3 ideas for planning your Valentine's Day ski date

Valentine’s Day is approaching and guys this is your chance to shine.  A dozen roses.  Dinner and champagne.  C’mon.  You can do better.  Those things may keep you out of trouble but it’s not unique enough to stand out.  Instead think about a day of adventure on the slopes and fun at Après ski.

Beyond the thrill of blazing down the mountain or pounding powder days, my wife and I spend more time together -- without the kids -- during ski season than any other time of the year.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and I plan on keeping them.  But time for us to be together as a couple -- just us -- is important too.

My wife and I took advantage of a friend’s generous offer 1 day this week to watch our kids so we could head up to Heavenly.  We did a few runs, had lunch at Tamarack Lodge, and then skied some more.  After we left the mountain we headed over to Lakeside Inn where your Heavenly pass gets you a free drink.  It wasn’t dinner and a movie, but that sounds like a date to me.

Whether you have kids or not, maybe it’s time to think a little differently when you’re making plans for your next date -- especially a date as important as Valentine’s Day.  It’s easy to fall into the dinner and a movie rut.  Do something different.

Adventurous is the key.  Don’t slack off and think the low-key day I just described is going to cut it for Valentine’s Day.  Here are some ideas to liven it up.  I won’t even charge you for them.

1. Make a treasure map.  Getting a gift for that special someone in your life?  Take the standard mountain map and create a teasure map with clues that will eventually unlock to the gift.
2. Be stars for a day.  What do stars always have around them?  Paparazzi.  Have you noticed all those photographers in green on the mountain this year?  They're EpicMix photographers.  Each time you see one of them ski up to them and act like a star.  You can share the photos for free socially -- but at the end of the day select one that you love and buy a high resolution version to do something special with.
3. Hit the afterparty.  The fun doesn't have to stop when the lifts close.  If you're in Tahoe check out Unbuckled -- Heavenly is running the Gondola late and the DJ is spinning tunes at Tamarack Lodge.  But whatever mountain you ski or ride, there are lots of ways to keep the day going after the lifts close.

Of course there are other ways to ensure this Valentine's Day isa day to remember -- just ask Dan Ricker.  He knows how to do it right and asked his fiance to marry him at Vail.  The couple pictured above were recently engaged at Keystone Mountain.

Need help planning the ulimate ski date?  You can call me Dr. Love -- and you can find me on Twitter or Facebook.

--Clark Vandeventer