We love our kids to smithereens, but every now and then, it does a mom good to escape from the family unit and regroup with the lady friends. And when those girlfriends are all rippers, Vail is the perfect getaway. I can count the number of times on one hand […]
When Mom Joins the Kids’ Adventure Race
April 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last summer, I got off the bench and got in the game for a thrilling adventure race with my daughter. The good news is that I survived it. The challenge was called the “Darwin Dash,” a name that suggested impending doom. Imagine a blue rubber mat the size of a […]
Locals’ Guide to Hiking Highland Bowl
March 1, 2018 by 2 Comments
Slogging up the ridge at to the top of Highland Bowl with my teenager in tow made me realize, there’s got to be a better way. Three locals’ share their wisdom. Hiking Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands is a rite of passage for any diehard skier. It’s a 782-foot bootpack […]
Ski and Snowboard Gear for Hiking Highland Bowl
March 1, 2018 by 2 Comments
Hiking the nearly 800-foot bootpack up to the top of Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands should be on your bucket list. For good reason. The descent will be unforgettable. Power, steeps, views, trees and lots of grins. But it’s not a short or easy hike. It helps if you’re outfitted […]
Luxe Camping Gear
August 2, 2017 by 2 Comments
Sounds like an oxymoron, but there is such a thing as luxury gear for backpacking, from high-tech pillows to whimsical lighting. Why not? My two sons and I just spent a superb three days backpacking in Colorado’s Indian Peaks. Our campground had a lake view and a perfect sawed-off stump […]
Getting Wrecked at Copper Mountain
July 14, 2017 by Leave a Comment
And I mean “wrecked” in a really good way. When the kids go back to school, our July 4 weekend will be the trip they write about in that obligatory “What I Did this Summer” essay. In front of us, grey pads the size of lunch trays were suspended […]
Spring Break at Vail
April 15, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I’ve always loved spring skiing, but the reasons have changed slightly over the years. Spring break today means something vastly different to me than it did some decades ago when I was care-free college student. Back then, while fellow coeds were jetting off to Ft. Lauderdale to party righteously in […]
Head in the Snow
March 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The best way to spend Trump’s Inauguration Day was to ski powder with a posse of hard-charging women at Breckenridge. This blog is rarely political. However, I must admit that one of my favorite days on the slopes this season was the day Donald Trump was inaugurated. You know how […]
Crested Butte: Big Drops and High Speeds
March 17, 2017 by Leave a Comment
I was standing on the vertiginous slopes of Crested Butte’s double-black North Face with my son and his ski team this past February. Accessed off the North Face T-Bar, the area is like an enormous rumpled-up sheet, filled with steep cirques, cliffbands, benches, ledges, and chutes that plunge through […]
A Cold Day in Heaven
March 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Warm spring days are ahead, but let’s take a moment to reflect on those cold days on the slopes.
First Descents
December 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment
The first days out on snow don’t always go so smoothly. More than once, I’ve made it all the way to the lift only to discover a thick layer of storage wax on my skis. One season, my husband showed up at Copper with no ski pants. There he was, […]
Escape to Crested Butte
April 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
When life gives you lemons, sometimes the best course of action is to pack up the car and head for Crested Butte. On Christmas night of this year, my 83-year-old dad had a seizure. It had been—unbeknownst to anyone, least of all him—precipitated by a raging gall bladder infection. His […]
P is for Panda
March 31, 2016 by Leave a Comment
There are five things I love about Ski Cooper: Pandas, powder, platoons, close-in parking, and prime rib nearby. It’s the perfect place to learn to ski and snowboard, get a dose of history, have an untracked adventure in a low-key way, and cap it all of with a mighty steak. […]
Need for Speed
February 4, 2013 by 5 Comments
Better than Band Camp: Steamboat’s Speed Camp for Ski Racers My tweenage son, who weighs in at a willowy 70 pounds, recently was clocked at 59 miles per hour. He was not in a car. Or on a bike, for that matter. He was balled up in a tuck, sliding […]
