BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — This picturesque mountain village is a powder-lover's paradise, but on the fourth day of our five-day, first-ever Colorado vacation, I — a lifelong non-skier — was running out of options.
True, the previous afternoon of body treatments at the Blue Sage Spa had been a relaxing delight, but I had had my fill of reading and window-shopping the trendy stores along the snow-clotted streets. So when my 10-year-old son decided that morning that he was through with snowboarding school, I did what any panicked parent would do: I picked up the phone, called our condo's concierge, and begged for guidance.
It was the best move I made the entire trip. The concierge suggested calling White Mountain Snowmobile Tours, and a few hours later, my son and I were cruising across the Continental Divide, high above the treeline, on a two-person snowmobile and sharing one of the best rides of our lives.
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Our adventure started at White Mountain's base camp perched at 11,000 feet near the top of Fremont Pass between Copper Mountain Ski Resort and the historic mining town of Leadville. It was a sunny, relatively mild day (in the mid-30s), and we decided to dispense with our bulky snowsuits and, over our jeans and sweatshirts, we pulled on the black, one-piece coveralls provided in the changing hut. We brought our own boots, gloves and goggles and were fitted with safety helmets.
Our group of 10 riders would be mounting seven snowmobiles, and our guide, Christian Ousback, cheerfully introduced us to our Polaris machines. Ousback, 38, a wiry, bearded fellow known to everyone as "Oz," is a native of Cumberland, Maine, but has been living in Colorado for 15 years and for eight of those, running tours for White Mountain.
The snowmobile's controls and safety features were fairly easy to grasp — right hand throttle, left hand brake — even for a first-time rider. Oz emphasized the importance of staying together and following his simple hand signals. Then we were on our way, seven roaring ducklings trailing our mother duck high into the Rocky Mountains.
My son and I fit easily on the two-seater Polaris 550. As we climbed nicely groomed trails, we practiced leaning together into the curves.
Snow had been plentiful recently. "Colorado snow can be deep, almost bottomless," Oz said in a follow-up telephone interview. "That makes riding a snowmobile more like riding a Jet Ski."
The winding trail took us initially through trees (ultimately we would pass through both the San Isabel and White River national forests) and through property belonging to the Climax Mine, once the world's largest molybdenum mine.
Oz brought us to a wide-open expanse of mountainside where a rough, circular course had been laid out, and we were given an opportunity to open up the throttles of our machines, while testing our driving skills at higher speeds.
Our next stop was literally the high point of the trip: the slope of Chicago Ridge at 12,500 feet above sea level. As I stepped away from our snowmobile, I seemed to be no longer plagued by the altitude-induced shortness of breath that had bothered me since arriving in Colorado. I also found I had cell-phone service, despite our remote location. So I made a call. Maybe it was just my day for miracles.
The tourcompany owner, Hergert, 41, has been running White Mountain Snowmobile Tours for 18 years. He started out with 18 machines and now has 22 employees and 80 to 100 snowmobiles prowling the slopes on any given day.
"If everyone listens and does what they're told, then everything goes great," Oz said later. "We can pretty much guarantee the ride of your life."
Back in the hut as we peeled off our coveralls, my son and I shared our highlights: the altitude, the views, the speed (or lack thereof), the hot chocolate. We agreed that Oz wasn't boasting. Our snowmobile ride together through the Colorado mountains was the best trip, ever. At least so far.
If you go
White Mountain Snowmobile Tours , Leadville, Colo.
• 1-800-247-7238; whitemountaintours.net
• Seven two-hour snowmobile tours offered daily through April. One-hour and three-hour tours also available. High-adventure tours available for experienced single riders.
• For two-hour tour, $100 for driver; passenger $50. Children 6 and under ride free.
