
Even a “plumbing emergency” at the house that shut off our water for two hours one evening couldn’t put a damper on the fun. In fact, despite the lack of water, no one in the group stopped doing what they were doing. The dinner crew kept things cookin' to deliver mac and cheese, chili, and BBQ chicken. Board gamers still enjoyed snacks and beverages… although perhaps with a little extra moderation, since the bathrooms were off-limits. People even still enjoyed the outdoor hot tub.
DMC Directors and DMSki veterans, Jesse and Tim, made sure the late-night party crowd at the house had enough to eat by baking up batches of garlic bread and cookies all Saturday night. We were happy for more snacks after three tough days of skiing.
Farewells and Flights Home
Saturday night brought in several more inches of snow, so some people soldiered on for a fourth day on the slopes. The rest of us cleaned, packed, and rubbed some aloe on our sunburned goggle lines as we bid goodbye to our friends and coworkers from almost every different DMC office. Despite returning to work on Monday feeling like I need a vacation from my vacation, I’m already looking forward to DMSki 2021!
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