Recently, six DMC engineers and two significant others took a three-day weekend to hit the slopes in Breckenridge, CO. We left on Thursday afternoon, and were at Denver International Airport early in the evening. A quick grocery run and drive up the mountain gets the eight of us to our condo that is a only a football field’s walk to the lift.
We are greeted by 4 inches of fresh snow the next morning as we grab our rental equipment and head to the lift. We all ski together for a few runs, and then break into smaller groups. Skiing until they close down the mountain, we head back to you condo to soak in the hot tub.
Saturday is another great day of skiing with near perfect weather. Our favorite runs of the trip are Whale Tale and Ore Bucket. That evening we celebrate a birthday and have a few drinks. A new culinary creation is born when the effects of altitude turn our attempt at baking into a solid cookie cake. Other inventions we discuss include retiring on "caffeinated, alcoholic soup" or a "ski snorkel" prototype.
Sunday is our last day, so we pack up the condo and cars before heading out. With all the commotion some boots get mixed up, leading to later start, but everything gets figured out soon enough. Enjoying a nice sunny day, we get in as much skiing as we can handle before leaving.
Aside from the boots mix-up, the only other damaged equipment on the trip is a ski pole. Despite one ski lift fall on the first run and two run-ins with trees (including an epic emergency stop between two dense trees), everyone leaves Breckenridge mostly unscathed. We even win an animal from a claw machine on our very first attempt, a nearly impossible feat of engineering precision.
Snow is falling, and with the notoriously bad Sunday traffic to Denver we quickly return our rentals and hit the road. I-70 meets us with a dead stop for about 45 minutes as an accident ahead has halted traffic on both sides of the freeway. We sit for a while listening to Scan FM, continuously scanning through the channels as there's limited availability in the mountains, but make our way to the airport on time.
All in all it was a fun trip, and everyone had a great time. Hopefully we can continue the tradition next year!
