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“So Colorado is the place I have to go. I heard a rumor she loves the mountains and the snow.” - Blue Rodeo
It was one of those days that remind you: We live in paradise. There was a beautiful Colorado blue sky, a warm yellow sun, and good company.
Every year I want to buy new downhill skis. And every year I find a new sport that requires new, or somewhat new, gear. I can't buy it all and I surely don't have storage for it all.
I live in a mountain town. I like a lot of sports. You know how it is.
New gear is not always an option, so when I met Stephanie Best, owner of the Winter Park branch of Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery, and she tells me that she wants to show me her ski and snowboard delivery service, I immediately give her my address.
Stephanie moved to Fraser this year to open the newest branch of Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery. She has worked in the ski and hospitality industry in Colorado and Lake Tahoe for over 15 years. Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery started in Steamboat Springs eight years ago, and now there is a branch, each individually owned and operated, in almost every major destination ski resort in the west.
Stephanie and her ski technician, Mike Donahue, arrived at my door with bags filled with boots, skis, and poles custom designed for my skiing ability. In the comfort of my own living room, I tried on the boots and they fit perfectly. I talked to Mike and asked him my favorite question, “Where are you from" and “why Winter Park?” He grew up in Massachusetts and attended college in New York. Last year he spent a summer in Colorado and was determined to come back for a winter.
“I was looking for a community atmosphere where the resort didn't overshadow the small town feel. And, of course, great skiing.” Mike met Stephanie at her booth at the Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber Business Expo and thought that ski delivery was such a great idea. Plus, he was promised that he could ski — a lot.
After Mike and Stephanie left, George and I walked out my door, put on our new skis, and skied down to the SolVista Basin lift. We caught up on each other's lives while riding the chairlift and talked about all the bike and triathlon events we were training for during the winter.
We skied fast, and skied every open trail including the terrain parks. I was pleasantly surprised that Drifter was now a terrain park called Rough Stock. After a few runs on East Mountain we rode the Conquest lift to West Peak and my favorite trail at SolVista: Desperado. At the end of the run there are some surprisingly steep drops that take my breath away. George dropped into the Half Pipe while I skied around it.
On this picture perfect ski day I took in the peaks along the Continental Divide and Rocky Mountain National Park. I skied behind George and tried to mimic his perfect alpine turns while choking on the plume of white dust that kicked up behind him. I stopped to take in the scene and realized this is the perfect Colorado ski moment captured in every ski industry magazine ad. And, as I reveled in a rare moment of clarity, I knew this is where I am supposed to be: flying down a ski slope surrounded by trees, sage, and mountain vistas with a good friend, while striving for perfectly carved turns on new skis.
The lack of snow hasn't dampened my spirits, or the attitude of the people I encountered loading chairlifts or patrolling the slopes. They know as I do: We are lucky to be here. The visitors who travel here for a week or just a long weekend, will come back. They will say, “I'm coming back in summer.” Then they'll be hooked just like Mike, who thinks he just came to Colorado for the winter. And like me, who sometimes says, I'll be heading back east one of these days — yeah, right.
It was one of those days that remind you: We live in paradise. There was a beautiful Colorado blue sky, a warm yellow sun, and good company.
Every year I want to buy new downhill skis. And every year I find a new sport that requires new, or somewhat new, gear. I can't buy it all and I surely don't have storage for it all.
I live in a mountain town. I like a lot of sports. You know how it is.
New gear is not always an option, so when I met Stephanie Best, owner of the Winter Park branch of Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery, and she tells me that she wants to show me her ski and snowboard delivery service, I immediately give her my address.
Stephanie moved to Fraser this year to open the newest branch of Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery. She has worked in the ski and hospitality industry in Colorado and Lake Tahoe for over 15 years. Black Tie Ski Rental Delivery started in Steamboat Springs eight years ago, and now there is a branch, each individually owned and operated, in almost every major destination ski resort in the west.
Stephanie and her ski technician, Mike Donahue, arrived at my door with bags filled with boots, skis, and poles custom designed for my skiing ability. In the comfort of my own living room, I tried on the boots and they fit perfectly. I talked to Mike and asked him my favorite question, “Where are you from" and “why Winter Park?” He grew up in Massachusetts and attended college in New York. Last year he spent a summer in Colorado and was determined to come back for a winter.
“I was looking for a community atmosphere where the resort didn't overshadow the small town feel. And, of course, great skiing.” Mike met Stephanie at her booth at the Winter Park/Fraser Valley Chamber Business Expo and thought that ski delivery was such a great idea. Plus, he was promised that he could ski — a lot.
After Mike and Stephanie left, George and I walked out my door, put on our new skis, and skied down to the SolVista Basin lift. We caught up on each other's lives while riding the chairlift and talked about all the bike and triathlon events we were training for during the winter.
We skied fast, and skied every open trail including the terrain parks. I was pleasantly surprised that Drifter was now a terrain park called Rough Stock. After a few runs on East Mountain we rode the Conquest lift to West Peak and my favorite trail at SolVista: Desperado. At the end of the run there are some surprisingly steep drops that take my breath away. George dropped into the Half Pipe while I skied around it.
On this picture perfect ski day I took in the peaks along the Continental Divide and Rocky Mountain National Park. I skied behind George and tried to mimic his perfect alpine turns while choking on the plume of white dust that kicked up behind him. I stopped to take in the scene and realized this is the perfect Colorado ski moment captured in every ski industry magazine ad. And, as I reveled in a rare moment of clarity, I knew this is where I am supposed to be: flying down a ski slope surrounded by trees, sage, and mountain vistas with a good friend, while striving for perfectly carved turns on new skis.
The lack of snow hasn't dampened my spirits, or the attitude of the people I encountered loading chairlifts or patrolling the slopes. They know as I do: We are lucky to be here. The visitors who travel here for a week or just a long weekend, will come back. They will say, “I'm coming back in summer.” Then they'll be hooked just like Mike, who thinks he just came to Colorado for the winter. And like me, who sometimes says, I'll be heading back east one of these days — yeah, right.
