Four Seasons Breckenridge

In California, Heavenly was a great balance between the two for us. But in other places we’ve visited in Colorado, we found the terrain not ideal for this kind of skier-boarder combo.

It had been three years since I’d last been on skis, since we went to Vail for the first time. But skiing really is like riding a bike, and it didn’t take me long to warm up at Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Boasting 187 trails across nearly 3, 000 acres, Breck is rife with wide, open groomers, the kind of runs ideal for those of us who have found our ski legs but aren’t quite ready for vertical drops.

A good portion of that acreage is above the treeline, and let me tell you, nothing makes you feel quite on top of the world than soaring on a chairlift over the tops of the snow-speckled pines.

We stayed on property at Crystal Peak Lodge for four days, two of which we skied. Never again will I stay down in a ski town now that I know of the conveniences of a ski-in, ski-out lodge. There’s simply nothing like walking down the stairs from your room, strapping on your skis and catching the lift right outside your door.

Consider me forever spoiled. But if this is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

We weren’t alone either. Our pal Kara drove over from Aspen for two nights to shred some pow (sorry, had to) with us, and our friend Amy came up from Silverthorne. Skiing truly is more fun when done so in groups of people you adore.

Mother Nature rolled out the white carpet for us; while we didn’t have any fresh snow, there had been a fresh dusting two days before our arrival and we were blessed with 30 degrees the first day and almost 50 the last. Blissful, pleasant spring skiing conditions if you will.

After a couple hours of gaining my confidence—and Kara and Amy going easy on me—I was ready for Peak 6.

Peak 6 is a steep bowl that’s more blue-black territory than plain ol’ blue and is the newest expansion on the mountain. And it’s a wee bit scary at first, I’m not going to lie.

But once I made myself forget about the drop and had taken the first turn or two, I was fine. And, eventually, happy I’d conquered my fears. Because that view from the top is simply unbeatable.

I even went as far as wanting to do it again by the time we got to the bottom—but we got cold and ran out of energy. Next time, I’ll do it without hesitation.

We spent both of our ski days on Peaks 7 and 8; there were so many trails we enjoyed that we didn’t really have a need to leave the immediate vicinity, though I definitely look forward to tackling the other peaks the next time we return.

For meals, we ate at Sevens; conveniently located at the base of Peak 7—and right next to our lodge—the lunch menu was a casual mix of sandwiches, soups, burgers and salads. In other words, the perfect ski sustenance.

And I will dream about those sweet potato tots till we meet again. Swoon.

Our trip was all too short—four days total—but it was a good introduction, a sampler platter if you will, to more to come.