Breckenridge Colorado

 The Powderdogs went to Breckenridge, Co for their annual ski adventure from January 21st to 26th, 2021. Breck is a great mountain with a great town for apres snow activities and shopping.

• Chairperson: Jeannie Conway and Kelly Olson
• When: January 21-26, 2021 (Thursday through Tuesday)
• Where:  Breckenridge Colorado
• Cost with lift tickets: $1350.00 per person or
• Cost if you have the EPIC Full Pass: $950.00 per person,

By Jim Ulasovich

The Powder Dogs went to Breckenridge. It was a wonderful trip where I’m sure everyone would agree left with outstanding memories.

We stayed at the Beaver Run resort which was at the base of Peak 9. The resort was nice, all rooms had wood burning fireplaces and access to the slopes was pretty easy. There were lockers for ski and pole storage so it was nice to quickly grab your skis and start your journey up the mountain. Most of us were on the same floor, so room to room access with fellow Powder Dogs was no problem. Ski conditions were OK the first day, perhaps a bit icy in spots, but got better as the week progressed. Light snow fell daily with of course more measurable amounts in the higher elevations. The last day was best with significant snowfall occurring.

All Powder Dogs had a great time and there are a many great stories to tell. I tried to capture the essence of many of these stories. Here they are:

Welcome Le Don, our newest club member! Le Don is an avid skier and we’re happy to have her as part of our Powder Dogs family. We hope you enjoyed your first trip with us, and that there will be many more to come.

JR, Courtney, Mike and Patrick enjoyed the trip and had a wonderful time hitting the slopes. Courtney also took advantage of the Beaver Run spa. An unfortunate bit of disappointment for her was the Packers loss to the Bucs in the NFC Championship game. Many people that watched still can’t figure out why the Packers head coach took the ball out of Aaron Rodgers hands, one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play and not let him attempt to tie the game. For sure a coaching blunder. Sorry Courtney, the Packers are a great team and I know you’re from “Title Town USA”, but like we depressed and disgruntled Bears fans always say, “Wait till next year”!

We ran into Hope, Carol and Barb as they were just coming off the mountain. I believe they were taking a break for lunch but were anxious to get back out on the slopes for some more skiing. Most of us did go back to our condos for lunch as because of COVID-19, dining on the upper elevations was very restricted.

Also, kudos to Joyce, who came back from breaking her hip this past summer and enjoyed skiing with members of the group and of course with Larry.

Among the many surprises on this trip was the emergence of one of Powder Dogs very own, Dan Chapala, a.k.a. “Dirty Dan” performing his stand up comedy act at one of the bars in Beaver Run. While his jokes are proprietary so I can’t divulge much detail, the boisterous and energetic crowd was very appreciative of jokes and stories about apples, Martians, and Cinderella, not to mention other crowd pleasing highlights. Thank you Dan, you are just another example of the many diverse hidden talents that are represented by many members of our Powder Dogs fraternity.

Now for some black and double black diamond ski highlights. The “Dirty Half-Dozen” of Jim and John Conway, Mike and Steven Nelson. Kevin Turner, and Dan Chapala began attacking the slopes each morning promptly at 8:30 a.m. They vigorously skied these challenging slopes without trepidation, much skill and continuously looked for runs that could provide them with the ultimate challenge. However, Dan Chapala did hit a tree, but all was reported OK as the tree suffered no significant damage!

Speaking of no significant damage but being left “dazed and confused”, Jim U., Karen, and Larry were on a lift chair headed to the top of Peak 7. Once entering the unloading area and they readied themselves to get off the chair the excitement set in. All three of them went down like dominos. Nobody seemed to know why or what happened other than they were all lying in the snow. The lift operators rushed over to pick up Karen, while Jim and Larry became no more than ski obstacles! Eventually all was well, no broken bones just embarrassment, some bruised egos and track marks on the backs of Jim and Larry!

Now I did not witness this first hand but heard there was some really good power shopping going on in the towns of Breckenridge and Dillon. Jeannie, Joyce, Barb, Carol, Allie, Hope and Becca all got in on the fun. A good shot in the arm for the local economy.

Some of the club members dined together at a restaurant called Spencer’s in the Beaver Run Resort. The food was good and the camaraderie even better. The last night was a dinner banquet, also in the resort. The choice of chicken or trout were excellent but even better was the dark chocolate flourless cake. A good time was had by all.

In summary and I think all would agree it was a great trip. We had skiing, shopping, dining, card playing, beverage enjoyment and many shared stories amongst friends. A very special “shout out” goes to Jeannie for planning this trip for us. It was not an easy thing to do in the age of COVID-19 and the many restrictions that accompanied it. Thanks Jeannie! And for those Powder Dogs that couldn’t make the trip, we missed you and we’ll catch you next time around.