Assuming Aspen Mountain doesn’t stay open longer than its currently scheduled closing date of April 21 (although if Aspen Skiing Co. chooses to extend the season that would be fine by me), we are just about halfway through the 2018-19 ski season. With the amount of snow we got in January plus a schedule packed with events — Gay Ski Week, X Games, etc. — the month has seemed to fly by and all of the sudden we have 11½ weeks until the lifts stop running.
With this in mind, I have decided it’s time to compose a winter bucket list. I want to make sure to accomplish as much as possible this season, so that when the snow is melting and it’s full-blown mud season in the valley I’m not left wishing I had a few more days of winter to do more.
In no particular order, here’s my mid-winter bucket list:
1. Make it to at least one full moon dinner and uphill breakfast
I’m lumping these two together since they both take place at the Cliffhouse restaurant on Buttermilk. At this point I have two more opportunities to attend a full-moon dinner, Feb. 19 and March 20, and numerous chances to wake up early and skin up Tiehack since the uphill breakfast club happens every Friday until April 5.
2. Enjoy an activity that isn’t on the mountain
Recommended Stories For You
In the winter, all outdoor activity seems to center around the mountains. Whether it’s skiing in bounds or adventuring in the backcountry, the mountains are where you are going to find the masses. However, there are other activities to enjoy that don’t involve skis or snowboards, such as fly-fishing, which is exactly the non-mountain activity that I hope to enjoy this winter.
Commit to a new uphill setup
I’ve been putting this off since gear is expensive and I can’t seem to figure out what setup I should purchase. In all honesty this bucket list item will most likely be checked off at the end of the season, because end-of-season sales.
Ski a mountain outside Aspen-Snowmass
Just making it past the roundabout is hard for some people in Aspen, but I’m not one of them. Beaver Creek and Copper Mountain are the resorts I’m looking to explore this season.
Plan a vacation for mud season
There’s nothing worse than getting so wrapped up in enjoying a winter in Aspen and then all of the sudden realizing it’s mud season and the entire town is leaving without you for some awesome vacation. This year, I don’t want to be caught wishing I had requested some days off, so I’m going to start planning now so I can keep adventuring.