Aspen, CO Ski Trip
March 31st thru April 5th, 2004
The Participants:
Chris Furlong, Kevin Furlong, Todd Gotham, Sean
McBurney, Jason Ruppert, Dan Self, Andrew Welch
Pre-trip Guidelines:
1.) Todd...your shoes are to remained tied at all times, or the laces have to be
removed. Nutter can't make the trip because he's pregnant....so don't start
anything.
2.) We will not be leaving the state early for anyone's "legal"
issues.
3.) Any attempt by Andrew to commit violence against another one of us will
enact a "zero tolerance" policy and he will be beaten by the other
group members....in the town square. In the interest of keeping Andrew happy,
arm wrestling gets an exemption.
4.) No foo-foo drinks allowed. (Foo-Foo will be defined by the three most
intoxicated members of our group at the time said drink is ordered) If the drink
is deemed "foo-foo," straight tequila and/or whiskey must be
substituted.
5.) To promote a sense of adventure, spectacular crashes are to be rewarded at
happy hour with the group buying celebratory beers/shots for the crashee,
pending a medical evaluation for a concussion.
6.) When heading to Snowmass, the truck leaves for the slopes when the majority
is ready...if you're late, take the bus.
7.) If anyone is witnessed wussin' out on a jump or steep, the only way to
redeem yourself will be a night ride on Captain Dan's Air Mattress of Death.
8.) Any individual who falls off of any sort of tow lift (T-Bar, Platter,
etc...), owes the group a round at happy hour.
March 31st: The Arrival
This is considered our travel day. We all arrive at Denver Airport at various times so we meet at the Red Rock Brewery. Once everyone has arrived, we begin the 3 and a half hour drive to Aspen. Upon arrival, we unpack and check out the "Swankness" of our pad, have a few drinks and head off to bed.
April 1st: Aspen Mountain
We get up at the crack of 10am and head out for the slopes. Today, we walk the block and a half to the gondola at the base of Aspen. The weather is in the mid 50s. The base of the mountain was a little slushy. So, we head to the top. Excellent conditions for our first day. Packed powder and sunny.
We came off the mountain around 2pm and head for the après ski house (aka, Ajax Bar). The waitress suggests a couple places to go later in the evening. Later that evening we head out for dinner and night life. We decide on dinner at Bentley's and then Club Chelsea for the rest of the evening. Upon arriving at Club Chelsea at 9pm, we find out that the nightlife doesn't really start until 11pm. So, the bartender buys us a round of shots to keep us there. Six shots and a bunch of beers later, the place is packed. We close the place down at 2am and head back to the Pad. We play some poker and then head off to bed around 4am so we can be up bright and early the "next" morning for skiing.
April 2nd: The Highlands
We get up at the crack of noon and head for the Highlands. It is about a 10 minute drive from our place. The weather is a little cooler but not much and the conditions are the same.
After about 4 runs, the previous night catches up with Todd and myself so we head to the Iguana for some hangover relief. Eventually, everyone has enough skiing and we head home to take a nap. That night, we head out to Su Casa for some Mexican food. We decide that after the previous night, that we would take it easy so we could make it out the next day for our last day of skiing. So, we head home and play some poker.
April 3rd: Snowmass
We get up at 8am, Chef Kevbo makes us some egg "Mc" muffins and we head out for Snowmass mountain. It's about a 15 minute drive. The weather is beautiful again.
After skiing, some of us decide to go on a bar crawl while others take a nap. Chris catches a shuttle back to Denver for his early flight back. We checked out 39 degrees, McSorley's Pub, Ute City Bar and Grill, and The Red Onion. Dan gets us on the invite list for an private club called the Caribou Club. We meet up with the rest of the crew and go to Taka Sushi for dinner. After dinner we went to the Caribou Club for some drinks. After a couple $10 rum and cokes, we checked out the Lava Room before heading back to Club Chelsea for the rest of the night. When we get home, we play some more poker and then head off to bed.
Last day of skiing, can't hold anything back.
April 4th: The Departure
We get up and packed so we can be out of the pad by 10am. We didn't have to be back to Denver until 6pm so we walk around Aspen and check out the shops and buy souvenirs. Then we make the drive back to Denver and drop off Todd, Sean, and Dan at the airport for their flights. Myself, Andrew, and Kevin head into Denver to our hotel for the night. We hit the Rock Bottom Brewery for dinner.
April 5th: Back to Reality
We head to Denver Airport for our flights back to the real world and work :-(
What a great trip. Thank you Kevin for setting it up. You Da Man.