After some last minute shuffling, we ended up having 48 members join the Chattanooga Ski Club trip to Snowmass. The trip was February 3 - 10 and began with a very early flight out of Atlanta. Several members opted to stay overnight at the Drury Inn to get a few extra winks in and others chose to stay with family or friends in Atlanta or made the drive from home to Atlanta in the wee morning hours in order to make the 6:15 AM flight. We had 29 on our flight from Atlanta to Denver and six more joined us in Denver to share the shuttle from Denver to Snowmass. We were very fortunate that our flight was on time because shortly after our shuttle left Denver the weather took an abrupt shift, turning from rain into snow, causing travel delays while the Denver airport became gridlocked with flights diverted from Aspen. Unfortunately, a few of our participants who chose to make their own travel arrangements were unable to fly into Aspen as they had intended, and their flight was either diverted to Denver where they had to find last minute transportation to Snowmass or was rescheduled for the following day resulting in a slightly shortened trip.
On the way out of Denver we made a brief stop to gather groceries and other supplies at King Soopers and Applejacks before continuing our four hour journey to The Crestwood in Snowmass Village. Even though we arrived a couple of hours before check in time, we were fortunate that they had most of our rooms ready, which allowed us to get settled in. Later that evening we met in the banquet room for a wine and cheese welcome party and got ready for some great skiing the next day.
Our accommodations at Crestwood were ski in/ski out and offered several amenities, including: three hot tubs, an outdoor heated pool, free shuttle service, and onsite ski concierge. Several mentioned how great the ski concierge service was. I did notice most of the comments were coming from the ladies but I’m sure that had nothing to do with the reportedly handsome young men who were employed there. Skiers enjoyed around 144 inches of snow with 18 out of 20 lifts being open. With close proximity to Snowmass Village, Snowmass Center, and Snowmass Mall there were plenty of shopping and dining opportunities available. Unfortunately, we had to make a few trips to the hospital for non-ski related incidents, mostly just to verify nothing was seriously wrong after a couple of shuttle fender benders, and happily nothing that ended anyone's skiing for the week.
We ended our week on Friday with a leftover potluck party in the banquet room and enjoyed lots of fellowship and heard some great ski stories from both past and present club trips. It was an enjoyable evening before heading home on Saturday. Overall, the trip went well and we were blessed with good weather, made new memories, and enjoyed time with great friends (old and new).