SPRING 2022
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A CLOSER LOOK
MOVING Mountains
Ski resorts are no longer just for skiing, of course. For destinations across the country, the off-season is looking a lot more full-on BY ALYSSA GIACOBBE
M ABOVE: In Snowmass, Colorado, snow is almost always part of the spring adventure
y husband and I had hiked Stowe’s Mount Mansfield at least a half dozen times before we decided, last spring, to hire a guide to take us up during a long weekend’s stay at The Lodge at Spruce Peak. It wasn’t that we needed to know how, or even where, to walk, of course. We’d been hiking together throughout New England and beyond since we met, and Bob prides himself on being great with a map. But after a long year or more of restricted living that included limiting our travel to places we could drive to and too-few interactions with people outside of our household, there was something undeniably appealing about the potential of seeing something new—or, even, seeing something we’d seen plenty of times before, but through someone else’s eyes. The day turned out even better than we expected: Guide Dylan Griffin took Bob and I through a section of the Long Trail we’d never even seen on a map, and along the way pointed out flora and fauna we’d never noticed before. The hotel had set up a picnic lunch at the top, where we enjoyed giant sandwiches and local craft beer along with our views—a far more luxurious trail lunch than our usual of squished Larabars and water. It was exactly the kind of mini-adventure we’d been after.
Unreliable winter conditions and an uptick in domestic travel over the last few years have resulted in an off-season boom for ski resorts across the country. In Breckenridge, Colorado, off-season visits have gotten so popular that Gravity Haus, the town’s popular hotel and social club, expanded the formerly members-only upscale gear rental club Haus Quiver to accommodate visiting guests coming to explore some of the Rockies’ most glorious months, where the winterscapes shift to include (thawed) alpine lakes and fields of wildf lowers. In addition to hiking, biking and paddle boarding—guided or on your own—there’s fly fishing, gemstone panning (keep what you find!) and—my unexpected favorite, on a recent visit—summer dog sledding, a two-mile circuit through the scenic Swan River Valley that helps keep the dogs in shape for the winter season. Last summer, the resort launched Epic Discovery, a blitz of all-level activities for families, plus on-mountain dining. In my experience at least, that bottle of wine you order at lunch will be a far safer bet when you’re riding the lift, not your skis, back down.
