Good morning and welcome to Summit Up, the world’s only daily column that’s leaning back in the chair saying, “What a great holiday weekend.”

Sure, there were a few instances of frustrated stomping up and down the stairs, and maybe a few instances of throwing soft items angrily at a family member, but hey, what else are holiday gatherings for? We like to focus on the love, hugs and laughter of the holiday instead of those crazy, inevitable mishaps.

And maybe there was the case of the missing wallet/purse after a night out at Johnny G’s (Frisco was busy this weekend! We hope our business owners made a strong start to the weekend…), but the friendly staff there and the good-hearted people of Summit County helped our hungover selves relocate the missing item back into our pocket.

Oh, and what about the Catch-22 we experienced on Black Friday? Where we’re torn between being avid deal-seekers and despising large crowds. We were sent to Walmart after a solid day of skiing (where we wholly and completely and pleasantly forgot it was Black Friday), and it became a quick drive-by when we saw how far back we had to park in the lot. We quickly realized that we hate crowds much, much more than we love deals. Which isn’t to say we’re sad the crowds were there – we’re happy to hear whispers of a good holiday weekend all up and down Main Street, Summit County – but, well, you get what we’re saying.

And sure, there was the freezing cold weather, but heck, the snow was great! After getting a friendly heads-up from Copper Mountain patrollers to head up Storm King Express by noon, we took said advice and snagged fresh tracks down Spaulding Bowl. Can’t beat the warm, fuzzy feeling you get inside when the ropes keep dropping – and before Thanksgiving no less!

You also can’t beat that other warmth you get from rolling on the snow laughing as your family members take early season tumbles (not harmful, we wouldn’t laugh if they got hurt), like when dad’s ski went flying down the powder field and almost speared our brother as it hit a bump and sailed into the air. Thankfully, said ski speared the snow instead of dear brother, and dad skidded down on one ski to clip back in. We felt warm… he felt embarrassed. It all went down in front of the usual line of people waiting to take their turn on the early season terrain.

So, we hope you millions of Summit Up readers also had a great weekend and have stories to share (feel free to e-mail us some of them!). Now, it’s time to get back to the grind. Happy Monday!