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Why I Love Breck - Breckenridge Colorado

After six years of dating, Chris and I finally took a successful ski vacation together! If you’ve read our other stories, you may know that, although we did take a ski vacation last year, in no way was it successful. You see, I never actually made it on the mountain. The first day in Winter Park I somehow managed to get the flu. I was out for the whole trip! So, this year we were determined to have our first successful ski trip as a couple.

We decided that this time we were going to try Breckenridge, Colorado. In the weeks leading up to the trip I religiously took my vitamins and tried to stick to some sort of exercise routine to keep myself healthy.

When the day of the trip arrived, we made sure to pack Clorox wipes to sanitize our seats and surrounding areas on the plane. Yes, we were “those people.” But guess what? It worked. I was fit as a fiddle the entire trip - so far so good.

The drive to Breckenridge from Denver Airport was pretty easy, not to mention beautiful. It wasn’t anything like the winding switchbacks we had to drive around to get to Winter Park. I wasn’t white knuckling the handles and closing my eyes this trip. Again, things were looking good.

As you can imagine, everywhere we looked was covered in a beautiful blanket of snow. As we entered into Breckenridge it was evident that this was definitely a ski town. There were people everywhere carrying skis and snowboards and hobbling around in their bulky snow boots.

When we arrived at our hotel, The River Mountain Lodge, we were able to park in their covered parking garage and make our way up to the front desk. A large, cozy fireplace was nestled in the corner of the hotel bar and several comfy chairs were arranged around the room.

Because I am a novice skier, having last skied at least 15 years ago, I decided I would take a ski lesson the next day to refresh my memory and my ski legs and rent some skis for the trip.

Helpful tip #1: Take a ski lesson if you’re a newbie. For only about $20 more than a lift ticket, I was able to get a full day ski lesson with lift ticket and get comfortable in my skis before heading out on my own. The instructor was extremely helpful and patient and there were only six other people in my group.

We found out, much to our delight that the ski rental place was directly adjacent to our hotel.

“As we entered into Breckenridge it was evident that this was definitely a ski town.”

Helpful tip #2: We learned that picking up my skis after 3 p.m. was the same price as picking them up the next morning and avoided long lines; therefore, that’s exactly what we did. We then checked our ski equipment at the front desk for safe keeping.

We spent the rest of the first day exploring the beautiful town of Breckenridge, Colorado.

Let me preface the next part of this story by saying that, although seemingly random, I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I love the lights, the Christmas spirit, the decorations, and I get giddy with excitement. I tell you this so that you can understand how excited I was in Breckenridge. As we walked around the city with its lights, and ribbon decorated light poles, its colorful little businesses and houses, I couldn’t help but to think that this must be exactly like the village where Santa’s elves live! This town, this miniature version of Santa’s North Pole village, was just so darn cute! Even though our trip was mid January, I expected Christmas carolers to pop up and start singing at any moment.

The next day was our first day actually on the mountain. Chris escorted me to my ski lesson like a child on their first day of kindergarten, kissed me goodbye, wished me luck, and headed off to snowboard on this own. I trudged through the snow to meet my instructor and the rest of my class of wannabe snow bunnies. After about three hours of training, we broke for lunch and I met back up with Chris. We swapped face plant stories over a pint of beer and a slice of pizza, geared up and headed back out again, me to my class, and Chris to perfect his snowboarding skills.

“I expected Christmas carolers to pop up and start singing at any moment.”

My class ended around 3 p.m. Again, Chris and I met back up in order to find a pub for another pint and something to eat. It was then finally time to do what I wanted to do most on my ski trip…snuggle up in front of the roaring fire with a steaming cup of hot chocolate with a splash (or more) of Bailey’s Irish Cream. The bar was quiet, the hot chocolate was delicious, and the smell of burning wood filled the air as we sat in an oversized sofa, legs propped up on the coffee table, and readied ourselves for our first ski day together in six years!

Let’s just say the next day started out a bit rocky. For those of you who don’t know anything about skiing, the trails are color coded according to difficulty. Greens are the “bunny slopes;” the slopes for beginners and amateurs like me. It then increases in difficulty to Blues and the most difficult trails being Black. So as to not bring up any sore topics between Chris and me, I will just say that somehow we started our day out on a steep blue slope. Anyway, I may have freaked out a little, okay a lot. I cannot lie; there may have been some cursing involved as well. Our first ever actual ski experience as a couple was looking grim to say the least. After a bit of, okay in all honesty, pouting, I took off my skis and lumbered down the mountain. Chris, being forever the sweet understanding man he is, took off his snowboard and carried his snowboard and my skis down the mountain. I’m sure we looked absolutely ridiculous; however, I’m okay with that having not come away from that trip with any broken bones!

Fortunately, the rocky start was just a blip in what was a fantastic ski vacation. The rest of the day was filled with, dare I say, triumphant runs down the mountain, picture taking, and creating great memories from our first successful ski vacation together!

Yes, it’s true, I now own the touristy “I love Breck” T-shirt. And I do love Breck; however, the downside to Breckenridge is that it is pretty expensive, the lift tickets, eating out, everything. A single lift ticket set us back around $150.00 and a slice of pizza on the mountain, although it was a pretty large slice, cost me around $15.00! So, the answer to the question of would I go back is a definite Hells yeah I would, but unfortunately, my wallet may be screaming “Let’s get back to reality.”