The holiday season, from Thanksgiving through New Year’s, is the perfect time of year to gather with friends and family.

Since the beginning of the ski sea­son was a week later than scheduled, Thanksgiving Day was spent off the slopes, providing a reason to engage in other activities such as hiking, running and just enjoying the sunny weather.

Many locals and vis­itors hit Smuggler, Arbaney Kittle and other trails around the valley for an alternate activity outdoors. With the delay of open­ing day, everyone had more time to spend prepar­ing the highly anticipated holiday feast.

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After cooking a 20-pound turkey all day, Alex and Colleen Irvin hosted Thanksgiving din­ner for friends at their home up the Frying Pan. Chrissy MacNamara of Aspen welcomed her cousins, former locals Elish and Alana Warlop, back to town for a Thanksgiving weekend visit. She hosted a dinner party one night and whipped up brunch the next day.

Throughout the holiday season, it’s important to appreciate all that we have and all of the loved ones in our lives. And now that the storms of late have pro­vided a bounty of snow, we all have much to be grate­ful for with the prime winter ski conditions.