Week Trip to Breckenridge

            Been to Vermont too many times to count?  Skied so many days in the Poconos that you could do it blindfolded?  It’s time to get serious.  Sit down with dad (or son) and make plans to take your father-son ski trips to the next level.  Get yourself out to American ski heaven: Colorado.

            Personally, I recommend Breckenridge as your first Colorado trip.  The skiing is, of course, unbelievable and it’s continuously ranked the best ski town in the country (it’s the only major ski resort in the U.S. that was a town first and then a ski mountain, as opposed to the town forming around the mountain).  Plan your trip easily using the Breckenridge Online Trip Planner (linked below) and get a prescription from your doctor for altitude pills.  The first time my dad and I went to Colorado, I got on the gondola at the bottom of Vail Mountain, rode up, got off, and thought I was choking because I wasn’t expecting such a drastic change in the air’s oxygen level.  Prepare to get really out of breath just from walking 20 feet but if you hydrate and take the altitude pills, you should be able to manage just fine.

            I recommend a six or seven day trip (two days for travel and the rest for skiing) because any less than that you won’t want to leave and much more gets to be real expensive.  The day you arrive, take yourself through the town (it is very much a walking town), pick up a town map with a directory for all the shops and restaurants, and head to one of the MANY delicious restaurants (my personal favorites are listed below).  There’s even an oxygen bar if you’re feeling in need of some good old O₂.

            Wake up the next day, eat a good breakfast, dress accordingly, and enter heaven.  Colorado snow is a whole different animal from East Coast snow.  It’s fluffy, forgiving, and there’s just plain more of it.  I could talk for hours about Skiing the Rockies but you’ll just have to experience it for yourself!

On the Mountain:

            Breckenridge is a GIANT mountain with four peaks (7, 8, 9, and 10 from right to left on the trail map).  Peak 7 is mainly an intermediate area, peaks 8 and 9 are both mixed with trails of all difficulties, and peak 10 is all advanced terrain, a lot of backcountry-type skiing.  Going above peak 7 and 8 brings you above the tree line (too high an altitude for trees to grow) and it's a vast playground up there.  With over 1,000 skiable acres just above the tree line, that’s where you’ll find the best skiing.  The mountain is so big and spread out that none of the peaks really get overly crowded.  "Breck" is world famous for their terrain parks (linked below is a video of multiple professional skiers and snowboarders talking about why they like to ski the Breck parks).  There are many places to eat on the mountain (the on-mountain food in Colorado is exponentially better than the on-mountain food on the East Coast) but my favorite is Ten Mile Station at the bottom of Peak 10.  The skiing at Breckenridge is great all over and you’ll be there for multiple days so take your time exploring.  It’s worth it to get a full taste of the mountain!

Off the Mountain:

            Part of what makes Breck such an amazing place to go skiing is the après ski scene (literally meaning “after skiing" in french, it is the term for nightlife in a ski town).  With a full town right at the base of the mountain, finding something to do, and possibly more importantly to eat, is not a problem whatsoever.  My personal favorite restaurants are Mountain Flying Fish (best sushi I’ve ever had, hands down), Breckenridge Brewery, Empire Burger, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, and Downstairs at Eric’s (pizza and arcade; awesome atmosphere).  BUT… perhaps the most imperative après ski aspect of your trip to Breckenridge will be your daily trips to Crepes a la Cart for the best crepes you will ever have.  Crepes a la Cart is right on Main Street and you won't be able to miss the constantly long line (it’s worth it though, trust me).  It runs out of a tiny cart (hence the ala Cart play on words) and they serve both savory and sweet crepes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (open until 3 A.M. for you night owls).  A trip to Breckenridge without multiple crepes from Crepes a la Cart would be an incomplete trip.

P.S. Breckenridge is home to the highest-altitude ski lift in North America at 12,998 feet above sea level!

Easy-to-Use Breckenridge Trip Planner

Professional skiers talking about why they love the Breckenridge terrain parks

Breckenridge Trail Map

Main Street lit up with the mountain in the background

Crepes a la Cart

A snowy Breckenridge street with the mountain in the background

Skiing Park

            Over the past decade, the skiing scene has shifted from racing down the mountain in between slalom gates to flying over jumps and sliding down rails.  What is “cool” now is to ski the terrain park, where such jumps and rails can be found.  It is unlikely that father will want to join son in the adventure known as “skiing park” so despite the wonders of a father and son skiing together, if son wants to ski park, splitting up is sometimes necessary.

            Flying down the slopes at 70 miles an hour is undoubtedly thrilling but learning new tricks to throw in the terrain park is the new thing among us young skiers.  It’s risky, exhilarating, and maybe most importantly to this generation, it looks cool.

            Throughout the day, my dad and I ski together the majority of the time but my dad is 54 and he doesn’t have the endurance that I have.  Sometimes he’ll take a morning or afternoon break and go inside for a hot chocolate and to rest up.  That’s when I head to the park to join all the other youngins on the mountain.  It’s a great environment for improvement, with everybody pushing everyone else to get better.

            Of course a dad is a son’s biggest fan so when my dad, rested and ready to return to the slopes, comes back out, he loves to come see me ski the park (he can even film me with the helmet cam I wrote about in a previous post!).

            Father-son ski trips are undoubtedly awesome but as a dad it’s nice to give those old bones a rest every once in a while and as a son, it’s nice to meet kids your age in the park.

An AWESOME Video of My Favorite Park Skier (Tom Wallisch) Skiing Park at Breckenridge, CO
[my favorite trick begins at 1:15]

Never Been Skiing But Looking to Get Started?

            Have you been wanting to go skiing but never gotten around to it?  Hopefully my blog has encouraged you to sit down with your dad and talk about taking that first day trip.

            Luckily, there are small, unintimidating mountains real close by.  Set a date aside to go up to Camelback Mountain in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, about an hour and a half from central New Jersey and about the same from New York City.  Make sure you dress warmly though.  There are always those glaringly obvious beginners wearing jeans… Don’t be one of them! 

            Head over to the ticket window and buy yourself a lift ticket for $51 (all day) or $35 (3 P.M. to close).  Once you’ve gotten your ticket, go into the rentals shop right next door and get yourself a pair of boots and skis and a helmet all for $37 and from there head across the hall to the “ski school.”  There you can buy a two-hour group beginners lesson for $35 or a two-hour private lesson for $90 (not a bad price if you think you would benefit from having one-on-one instruction).

            If you think you’re going to go more than once (I promise you will want to), it is probably worth it to buy the Explorer Card for only $129.  This gives you three days of all day lift tickets, all day rentals, and a group lesson each day at an extremely inexpensive price.

On the Mountain:

            As a beginner, you will certainly want to stay on the lower part of the mountain.  If you are not familiar with the trail markings, green circles are the easiest trails.  On the trail map below, find the green circles that are also highlighted green.  Those are the slow-skiing designated areas, which means you won’t be disturbed by people flying down the hill; these are excellent trails to get comfortable on.  I highly recommend going up to Cameltop (the lodge at the top of the Sullivan Express Lift) for lunch as it is consistently less crowded than any of the other lodges.

Off the Mountain:

                      Camelback is more of a day-trip mountain and once you’re off the mountain after your first day on the slopes, you’ll probably want to head home and sleep the night away.  If you’re feeling up to it though, the Clinton Station Diner (2 Bank Street Clinton, New Jersey less than 2 minutes off of Route 78 on the way back to New Jersey/New York) is an awesome diner with part of the restaurant in an old train car.  It’s also home to Mt. Olympus, the 50-pound hamburger (if you’re feeling extra hungry!).  My dad and I used to go to the diner after every trip to Camelback when we were first learning to ski there.

Buy the Explorer Card Online to Save Time at the Mountain

Camelback Trail Map

Clinton Station Diner

Clinton Station Diner's Mt. Olympus 50-pound burger

Helmet Cam

            Three years ago for Hanukkah, my parents bought me a helmet cam, specifically a Contour 1080 HD helmet cam.  I watch A LOT of skiing videos on YouTube and other websites and I had been wanting one for a while; I was so excited when I got one.  It brought a whole new level of fun to ski trips with my dad.

            There are two main brands of helmet cameras, the Contour and the GoPro.  After extensive research on the two brands, I asked for the Contour, which seemed like the all-around better camera (I love it!).  The Contour has a ten-hour battery and you can buy a larger memory card to hold eight hours of video.  It comes with two different mounts so I put one on my helmet and gave the other to my dad for his helmet.

            I bring my Contour out with us every time we go skiing in case the opportunity for good footage arises.  You can film point-of-view skiing of yourself or have somebody else film you.

            After a long day of fun but exhausting skiing, lying down and watching footage of yourself skiing is awesome.  Not to mention those hot summer days when all you want to do is go skiing, so you go to your computer and re-live the best parts of the past ski season.

            If I’ve learned a new trick in the terrain park, my dad will always offer to film me with the Contour and if my dad ever wants to see how he’s skiing, I’ll always film him.  Having the helmet cam with us on our trips has not only made them more fun but it keeps them alive long after we return home.  I highly recommend buying one for all your father-son skiing excursions.

P.S. If you decide to buy a helmet cam, I highly recommend the Contour.  I have friends with the GoPro and they are not as happy with it as I am with my Contour.  The Contour has come out with many improved models since the 1080 HD that I use.  I've heard nothing but great things about the newer models.

Contour Website

My dad (left) and me (right) from my helmet cam mounted on the end of my ski pole

Weekend Trip to Vermont

            Ready to move on from the day trips to the Poconos and the one-night-stands in upstate New York?  Okemo Mountain in Ludlow, Vermont should be your next trip.  Make a longer playlist on your iPod, pack some snacks, and commence the five-hour drive to your weekend destination.

            Before you go, use the Okemo Trip Planner (link below) to make lodging reservations.  I have stayed and can testify to the comfort of both the Jackson Gore Inn (slightly pricey at about $200 a night but 50 yards from the lift) and the Okemo Mountain Lodge (less expensive at about $110 a night but a bit of a walk from the lift).

            Leave Friday after work/school (yes it will be extremely tough to sit through the day knowing what lies in your future) and you will arrive at around 10 or 11 P.M.  Set your alarm for 7:00 A.M., and go to sleep right away.  You’ll need it.

           We like to bring cereal and milk with us so we don’t have to go down and pay $10 for the hotel breakfast.  After breakfast, check the weather and dress accordingly.  The lifts start running at 8:00 on the weekends and you’ll want to be one of the first ones up.

On the Mountain:

            Okemo has four peaks: South Face, Northstar, Solitude, and Jackson Gore (from left to right on the trail map).  TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF THEM.  It is easy to stay on one peak because it is so much fun and forget about the others, but remember, you came to Vermont because you were ready for a bigger mountain.  Each peak has trails of all levels but when to ski each one is key.

            Early in the morning before the crowds hit too hard, we take some runs on Jackson Gore.  Then, from about 9:30 to 12:00 we stay on South Face and Solitude, where it is always less crowded but great skiing nonetheless.  At noon, we hit Northstar, the most crowded peak, when everybody else is inside eating.  Once we notice the crowds rising again, we go inside for our own lunch.  We eat, have some hot chocolate, and head back out for the last couple hours of the day.  By this time, any of the peaks will be great skiing, as many people head in at around 2:00 (the lifts stop running at 4:00).

Off the Mountain:

            If you’re tired after an eight-hour ski day, imagine how dad feels!  When you get back to the room, a nap might be in order.  All of the Okemo lodging options have pools and hot tubs and to not take advantage of those would be silly.  Head on down to the hot tub and relax.  At Jackson Gore, they have outdoor hot tubs where if it’s cold enough, your hair and eyebrows can freeze!  Make a reservation at Sam’s Steakhouse, about 5 miles from the mountain, for a delicious dinner and an amazing après ski atmosphere.  Head back to the hotel, get some sleep and do it all again the next day.

Easy-To-Use Okemo Trip Planner

Okemo Trail Map

Skiing Fresh Snow at Okemo

Outdoor Heated Pool at Jackson Gore

Sam's Steakhouse (91 Vermont 103 Ludlow, VT 802-228-2087)