Skiing at Vail - Vail is one of the most versatile ski resorts in Colorado. On powder days, the ungroomed back bowls present a challenge to even the most skilled skiers and riders. Snowboarders will like the park and pipe on Adventure Ridge. Intermediates usually enjoy the well-groomed Cloud 9 area. Vail offers 174 trails and 29 chairlifts, including 10 high-speed quad lifts and Eagle Bahn, the 12 passenger gondola. The front side of the mountain has over 100 runs. If you are coming to Colorado from sea level, keep in mind that Vail is at a slightly lower altitude than the near-by Summit County ski resorts. It can be a good area to start in before you get acclimated. The down side of Vail is that unless you have the Colorado Card, which gives you 10 days at Vail or Beaver Creek, Vail is very expensive. Even if you have a discount lift ticket, parking alone can be costly. Lisa Mercer 06'

Skiing Vail - Friends of mine have given Vail a nickname: The Big Show. They ain’t just a kiddin. Vail is MASSIVE. On our first and only visit we started at Lions Head and moved toward the back bowls, skiing down and catching a lift up, just soaking it in. The snow was perfect and the day was warm and sunny. By the time we got to the back bowls, half the day was gone! (It would be prudent to get there when the lifts open for maximum touring, ahem). We played a little, had a lite lunch and headed back. Crossing from one side to the other and back again took a whole day! I can only imagine spending a week there and never being bored! For some reason, I don’t remember a really busy or crowded feeling. It was a Friday, so maybe the crowds don’t show up till the actual weekend, but it was everything people talk about …. A Really BIG Show! Bonni 06'

Skiing at Vail - Everybody knows that Vail is big. I'm not sure if they realize just how big it is, but that is beside the point presently. The question is whether or not it is worth it. Well, I personally think that the crowds there are consistently tremendous, and seem to fill up this monstrosity. I will, however, also give credit where credit is due. The back bowls do not deserve it, though. They are in direct communication with the sun for most of the year and this makes them hard as a rock most of the time. They'd be better if they had trees. But the back bowls provide access to the Blue Sky Basin, which is a skier's dream. Far away from the highway, deep in the country of Vail, there exists a north facing set of runs that are long, soft, and uncrowded. The main problem with them lies in the fact that it's a minimum of about four hundred chairlift rides to get all the way out to them, but herein is another fun aspect of Vail: traveling around great distances on a pair of skis, looking at things. I personally really enjoy this sort of European pleasure, and there definitely is no place better to do it in America than Vail. The front side is also really fun, with cliff bands everywhere that are challenging because they mostly have primarily flat landings with isolated trannies that have to be found for safety's sake. The terrain park is famous and Vail is known best of course for its miles of intermediate groomed runs that seem to never end. Joey Smallwood