Colorado’s ski resorts provide idyllic snow-globe backdrops for holiday traditions. Whether it’s bundling up for an adventure in the woods to cut down your Christmas tree or cozying up on the couch in front of a crackling fire with snow softly falling outside to watch your favorite holiday movie, mountain towns offer the perfect setting for magical holiday moments.
The Moving Mountains Staff share their holiday traditions, both past and present. We're all locals in our Colorado ski resorts and have been living the Christmas Dream with our families for many years!
Why not take some tips from our team members and incorporate them into your holiday spent in one of our Colorado mountain towns where a white Christmas is usually always guaranteed.
We work and play in the mountains, so are fortunate to enjoy skiing all winter long, but there are some days that we just don’t miss. Here are some personal recollections of spending family time on the slopes over the holidays:
“Growing up spending the holidays in the mountains, my family would hit the ski slopes after opening presents on Christmas morning. We would stuff our pockets with treats to hand out to the lift operators.” Teresa Wiedel, Guest and Brand Experience Manager
Even on Christmas and New Year’s Day, the complimentary Moving Mountains shuttles are available at your service, ready to take you to the slopes and back home. Tip: Take advantage of these days; they sometimes offer the best skiing experiences with fewer crowds on the runs!
Off the slopes, there’s so much more to enjoy in Colorado’s mountains towns, especially during the holidays when we have family and friends visiting:
- Snowshoeing up Steamboat’s Emerald Mountain with headlamps to view New Year’s Eve fireworks
- Skinning up the mountain on New Year’s morning
- Soaking at Strawberry Park Hot Springs on Christmas or New Year’s mornings (yes, they’re open 365 days a year)
- Gliding across the ice at the outdoor rinks in Beaver Creek and Vail villages, Steamboat’s newly redeveloped base area, or Maggie’s Pond in Breckenridge
- Dining at Beano’s Cabin in Beaver Creek on Christmas Eve after arriving on a snow cat drawn sleigh
As Liz Piazza, Systems Administrator recalls from her Colorado ski vacations growing up, “In addition to cutting down our Christmas tree, another family tradition was building a snowman in our backyard with all the fixings from a carrot nose to a top hat along with a jacket and scarf.”
Forget the Christmas tree lots when you’re surrounded by forest! A tradition for most Moving Mountains employees living in Steamboat, Breckenridge or the Vail Valley, is to strap on the snowshoes and venture into the backcountry to cut down their own tree (with a permit, of course.) One team member scouts the woods around her property all summer searching for the perfect tree!
Liz Piazza, Systems Administrator, recounts her family’s expeditions to get their trees, “From a Florida family…we always came out to Steamboat for Christmas to enjoy the snow, pine trees and colder weather. One family tradition I can remember vividly…Getting a $10 permit to go into the woods on Rabbit Ears to cut down our very own Christmas Tree. It was typically an all-day event filled with fun times, hot cocoa, some yelling and crying (FL kids and all trying to trudge through deep snow) and inevitably coming back to the house with a FAR LARGER Christmas tree than what could fit in our house with vaulted ceilings. This either ended up with a bent Christmas tree OR just us using the top half of the tree we brought home.”
Save yourself the trouble of packing a saw, lights and tinsel if you’re coming for a Christmas ski vacation. Take advantage of local decorating services that will source that tree for you and have it beautifully decorated by the time you arrive.
The hustle and bustle of holiday shopping is actually enjoyable when you can leisurely stroll the streets of a picturesque mountain village. Some of us make a tradition of spending an afternoon with family picking up some last-minute stocking stuffers on Christmas Eve day. Along the way, pop in to a local coffee shop for a peppermint latte or cocoa. After all, you’re on vacation!
Check out our staff’s picks for finding the perfect gift, while supporting local businesses!
Grab the popcorn, it’s holiday movie night! Here are the top picks that Moving Mountains team members (and their kids) watch every Christmas:
- Elf
- How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- A Charlie Brown Christmas
- Christmas Vacation
- Love Actually
- It's a Wonderful Life
- A Christmas Story
Melissa Caton, Operations Manager in Breckenridge, enjoys a more interactive activity with her family, “My family takes gingerbread house building and decorating very seriously. It started when my now teenage children were young and the annual tradition has turned into a competition that gets more heated each year!”
You can still enjoy those holiday movie and game nights in your vacation home away from home. Many Moving Mountains homes are entertainment havens, featuring theater rooms equipped with big screens and surround sound. You’ll also find fully-loaded game rooms with everything from classic board games to pool tables to arcade and video games. Visit here for homes with theater rooms.
Embrace your holiday traditions and maybe create some new ones during your ski vacations in a snowy winter wonderland. Here are more ways to make your Christmas even more magical.
