Vail

Long known for its expansive terrain and charismatic village experience, Vail has built quite a name for itself over the years. With prices among the most expensive in the industry, this top-of-the line resort competes with the best in the country.

Vail’s size is unmatched by any other resort in Colorado. It’s impossible to cover the whole resort in a day, let alone an entire week. You can probably spend an entire season here without getting bored.

Vail’s front side offers a wide variety of below-treeline skiing and defined runs. Beginners will find gentle slopes off the upper-mountain Sourdough and Game Creek lifts, but all green trails leading back down to the bases are catwalks. Intermediates will have no problem finding groomed cruisers throughout the front side; in fact, parts of the mountain are completely dedicated to blue groomers. Advanced skiers will easily find plenty of steep mogul runs and can, with some effort, discover unmarked glade runs with hidden powder stashes. The front side also offers Vail’s only double-black diamond runs, with extremely steep, narrow, thin cover trails under the gondola, and the long, trying Prima mogul run off Northwoods.

The front side is also home to Vail’s family of terrain parks. The park at Golden Peak offers a superpipe and other major features, while the parks at Avanti consist of smaller features designed for beginner and intermediate freestylers.

While heavily promoted by the resort, the back bowls at Vail truly do offer an experience like no other. These wide-open ridges, accessible from the top of the front side, span several miles and offer seemingly limitless tracks. This area is absolutely breathtaking—with above-treeline terrain making up most of the acreage here, you can often see skiers in neighboring bowls miles away. Most of the terrain is steep and ungroomed, so advanced skiers will find a solid workout here. There are a few intermediate slopes as well, which is unique for Colorado bowl terrain.

By the time you make it to Blue Sky Basin, the furthest back of the three mountain areas, you’ll be miles away from Vail’s base village—and any inhabited municipalities. Blue Sky Basin offers fewer crowds and less tracked snow than other resort areas and feels completely isolated from the outside world. The terrain here consists mainly of excellent, easily lapable glade runs, and you can find some bowl-like skiing and cliffs at the top.

But what you won’t find anywhere at Vail is truly extreme terrain. You won’t find the perilous chutes or couloirs accessible at many other Rocky Mountain resorts. However, unlike most of those resorts, none of Vail’s terrain requires hiking to get to.

When conditions are good, you’ll find fantastic snow here. The back bowls get absolutely hammered with powder after snowstorms—especially windy ones—and you can find yourself in knee deep or higher snow on the best days. If powdery trees are your thing, Blue Sky Basin offers similar stashes in glade form.

However, the powder doesn’t always last long—slopes get skied off quickly due to the large traffic here, and conditions can become a bit crusty after a few days without snowfall. On days like this, it’s best to head to the Mongolia Bowl, which typically offers the best conditions on the mountain. This remote bowl takes multiple lifts and a poma to get to, but the extremely low skier traffic results in untouched snow and great powder.

Front side slopes usually have thinner cover than back areas, but they’re still consistently decent snow-wise. Snowmaking provides a steady base for certain trails here and allows for better early and late-season skiing. Vail invested significant capital into expanding its snowmaking capabilities for this season, greatly expanding the number of trails and mountain areas with coverage.

Vail is unquestionably a leader when it comes to lift modernization. The resort boasts 19 detachable lifts, including 2 gondolas, serving nearly every area of the mountain. Some older express quads have recently been replaced with six-packs, and there are plans for further upgrades in future seasons.

The extensive lift infrastructure does its best to mitigate the effects of Vail’s large crowds. On the front side, most major crowd points have at least 2 available lifts leading to diverse terrain options; this prevents modest lines from becoming intolerable. However, lines at Gondola One and Riva Bahn get quite lengthy in the morning.

The back bowl lifts, each of which independently service hundreds of acres of terrain, can get backed up. These areas close early, and things can get especially bad at the end of the day when everyone at both Blue Sky Basin and the back bowls is trying to get back to the base. Be sure not to take leisurely afternoon runs here.

Signage at Vail isn’t bad, but visibility can be difficult, especially in the back bowls. If you get caught in a storm or the sun is shining at the wrong angle, it can be difficult to see even a few feet in front of you. In addition, bad weather can bring intolerable wind at the top and in the back bowls. It’s usually more fun to stick to the front side, with its two gondolas and less wind, when weather conditions are rough.

Navigating Vail’s expansive footprint isn’t always easy. Many traverses, especially those required to get in and out of the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin, involve catwalks. It can take up to 6 lifts to get to some parts of the mountain, and that’s if you know exactly where you’re going. Luckily, you can get to know the mountain quickly if you look at the safety-bar-mounted maps present on many chairlifts. In addition, the resort’s intuitive lift system makes getting directly between closeby mountain areas fairly straightforward.

Depending on where you’re coming from, it can be difficult to get back down to Vail’s base villages. It’s a long journey back from Blue Sky Basin and the back bowls. Many similar-looking trails lead back to separate base areas, and it’s easy to end up in the wrong one if you’re not paying attention. Anyone coming from the Highline or Northwoods front side areas will need to traverse through catwalks in order to ski down to the base. Luckily, you can get on any lower-mountain lift and take it down to a base in lieu of taking these flat trails. It’s worth noting that the Vail Village and Lionshead base areas look quite similar at first glance and can be easy to mistake for each other, so double check that you’re going back to the right place at the end of the day.

Vail boasts a number of lodge facilities throughout the resort. It’s fairly straightforward to get to these facilities from most resort areas. All the reasonably-sized lodges for groups are on the front side, however—and it can take awhile to get to these if you’re in the furthest resort areas. If you want to make your own food, it’s worth noting that Belle’s at Blue Sky Basin offers a number of public outdoor grills.

Getting There

Vail is a bit further from Denver than many other Colorado Front Range ski areas. With no traffic, the resort is about two-and-a-half hours from the Denver International Airport—however, weekend drives often come with serious backups on I-70, the main highway to the resort. Visitors can also fly into the Eagle County Regional Airport, which is just 40 minutes from the resort but typically pricier to fly into. A number ofshuttle servicesexist to and from both airports.

Lodging

Vail offers plenty of lodging options across its expansive base village. Most are pricey but have hot tubs and pools, and many will appreciate the central location. Some are effectively ski-in/ski-out while others require a walk through the village. Cascade Village includes a variety of nice hotels and condos, but this area is removed from the regular base village and only provides lift service to the rest of the mountain via a slow, fixed-grip chair.

The cheapest lodging options are a drive or shuttle ride from the base areas. The excellent, low-priced Bunkhouse hostel is only 5 minutes away from the resort. If you’re staying offsite, make sure to use the shuttle bus when you can; visitor village parking is profoundly expensive and a lengthy walk from the lifts.

Aprés-ski

Vail offers an excellent aprés-ski scene, with multiple bars just off the slopes at each base. There are plenty of bars for nightlife in the village—many are in hotels, and you can find options just a short walking distance from any village condo. You can find a wide variety of live music or DJs any night of the week.

Verdict

While those looking for the most extreme terrain may be disappointed, anyone who knows how to have fun without skiing off a cliff will find a lot to like at Vail. The footprint is massive, the aesthetics in the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin are one of a kind, and the modern lift setup gets you places quite efficiently for such a crowded resort. Ultimately, Vail earns its status as a first-class mountain.