We had a good trip to Snowmass and Telluride -- both in Colorado -- for the kids Spring Break. I had not been to Snowmass for a dozen years and had never visited Telluride. The latter is pretty hard to get to.
Snowmass has changed extensively since our last visit in 2006. It has had a massive amount of base area development, and lift improvement. When we were last there, it was kind of embarrassing how many old, slow lifts they were still using. Now everything is fast express lifts and gondolas, which given their lift ticket prices, and general upscale attitude, is expected.
We began by taking an American flight connecting in LAX to Eagle, and picking up a rental to drive over. There was some flight delays in LA and some passengers who should have known better started acting rather poorly. It's strange to me, since flight delays during ski season aren't something to be surprised about. Upon arrival we picked up gigantic Tahoe from Budget, and it was pretty impressive with its gadgetry, but I found the vehicle a bit ungainly. At least we had lots of room for our gear. The drive from Eagle to Aspen was straightforward and scenic. Most of the way its a very good, divided highway, with guard rails.
Our condo in Snowmass was right by the base village. It had a great location and was blessed with a shuttle bus every 15 minutes. This was the first trip this season where the kids didn't have to share a room with their parents, and I think they were quite happy with that. We enjoyed relaxing in the hot tub, just around the corner. Snowmass is a very family friendly mountain. There is a wide variety of ski runs, and in general, they are not as steep as other areas, while still offering good length. In addition because the area is high altitude, snow conditions were good, even late in the season, or in low snow years like this one. The kids have gotten much better and went up to the top of Elk Camp with me. They really enjoy the wide open, gently pitched cruising there. It's a great zone for everyone. After they got tired, I went by myself to the Sheer Bliss lift, up high, but on another part of the mountain. I want to come back here next season.
After several days there, we drove to Telluride. The last part of the drive is nerve wracking, since there are limited road shoulders and guardrails. We stayed in town at the superb Hotel Telluride; we had a nice room here, right next to the hot tub again. The town is at the end of a box canyon and is tiny, maybe only a mile long, with a few streets width. We would take the hotel shuttle bus in the morning to the gondola, and walk back in the afternoon, browsing among the local storefronts. Telluride is a glitzy enclave of the jet set, but the skiing is still good, if hard to get to. One night we had a fancier dinner (for a ski trip) and I had a great Trout Almondine. I have not made that home in quite some time, but should try it again. Telluride's snow conditions were a bit icier/slushier than Snowmass's, but we still had a good family day when we took everyone to the top of Lift 10. After that the girls went shopping, while I went back to the main area to hop around the blue runs. It takes a while for them to soften up, so skiing late afternoon there in the spring is still perfectly fine. Telluride is ok, but I'm not in any particular rush to return.
Returning from Telluride to the Eagle airport is a long 230 miles, but we stopped for lunch at a Long John Silvers (!) which has to be one of the last remaining ones in America. I am not sure I've been in one in at least a decade. It was as tasty (and salty) as I remember though. That'll suffice for the next decade. We had to fuel up the Tahoe a couple of times; it's one thirsty car. We had an easy flight home, connecting in Phoenix, where the kids had some airport Chinese food, which was not as bad as it sounded. Picking up our car at SMF took a long time, since they seem to have reduced the shuttle buses to the parking lot. It seriously took 25 minutes. Next time I'm going to have weigh taking a car service, since its tough on the kids at the end of a long travel day to wait, even if parents are bringing the car to the terminal for them.
There are lots of pictures below, including the final ones of my now retired (after 20 seasons!) purple Solstice ski jacket.
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