{"id":2444967,"date":"2019-06-04T18:56:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T00:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/sean-beckwith-a-perfect-storm-of-summer-action\/"},"modified":"2019-06-04T18:56:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T00:56:00","slug":"sean-beckwith-a-perfect-storm-of-summer-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/sean-beckwith-a-perfect-storm-of-summer-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Sean Beckwith: A perfect storm of summer action"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The best time of the sports calendar is late fall. You have big time college football, the NFL, top tier European club soccer, the start of the NBA and NHL and postseason baseball all happening at once. It\u2019s like going to Denver for a weekend culinary tour \u2014 Vietnamese, Mexican, sushi, Indian, pizza, maybe some Chick-fil-A, who knows? There are so many options.<\/p>\n

The 2018-19 ski season that rolled into spring and now summer has me wondering: What is the ideal day? Is a powder day still the best possible scenario? One could feasibly ski, float and golf all in one day this coming weekend with Aspen Skiing Co. announcing bonus, bonus, bonus skiing.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a much better day off than bouncing around from one activity to the next and eventually ending up in some kind of water feature. There\u2019s something about swapping out sandals for golf spikes, bike spandex (if that\u2019s your thing) for fishing waiters or snowboard boots for boat shoes that\u2019s inherently cool. It\u2019s like being a two-sport athlete, just a lot easier.<\/p>\n

That said, would you rather do that or bathe in a foot of Champagne powder before a dip in a hot tub with an actual glass of Champagne? It\u2019s a tough ask, but what\u2019s the point of listable clickbait without something to argue about?<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s take a look at the contenders:<\/p>\n

Boots to beach (Spring\/summer snowboarding\/skiing plus any kind of water feature) \u2014 This is a rarity because river flows are usually too low, cold or both to enjoy during spring skiing. Not this year, though. Taking your boots off is pleasure enough, but slipping your feet into sandals on the way to the pool \u2014 and not your couch \u2014 is something not many people experience without significant travel time.<\/p>\n

Skis and sticks (Skiing and golf) \u2014 Early season golf is about getting your swing back but that might be tough if you\u2019re still getting over that shoulder injury you sustained overestimating your abilities while underestimating your closing day consumption. Still, spraying balls around the course after spraying slush around the mountain is always fun.<\/p>\n

The Aspen Classic (Powder day plus hot tub) \u2014 A nice warm burn after turns is undeniable. Easing into a hot tub with family, friends and a cold beer is as good as it sounds but the activity is lacking. It rivals any day in Aspen on the calendar but feels like a cop-out because a soak is technically leisure.<\/p>\n

Golf extravaganza (ball and disc) \u2014 This is the kind of day that ends as soon as the summer sun goes down. Requiring at least two if not three applications of sunscreen, the golf extravaganza is a marathon that takes mental toughness and liver longevity. The 37th hole tends to get a little dark, though, and I\u2019m not talking about trying to sneak in twilight swings at the par 3.<\/p>\n

White guy special (Golf and fishing) \u2014 With as much appeal to white guys as whatever is under the lid of a perfectly temped grill, the white guy special is ideal for people who like a side of sport with their recreation. The similarities of each activity are eerie, as well. Both take technique and precision, but no matter how much you practice, you can still have an outing that makes you feel like an amateur.<\/p>\n

Smuggler and a soak (Hike or bike and float) \u2014 Also known as a typical summer day, a cool watering hole should be the goal after any hike. Not because it\u2019s refreshing but because there has to be some kind of impetus to wandering around the wilderness.<\/p>\n

All right, so now that you\u2019re educated about the entries, here\u2019s my preferred order:<\/p>\n

1. Boots to beach (Weather permitting, which is why it wins, this season)<\/p>\n

2. The Aspen Classic (Docked top spot because activity implies being active)<\/p>\n

3. Golf extravaganza (How else am I supposed to get that elusive golf tan?)<\/p>\n

4. Skis and sticks (Going from gondola car to golf cart is fun when it\u2019s warmer than 60)<\/p>\n

5. Smuggler and a soak (Hiking to a high-altitude lake also counts)<\/p>\n

6. White guy special (I don\u2019t fish)<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to reiterate this was a subjective list. However, if you want to comment, argue or agree, by all means, send those page views skyrocketing. And, to be fair, a day spent doing one of these activities, let alone two or three, is better than a day at the office, inside or anywhere other than the mountains.<\/p>\n

Sean Beckwith is a copy editor at The Aspen Times. Reach him at sbeckwith@aspentimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best time of the sports calendar is late fall. You have big time college football, the NFL, top tier European club soccer, the start of the NBA and NHL and postseason baseball all happening at once. It\u2019s like going to Denver for a weekend culinary tour \u2014 Vietnamese, Mexican, sushi, Indian, pizza, maybe some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2444967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-18 17:03:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}