On a sunny morning last winter, I found myself facing an oh-so-Colorado predicament.
My friend Tom was visiting from Michigan and he wanted to go skiing. Of course I wanted to go with him, but I had two non-negotiable work deadlines to meet that day.
What to do? Take my work to the ski area, of course.
As Tom loaded up the ski gear, I packed my laptop and charger. We made our way up Boulder Canyon and arrived at Eldora Mountain a little before 9 a.m.
While Tom skied over to the chairlift, I found a cozy corner in the West Wing Lodge and set up shop. As I answered emails and wrote stories, he explored the mountain on his own, stopping by every hour or so to check in. When I finally wrapped up my tasks, I joined him on the slopes.
I’m far from alone mixing work and fun on the ski hill. It’s not unusual to see someone strip off their gloves to send a quick email from the chairlift or to sip coffee in the lodge while responding to Slack messages. Ski resort managers don’t keep hard data on how many skiers and snowboarders are working from the slopes, but they say it’s becoming more common each season.
If you’ve got a flexible schedule or can work from various locations, here’s how to make the most of a remote-work ski day or long weekend at six Colorado resorts. These aren’t your only options, of course, just a sampling to help kickstart your plans for a winter work-pleasure adventure.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Leslie Cikra sips a coffee and looks out at the slopes at Eldora Mountain ski area on Nov. 26, 2019. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)
Eldora Mountain
Eldora, the 680-acre ski area just 20 miles west of Boulder, welcomes remote workers with open arms — so much so that it supports a remote work meetup group that formed organically a few years ago.
Several times each month (watch for updates to the 2023-24 ski season meetup schedule), the group invites skiers and riders to spend the day working from the base area. They take turns watching each other’s belongings while they get out for a few quick laps in the middle of the work day. Eldora even provides free swag to these remote workers.
You don’t have to join the group to work remotely from Eldora — just show up, like I did. Camp out in the West Wing Lodge or find a quiet spot in Indian Peaks Lodge or Timbers Lodge. You’ll basically have the entire place — and the mountain, more broadly — to yourself.
“It’s so empty during the week at Eldora,” says Sam Bass, Eldora’s spokesman. “The weekday experience is wonderful at Eldora, it’s so nice.”
Beaver Creek Resort
Picture this: You roll out of bed at The Osprey and pop open your laptop to join a morning Zoom meeting. When that wraps up, you pull on your coat and pants, grab your skis from the valet and head outside. You walk 26 feet and get on the Strawberry Park Express lift, which whisks you up the slopes of Beaver Creek. A few minutes later, you’re carving fresh powder or making turns on groomed corduroy .
This can be your reality when you plan a “workcation” at Beaver Creek. And, yes, the hotel is just 26 feet from the chair lift — staff members measured. The hotel may be the closest to a chair lift in North America. Your commute to and from work couldn’t be better.
If you don’t want to ski back to the hotel midday to answer emails, head to Spruce Saddle Lodge at mid-mountain for Wi-Fi and a bite to eat. Time your afternoon break around 3:30 p.m. when chefs walk through the lodge with trays of warm chocolate chip cookies. “Cookie time” is a thing at Beaver Creek. (If you’re working East Coast hours, that’s already well past 5 p.m.!)
Arapahoe Basin
From Denver, this small-but-mighty Summit County mountain is a little more than an hour’s drive away, so you don’t have to get up too early to be at your “desk” on time for work.
Hunker down in the A-Frame lodge at A-Basin’s base area, which has plenty of room to spread out on the first and second floors. (If you want to work from the 6th Alley Bar & Grill, order food and drinks and don’t overstay your welcome — servers need to make a living.)
If you’re feeling adventurous, pack your laptop in a sturdy backpack and head up to Black Mountain Lodge at mid-mountain, When your work is done, ski down the green and blue runs to the base area.
“We do encourage people to come ski and ride here at any time, so if you have to bring your laptop and do some work, that is fine by us,” says Shayna Silverman, Arapahoe Basin’s spokeswoman.
Kiddos out of school because of a teacher planning day? Sign them up for lessons and take them along. It’s a win-win: You’ll get some distraction-free work time, and they’ll improve their skills.
Worried about productivity? Don’t. Everybody needs to take breaks during the workday. Why not spend yours skiing?
“You are never going to regret taking time out of your day to get some runs in,” Silverman says, “because you’re going to do better work. You’re going to feel happier. You’re going to feel more relaxed.
“It takes you out of all the stress and anxiety of work to be able to go get some fresh air, take some deep breaths and stop thinking about it for a bit,” she added. “When you come back, you feel so much more refreshed.”
Snowmass Ski Area
You can easily spend a long weekend in Snowmass without burning your precious vacation days. Head to the Roaring Fork Valley on a Wednesday night and spend Thursday and Friday working from the resort. Then you’ll have the entire weekend to shred.
Book one of Snowmass’ many ski-in/ski-out condos — like the Crestwood, Top of the Village, Timberline Condominium or the Laurelwood — so you can literally ski onto the slopes from your home-away-from-home office. A condo will give you plenty of room to spread out while you work, too.
If you need to hop on a quick call while you’re out and about, stick to the Elk Camp side of the resort, recommends Sara Stookey Sanchez, spokeswoman for Snowmass Tourism.
“The Elk Camp Gondola offers 12 minutes of enclosed — aka quiet — space for taking a call,” she says. “Service is best on this side of the mountain, too.”
If you want to change up your environment, consider working from the lobby of a base-area hotel like the Viewline Resort Snowmass, Limelight Snowmass Hotel and Viceroy Snowmass. These lobbies have coffee shops, fireplaces and cozy couches, Stookey Sanchez says.
Another great option is the Collective Snowmass, where you can seamlessly transition from work to play. This community hub in Snowmass Base Village hosts an array of regular events, including bingo and chess nights, comedy evenings and live music.
Breckenridge Resort
If you thrive in a more structured work environment, spend the day focused on your projects at Starterhaus, the co-working space at Gravity Haus in Breckenridge. You’ll need to become a member or buy a day pass, but Starterhaus offers fiber internet, a phone booth for private calls, a printer, a kitchenette and coffee.
You’ll also have views of the Blue River and, if you have downtime between meetings, you can walk to the base of Breckenridge Ski Resort’s Peak 9 “in less than three minutes,” says Sara Lococo, a spokeswoman for the ski area. Hop on the Quicksilver SuperChair and you’ll be well on your way to accessing Breck’s 3,000 acres of terrain.
“Especially for a remote worker, it’s the ideal location to be because you can utilize the co-working space and easily sneak off for a few runs,” Lococo says.
Alternatively, check out Breck Works, another co-working space in town that offers desk space for as low as $10 an hour.
If you stick around Breckenridge a few days, you’ll find free Wi-Fi hotspots all over town, which means you can work while grabbing coffee or check in on a project while joining the family for a quick bite.
Starterhaus also has locations in Vail and Winter Park.
Copper Mountain
There’s a new place to work remotely from Copper Mountain this winter: the Aerie, a two-story, 25,000-square-foot lodge opening at the top of the American Eagle lift for the 2023-24 season. It’s got everything you need to be productive between ski runs, including a coffee shop, a cafeteria, a full-service restaurant and a bar and lounge.
But be forewarned: You may get distracted by the views.
“Remote workers can start their workday surrounded by snow-capped peaks and pristine forests,” says Loryn Roberson, a Copper spokeswoman. “The Aerie perches on the mountainside, providing 270-degree views of the Gore and Ten Mile ranges to inspire creativity and fuel motivation for any workday.”
Elsewhere on the mountain, you can recharge your phone in the free lockable charging stations outside Jack’s Slopeside Grill or head to the business center in Center Village to print, scan or fax documents or when you need a quiet space to take a call.
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