Ski Trip March 2019 Preview: Wedding Bells

It’s only a few weeks in to the 2018/2019 North American ski season and it has been off the charts – literally!  

My social media feeds and newsletters are full of resorts announcing massive snowfalls in the Rocky Mountains, earlier than usual resort and terrain opening dates.  I really hope this keeps up and that it is a good sign for the remainder of the season.  So far it is looking positive; many of the forecasts seem to be predicting higher than average snowfalls for the Rockies.

For me, a good season is particularly important this year because I am planning a winter wedding in the Rockies.  And, really, what could be more appropriate than a mountain-top wedding when you met your future spouse while working at a ski resort? 

We’ve got an awesome trip planned, including lots of skiing.  I am just as excited about honeymoon as I am about the actual wedding!

Trip Plan Overview

• Wedding Preparations
  • We will fly to Colorado for a week an a half of final wedding prep.  Planning from Australia has been a little difficult, but luckily my parents still live there and have been able to help out.  
  • Our final preparations includes a free dinner at the venue and a cake tasting, so it won’t all be hard work.
  • We also plan to buy new skis during this week, so we will probably demo a few pairs first. 
• Buck Show/Hen’s Show (a.k.a. Bachelor & Bachelorette Parties)
  • My fiancé has planned a whole weekend in Las Vegas with the boys.  Yep, just like the movie.  (Here’s hoping it’s not actually like the movie.)
  • I’m going to spend a night with the girls in Fort Collins, Colorado.  This is going to be great – it’s where I went to college (Go Rams!) so I’m looking forward to a night out in Old Town and a good brunch the morning after.  
• The Wedding Weekend
  • We’ll be staying and getting married at Keystone Resort.  I’m looking forward to sharing the ski-resort atmosphere with a lot of our friends and family.  Many of our friends have never even seen snow!
• Post Wedding Ski Trip
  • We’ve got a few days post-wedding to hang out with friends and family in Summit County and ski.
• Honeymoon
  • We have some nice hotels booked and we’ve booked a combination of hotels and apartments so we can cook for ourselves a few times.  While this does save money, it’s also because we both feel that after travelling for a long time you actually just want a home-cooked meal some nights.   
  • 6 nights in Park City (the first place I skied)
  • 1 night in Vancouver
  • 6 nights Whistler (I’ve always wanted to go here)
  • 1 day booked for Whistler Heli-Skiing! 

Heli-skiing is the item at the very top of my bucket list.  I’ve been saying for years that I wanted to do this on my honeymoon, and for a while I wasn’t sure we were going to pull it off; I am so excited that we have actualy booked it in!  (It was even less expensive than I was expecting.)  I keep making sure to tell myself that it is weather-dependent because I don’t want to be too disappointed if we can’t go.  

Side Note: If you are planning a big ski trip or an activity like heli-skiing, do be sure your travel insurance covers these activities.  We’ve had to pay an excess but they will cover us and I think that is really important. 

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Not only am I excited about the trip because of the wedding, the great things we have planned, and seeing family and friends, but I am really just looking forward to some time off.  I’ve managed to get 6 weeks leave for the trip.  I’ve never had that much time off work before – without quitting my job – and I think I am just as excited about the break as the trip itself.  

Only 60 days left until we go!