Beyond the Paintbrush Divide: Colorado!

We just returned from a great ski vacation to Colorado. We flew to Denver last Friday and met up with Mom and Dad Millspaugh, Phil, and Chris Jarmul at the airport. It was a good start having everyone getting to Colorado coming from 4 different cities. We drove out to our hotel in Silverthorne and met up with Rob in Keystone for a late dinner.

Saturday we spent skiing at Keystone and it was pretty windy and cold. The mountain was in a cloud most of the day and skiing was a bit of a chore. Diana had some trouble acclimating to the altitude and wasn't feeling great for the rest of the day.

End of the Day as the Clouds were Breaking

Bundled up at Keystone

At the end of the day we packed up and made the 4ish hour drive to Crested Butte. This mountain is off the beaten path and goes through a couple mountain passes on the way. It is quite the contrast to the resort mountains of the front range. Going through the plains there were times when the road would almost disappear from blowing snow.

Blowing Snow on the way to Crested Butte

Once at Crested butte we were greated with bright sun and blue skies. The mountain was deserted and we barely waited in any lines the entire time we were there. There wasn't much fresh snow, but the conditions were great and some untouched snow could be found if you searched enough in the woods. We skied all day Sunday and Monday, and then half a day on Tuesday before driving out to Vail for the night and then out to the airport on Sunday. Diana skied great and soon will be tearing up the bumps like the rest of us.When we weren't skiing we made use of the hot tub and ventured downtown to check out the thriving town of 1,500 people. Crested Butte is definitely the place to live a secluded, laid back life.

On our last day there my brothers and I hiked to the summit from the top of the highest lift-served area (about another 350 ft vertical). The views from the top were impressive and the skiing down was pretty good too. The hike took about half an hour and I could definitely feel the altitude. Enjoy the pictures below of the trip. We aren't sure where we will go next year, maybe Utah?