Ski Trip Report: New Year's in Vail

I just finished my 4th day of skiing at Vail. While it lived up to some of my negative expectations, it has also surprised me in a lot of good ways. I’ll start off with the good. The skiing has been better than expected. While the mountain lacks a lot of the rocky steep chutes that Squaw, Alta, or Jackson have, the terrain is actually decent. The front side of the mountain is pretty much entirely traditional tree-lined slopes. There are a few good runs through the trees and the bumps by the Highline lift are enough to give your thighs a real fun for their money. But I wouldn’t spend too much time on the front side of the mountain.

Vail’s real treasure is the back bowls. They are HUGE. By themselves, they are over 3000 acres. I was treated to the joy of a foot of fresh powder on New Year’s Day. The combination of the back bowl’s expansiveness and the fact that everyone was too hung-over to ski, meant that I was getting fresh tracks from 0830 to closing. It was one of the best powder days of my life. Early on in the day when the visibility sucked, I was mostly sticking to the trees in China and Siberia Bowl. While in some areas the trees are pretty close together, most of the trees are very skiable as long as you go slow. Once the visibility improved, a local pointed me to the Mongolia pomma. I hate to spoil a good thing. But there was absolutely no one over there. I had a number of fantastic runs in Bolshoi Ballroom and Inner Mongolia Bowl. The only downside to heading over that far is that the pitch becomes more moderate in Inner Mongolia Bowl and the catwalk at the end is fairly long. But if you’re looking for fresh tracks, it’s well worth it.

To finish off New Year’s Day, I went with some locals on the Mintern Mile. It’s a backcountry trail that takes you from the ski area boundary at Lost Boy in Game Creek Bowl to the ski bum town of Mintern. It was awesome! The first part was moderately pitched untracked powder, alternating between open meadows and glades. Then we had a half hour down a fairly flat narrow trail through the woods. Although flat, you can get going pretty fast and it’s too narrow to turn. Because of that, the trail is affectionately called the Luge. After getting to Mintern, we spent the next hour drinking Margaritas in a real classic ski bar. The inside entrance was filled with skis and snowboards. The walls were lined with old ski pictures. It was absolutely packed with locals who had just finished up their day of skiing.

The snow quality was also very good. Despite temperatures being in the upper 30’s to mid 40’s, the snow was pretty dry. Vail was reporting a 51” mid mountain base. Although this was less than what was Snowbird had 3 weeks ago, I didn’t hit a rock until the last day. This was due to the mountains here being generally less rocky than in Utah. So the important thing to remember is that the cover at Vail could be excellent compared with Utah even though its base might be less.

The biggest surprise was the cost. I wasn’t expecting Vail to offer a good military discount. But even on New Year’s weekend, the ticket only costs $45 for active duty military. Sorry for you non-military types. You still have to pay the outrageous sum of $82. If you know that you may be coming here at some point next season and you are ever in Colorado on business, you might want to get a Colorado ski pass. It covers unlimited skiing at A-Basin, Breckenridge, and Keystone and 10 days at Vail/Beaver Creek. All this for only ~$320. The only hitch is that it isn’t good at Vail over Christmas and the first time you get it, you have to buy it in person. After that, you can renew online.

We flew into Denver International and used the Colorado Mountain Express Shuttle to get to Vail and back. In good weather, plan on the drive taking 2.5 hours. On the day we went to Vail, with some snow from the night before and heavy traffic, it took us 3.5 hours. It costs $68 each way. So factoring in the time and the cost, it makes sense to fly into Vail/Eagle airport if you can get a good deal.

Now onto the part of Vail that met my expectations. The last two resorts I’ve taken trips to have been Jackson Hole and Alta/Snowbird. Vail is definitely on a completely other level on the ritzy scale than they are. We were staying at the Vail Cascade Resort and Spa. Although a 4 star hotel and one of the best hotels in Vail (normally $460/night), we got it on hotwire for $150/night. It’s a nice place with a swank bar for Après Ski. But they really try and nickel and dime you. I was disappointed that you actually had to pay to get internet access. Even most budget motels include that free of charge. The women who come here are dressed to impress. Fur is definitely big here. So expect to see them decked in designer clothes, fur coats, and fur boots. Along with that, people come to Vail as much for going out at night as for the skiing. So if there’s bad weather (ex. Snowstorm) or it was a big party night the night before (like New Year’s), expect to see the mountain pretty empty for the first part of the day. At first it kind of pissed me off that no one wanted to come out for a great powder day. But then I realized that it just meant more powder for myself and it didn’t both them that they were missing out on some skiing.