11 clubs with 150 participants joined the fun on Chicago Week this year in Aspen, Colorado February 23, 2019 - March 2, 2019. We all stayed like one big happy family at The Gant. The 2019 Chicago Week Theme was the Pre-St Patrick's Day Bash! Chicago Week-ers were quite creative with their "green-wear" of shamrocks, leprechauns, green beer, pots of gold, Irish top hats, lucky horseshoes etc, etc............ Thanks to everyone for the great participation and creativity!

From challenging skiing, to easy cruising, to fun parties made Aspen a typical great Chicago Week. The weather could have not been better. We started with a boatload of snow which made for great skiing. We also enjoyed many-a-day with BLUE skies and perfect ski temperatures. To top off the trip, the snow started on Thursday and continued into Friday......POW, POW, Powder! Saturday, arrival day, was hectic as usual. Many joined the meet 'n greet that evening at Ryno's to say hello to old friends, have a beer, a bite to eat, and enjoy each other's company.

Sunday started our great skiing week with a bluebird day, plenty of snow, perfect ski weather, and participants scattered across the 4 mountains. Some joined the mountain tours; others skied on their own. What a fabulous day of skiing! The day ended with a Welcome Party at The Gant where almost everyone attended in their crazy St. Patty's Day wear. CMSC Board members and Trip Leaders added to the color with their new green jackets.

Monday was a jam packed activity day. First, was the Nastar Race at Snowmass. We had a great turn-out with 70 skiers who joined the race. A variety of categories were included such as "fastest” male & female in many different age categories, and closest to match their own time! Everyone had a blast in the racing event; 52 of our racers won medals. The race was followed by lunch at the Spider Sabich Ranch. We tried something new: a "burger-less lunch". We enjoyed a Greek-style lunch with chicken wraps, various salads (including Orzo), and yummy baklava for dessert (they had to keep bringing more out!) Lots of great feedback about the lunch. Club photos were taken by the Aspen photographers after lunch and the pictures were available at the banquet.

The last activity for Monday was the pub crawl in downtown Aspen. The fun began at 7:30pm with, yet, another great turnout! Chicago Week-ers started "crawling" at any of our 5 featured locations: Aspen Tap, Aspen Public House, Hops Culture, the Limelight Hotel Lounge, and Silver City. At the end of the evening, the raffle prizes took place at Silver City.

Tuesday we experienced another blue sky day. Aspen Highlands was a popular place on Tuesday with CMSC Chicago Week-ers. The skiing there was wonderful, and our après ski party took place at the Highlands Ale House at the base. Their chefs' made us very creative pizzas along with a number of other delicious appys and beverages. Because of the delightful day, we enjoyed the party both inside as well as on the outside deck.

Wednesday was a "day off" for many. Guess what? It was another bluebird day of skiing for those who hit the slopes and enjoyed the day shushing down the mountains.

Thursday was another beautiful day of skiing followed by the dinner banquet at Bumps at Buttermilk. Buses began boarding at the Gant before 6pm and the last bus left Bumps at 11:00pm. It was a beautiful, spacious venue with a delicious plated dinner. BJ the DJ rocked the house and had the dance floor hoppin'. . . . . and you should have seen the pre-St Patty's day wear. So, creative! T'was another fun night. And . . . , it was snowing!

Friday, our last day of skiing, brought us lots of ......POW, POW, Powder! What an awesome way to end the trip. Most people skied Snowmass since the après ski party was at Base Camp Snowmass.

We had our own room upstairs with access to the balcony . Skiers finished their day tired, yet rebounded for parties in the evening to survive another great Chicago Week.

Thanks, everyone, for joining the trip. Until next year, where we will gather together in Whitefish!

Sue Finis, Co-Trip Leader
Vicki Schutz, Co-Trip Leader