Aspen March 10-13th

Another week of skiing, but this time it was just my brother and I! After skiing Jackson Hole and then at Winter Park, I was ready for another weekend of skiing, especially heading to Aspen for the first time this season!

Well I got starting news on Tuesday that my position was no longer needed at USA Hockey and Tuesday was going to be my last day working there. Yea I was bummed, but really I am more excited for the opportunities that await me! With that being said I was looking forward to a weekend in Aspen with my brother.

I ended up having to drive. Its a long story, but lets just say my little airplane trick back fired on me and it was going to be more expensive for me to fly than drive and since I didn't have to work, I jumped in my car and started the gorgeous drive to Aspen. Well in my hurry to get on the road I made a horrible mistake! I forgot my boots!! And for all you diehard skiers out there, you know that the ONE piece of equipment you don't want to forget is your boots. I could easily forget my skis, hat, googles, and be fine, but boots, I knew this weekend wasn't going to be great skiing!

My brother reserved a really cute place right on the base of Snowmass. We got a super awesome deal and it worked out perfectly as we arrived at exactly the same time. We checked in, grabbed some food, and then I went on a search for a place to rent boots. 50 dollars later, I found some Nordica's that were almost like mine, but just not the same!

The first day, my brother and I hit Snowmass. I really enjoy this mountain, You can take short hikes and have super long runs. We headed up the Cirque and did a lot of blacks. I was skiing like an amateur the whole day and thought it was the boots! We had a blast, even though it was new snow and I was proud of my brother going on everything that I did. We did some challenging stuff but he did great! We ended with LongShot, a 4 mile blue run that you have to hike about 15 minutes to get too, but well worth a fun long run. Though the end was getting super slushy and slush and I do not get along well and thought that would be a good time to hit up happy hour somewhere!

The next day we decided to hit up Highlands. The Aspen Highlands is probably one of my favorite mountains ever. They just have great terrain if the snow is good and they have the Highlands Bowl! Fantastic. I told my brother we were going to hike it and even brought him up a ski backpack so he could carry his skis. He didn't complain and was all about it. While doing I don't think he was that happy doing it.

Though once we reached the top the pictures are amazing and the skiing was even better! I just love how steep it is and not as many ski there since you really have to earn your turns. After we were done, we stopped for lunch. I brother was pretty spent but we went out a little bit more. I decided I wanted to hike the bowl again and headed up. It was a great time for me just to enjoy the scenery and feel so lucky I live in Colorado.

Skiing is just euphoric for me and the last day was the best day. My brother decided to leave early and head back home. I wasn't really in the mood for another day of skiing until I woke up and looked outside. A little surprise had happened over night...8 inches of snow!! No idea when it fell, but it was there. I was like a little school girl getting all giddy. I got ready fast, said goodbye to my brother and hit Snowmass. It was amazing, I was all by myself with lots and lots of powder. I never once waited in a lift line and made first tracks almost the whole day. I didn't want to stop and didn't until 2pm when I realized I should start the drive back and my skiing was getting sloppy since I had skied without stopping since 830. Great weekend with the bro and just to get my mind off of many things. Though with my time to think and not have a job, I decided I'm going to take some time off and travel, ski, and enjoy it.