Vail is the nation’s largest resort. With more than 5,000 acres of skiable terrain, 33 lifts, 193 trails, and a four-and-a-half mile run, Vail is simply, monstrously huge. Even by the outsized standards of the American west, its size is more than ponderous. It’s downright surreal. There are separate areas for slower beginners, and areas set aside especially for families. There are long, broad cruiser runs for grinning intermediates, and plenty of gut-busting bumps for experts - enough to fill several large Eastern resorts, in fact. About half of Vail’s vast territory is devoted to ungroomed back bowls. Terrain is evenly divided among beginner, intermediate and expert. Average annual snowfall is a huge 350 inches, making the season long and sweet. Located only 100 miles from Denver, Vail is immensely popular
with both Americans and Europeans. It’s known as a place to see and be seen, and it’s big enough to accommodate everyone’s tastes. Oozing nouveau old-world charm, the village bustles with activity. Literally hundreds of shops, boutiques, and restaurants, as well as galleries, museums and pubs, offer virtually everything you can imagine. And more than a few things you probably can’t. Celebrities and common folks mingle on busy streets, and when they’re not people watching, skiing, or shopping for the latest fashions, some folks give bobsledding a whirl (novices welcome!), or take to the air in hot air balloons, or mush the backcountry on dog sleds. It’s all there at Vail. It doesn’t come cheap. But it’s available. Figure skating and hockey skating, showshoeing, telemark skiing, snowmobiling, parascending, snowboarding. There are even mountainboards for rent in summer months. It’s all there. You’ve just got to do it. Or not. Some purists might argue
that Vail is a little too popular, a little too big. They may have a point. It is a bit busy. And it’s certainly enormous. But like going to New York City, everyone should do it at least once. There’s a similar energy at Vail. Lift lines may resemble New York sidewalks at Christmas, upon occasion, but crowds have a way of dispersing eventually. After all, 5,000 acres is a lot of Rocky Mountain real estate. Vail holds its own among the world’s largest resorts in terms of sheer capacity, too, with more than 32,000 guest beds in the Vail Valley. Top |
