Steamboat or Bust

   This year I had the pleasure of spending New Year's Eve on another adventure... Chris invited me to come out to Steamboat Springs, CO to try snowboarding for the first time! I was really excited, for a whole lot of reasons, not the least of which because this would only be my second time in Colorado. I knew Steamboat was a famous ski destination so I was a little surprised at how small the airport was. Chris found me, we grabbed my bags, and were on our way into town.

   Nothing excites me quite like seeing mountains, and Steamboat is nestled right in them. And with the near-record snowfalls (16+'!) they couldn't have been more beautiful.

   Chris whipped up a snack of grilled Halloumi cheese (yum) and wine, and then we hung out in the outdoor hot tub and enjoyed watching fireworks from the top of the mountain. (Keep in mind it was somewhere between minus 10 to minus 20 degrees, so once you were in the water it was hard to get out!) But he had made reservations for a spectacular 5-course dinner at Bistro CV, so we braved the elements.

Photos are from Explore Steamboat

   Bistro CV lived up to the high praise in Frontier Airlines' inflight magazine, Wild Blue Yonder... the meal was just incredible. Each course was complex and delicious, from the salmon tartare to the diver scallops & sweet potato gnocchi; the seared 27-year aged ribeye to the flourless chocolate cake with berry sorbet. (And the rose champagne didn't hurt, either!) This was hands-down the best (and possibly coldest) New Year's ever. 

   Saturday was extremely cold again, with wind chills at -20, so though we were out on the mountain for lunch, we opted to hang out inside and watch movies and make dinner rather than risk frostbite. Mark & Melanie came over for dinner and we cooked up a superdelicious meal: Asian pork belly lettuce wraps, sirloin, scallops & more (eat your heart out, CV!)

   Sunday, we were up and at 'em, riding the Wildhorse gondola up to Steamboat, then grabbing rental gear for me so that Chris could give me my first lesson.

And the lucky board is... the Park Pickle. (What?!)

   Steamboat is incredibly beautiful, especially when the clouds cleared up and the sky was intensely blue.

   Nothing, however, could distract from what a huge dork I looked like:

   But, I guess that's the hazard of cold-weather gear, right, Chris?

   Chris did his best to teach me everything he knows about snowboarding, but it was a fairly huge gap, considering he's had over 20 years of experience. I put everything I had into it, but still wasn't getting very far. I'm sure Chris was disappointed, frustrated and frankly, bored, but he hid it well and was a great sport. After two hours of trudging up the practice hill (I hated to waste $90 on a lift ticket if I couldn't get the hang of it), a few good bruises on my knees and a helluva whack on my tailbone, I was pretty well exhausted.

Coccyx: 1, Jen: 0

   So we took a break for lunch, and rode up the big gondola to Hayzie's, where we met a couple of his friends. Great views everywhere, and really great food.

   I took the easy way down. This is why I'm here writing this blog today rather than in intensive care and wrapped up like a mummy, like you see in cartoons. It was worth it, for that, and for the views (the photos don't do them justice, since it had become cloudy again, and I was shooting through glass):

   Chris, on the other hand, took the fast way down: tearing it up on the mountain!

   We met up at the bottom and grabbed some groceries and whipped up a really delicious roast chicken and vegetables for dinner, then hit the hot tubs again. This guy knows how to live!  ;)