Travel recap: Beaver Creek 2025 (road trip edition)

We try to do a snowboarding trip as a family once a year. Snowboarding is a sport Z grew up loving; he took a break during medical school and residency but picked it back up once he finished his training. He wanted to introduce the girls to the sport as early as possible and encourage me to enjoy it too. While I'd prefer to sip hot chocolate in a cozy cabin, I make an effort to practice each time we're there out of love. ;) 

Decision to drive

We have always flown, but with 2 little kids and all the stuff that comes with them, we began to ponder if a road trip was a worthwhile alternative. The flight to Denver itself is not that long. But when you start adding the time to get to the airport at least 2 hours before departure, check in the luggage, arrive in Denver, wait for a rental shuttle, get the rental car, and then drive to the mountains which is at least another 2-hour drive, the idea of driving there didn’t seem that crazy. Our trip was on the MLK weekend and rather short- we only planned to have Zoe miss Friday before the holiday and then return home by the night of MLK day. It was a 14-hour drive from our house to the destination. We opted for an all-night drive to allow kids to sleep through the night in the car (and not hear the “Are we there yet?” for 14 hours) while Z and I take turns driving.

We left home Thursday at 10am. I took the first shift as I’m the night owl and knew that I would be alert until 2 or 3am. As expected, the girls fell asleep when they got in the car. It was certainly a long drive but doable with lots of podcasts. At 3am, Z took over, and by sunrise, we were entering Colorado. Girls were starting to get restless around 5am so once we arrived in Colorado Springs, we stopped at a McDonald’s and unleashed our very restless/feral children. 

Meeting Baby Nova

We made a stop in Denver for a few hours to meet our dear friend, Roxi, and her newborn daughter. Our girls were completely obsessed with the baby. I may have gotten a baby fever holding her. Ugh, newborns are so doll-like and precious. I somehow forgotten how small they start.

Around 2pm, we began to ascend to the mountains without much trouble. 

Lodging

Until the girls get older and can handle their equipment more on their own, we prefer the ski-in/out location for easy access to the slopes. We stayed at Villa Montane - it was not a true ski-in/out location, it was still within Beaver Creek Village and close to all the restaurants. The children's group lesson location was only a 5-7 minute walk away. We actually preferred this location more than where we stayed last year - the unit was very spacious and the front desk service was wonderful. We booked the unit through AirBnb - complimentary breakfast and super easy check-out process were the standout of all (no need to “clean” the unit!). I highly recommend this place. 

Snowboard group lesson

We were thrilled that Zoe finally got to join the group lesson! Kids can start skiing as early as 3 years old, but snowboarding isn't allowed until they turn 5. Ski lessons are far more popular than snowboarding for both kids and adults, so her class size was small. She had full lessons on both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm. Full-day lessons include lunch and frequent breaks. I was worried about the subzero temperatures, but she handled it like a champ.

I also took adult group lessons, but only for half a day. I didn’t want Zaylee to be watched by a babysitter all day, so I did morning lessons only on both days, using the same babysitting service as last year. My snowboarding instructor was Heather, and I absolutely loved her! She was by far the best instructor I've ever had. I was pleasantly surprised that my body didn't completely forget how to snowboard. With Heather’s guidance, I was able to advance much faster this time around and ended the trip being able to do turns quite comfortably. For the first time, snowboarding felt more like ‘fun’ rather than a ‘chore,’ so it seems like I am finally heading in the right direction.

Our time in Beaver Creek

This was a rather short trip compared to last time. We realistically only had 2 full days on the mountains, which ended up being just the right amount of time for the girls. Zoe, Z, and I typically left the room around 9:15 am to head to the group lesson location while Zaylee stayed with a babysitter. I was done with my lesson by 12:30 pm so I would head back to the room first to get Zaylee napping. Either Z or I would then head over at 3 pm to pick up Zoe from her group lesson. We came back to our room to take a shower and head out for dinner. Our trip coincided with the Le's, whom we became friends through Zoe's preschool. They stayed at an AirBnb with their group of friends just 5 minutes from where we are. Zoe and her preschool buddy had a lucky opportunity to hang out outside of TX.

Maybe the subzero temperatures even scared the locals away, but Beaver Creek was surprisingly quiet and empty during our weekend there. For a beginner like me, it was a dream to have all that space, and for Z, it was perfect with beautifully fresh, powdery snow on top of the mountains.

Z would braid my hair each morning :)

From Z's view

Mountain life tired them out

Where we ate

Not anticipating the quiet weekend, I made sure to secure a dining reservation in advance. During a typical peak ski season, it's highly recommended to make reservations if you plan to dine anywhere in Beaver Creek Village - The Golden Eagle Inn and Aritza

Heading home

Driving back home was tougher. Subzero temperatures with active snowing made our FWD (and no snow tires) rental car struggle to come down from the mountain. What would usually take 2 hours took us almost 4 hours to come down. Even when I took over the driving after getting off the mountains, poor road conditions and low visibility made it challenging for us to get out of Colorado. It was a good call to leave there at 1am (yes, you read that correctly - 1am) because we still didn’t get home until 6:30pm. Girls were happy to finally get out of the car and spent the next hour joyously going through all of their toys. 

Ever since this trip, we were asked multiple times - would we do this again? While it depends on the distance and duration of the drive, our answer is a resounding yes. In our current phase of life, with little kids and lots of stuff, road trips offer a certain convenience. We can stop anytime we want (hello, potty breaks), we're not limited in cargo space, and we experience far fewer stressful transitions (no security lines, waiting for luggage or shuttles, reloading everything into a rental car, etc.).

What would we do differently next time? 

1. If we are road-tripping again to the snowy mountains, we need at least an AWD car. I know an AWD car is not the holy grail but for a rental car, it would have helped on the mountainous road conditions. Knowing more road trips are in our future, we are considering maybe upgrading our family car. 

2. Continuing the car talk - more space. We rented a Ford Explorer this time which is bigger than our family car, Hyundai Santa Fe. Having more space in general just made long drives more manageable. We also have family and friends visiting us throughout the year, so having extra seats would be more convenient. 

   
   

Our annual trip to the mountains is getting more exciting each year as the girls are getting bigger and stronger. Not sure where we’ll be going next year, but we have enjoyed our time in Beaver Creek both years.