Vail Ski Resort

Vail Ski Resort
Location	White River National Forest Eagle County, Colorado
Nearest city	Vail, Colorado
Coordinates	39.6391°N 106.3738°W / 39.6391; -106.3738
Vertical	3,450 ft (1,050 m)
Top elevation	11,570 ft (3,530 m)
Base elevation	8,120 ft (2,470 m)
Skiable area	5,289 acres (2,140 ha)
Runs	193 total 18% beginner 29% intermediate 53% advanced
Longest run	Riva Ridge 4 mi (6.4 km)
Lift system	33 total (1 Gondola (12 person), 18 High-speed quad chairs, 1 quad chairs, 2 triple chairs, 1 double chairs, 9 Surface)
Terrain parks	2
Snowfall	346 in (880 cm)
Web site	www.Vail.com

Vail Ski Resort is located in Eagle County, Colorado, next to the town of Vail. Vail Mountain, at 5,289 acres (2,140 ha), is the largest single mountain ski resort in the United States, featuring seven bowls and intermediate gladed terrain in Blue Sky Basin. It opened in 1962 and is currently owned and operated by Vail Resorts, which also operates three other ski resorts in the state (Breckenridge, Keystone, and Beaver Creek) as well as Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar at Tahoe, at Lake Tahoe.

Ski areas

Vail Mountain has three sections: The Front-Side, Blue Sky Basin, and the Back Bowls. The mountain is the second largest resort in North America after Whistler Blackcomb at over 5,200 acres (2,100 ha). Most of the mountain is wide open terrain with trails of all types, from cruising runs from most Front Side and Blue Sky Basin lifts, to the wide open Back Bowls, glades, chutes, and moguls in the Northwoods area, cornices in Blue Sky Basin, and much more. Vail Village is modeled on Bavarian village styles, with pedestrian streets.

Unlike other Colorado ski towns such as Aspen, Breckenridge, or Steamboat Springs, which existed as mining towns prior to the establishment of their ski resorts, the town of Vail was built when the resort opened.

History

Vail was founded by Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton in 1962, at the base of Vail Pass, which was named after Charles Vail, designer of the highway that passed through the valley.

During World War II, Seibert joined the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division which trained at Camp Hale, 14 miles south of Vail between Red Cliff and Leadville. During the training Seibert and Eaton became familiar with the surrounding terrain, areas of which would become resorts in later decades. They discovered a peak that believed to be well-located and with good snow, calling it No-name Mountain, which later became Vail.

Construction of the resort began in 1962 in the uninhabited valley. It opened six months later on 15 December. There were three lifts: one gondola that ran from the base of the front side to midmountain, called MidVail; a lift from MidVail to the mountain peak; and a lift allowing access to the back bowls. Vail quickly grew to become a popular ski resort, a village formed at the base, near the gondola ski lift, which was taken down in the 1970s.

Also at that time, the construction of Interstate 70 highway had begun, replacing highway Route 6. During the 1970s, the Eisenhower Tunnel was completed and President Gerald Ford and family vacationed at their Vail home, bringing it international exposure. Vail grew into a super-resort, with skiers and vacationers paying European trip prices for a Colorado vacation. Later, Vail's village expanded. In 1970, Denver was awarded the 1976 Winter Olympics with Vail selected to host the skiing competitions. However, Colorado voters denied funding by a 3:2 margin in November 1972 and, three months later, the games were awarded instead to Innsbruck in Austria.

By the 1970 the mountain had been greatly expanded, with a second gondola added in the Lionshead area, which also included a residences and shops at the base of the slopes. On 26 March 1976, when carrying cable snagged on a support tower and two cabins derailed from gondola towers, killing four people and injuring eight. The gondola was closed for the remainder of the season until the Von Roll Lift Company installed a new monitoring system, preventing any further accidents. Soon after the original gondola in the village was replaced with a lift.

In 1989, Vail hosted the Alpine Skiing World Championships with great success.^{[citation needed]} The championships were held in Vail/Beaver Creek again a decade later (Vail 99), to even bigger fanfare. In 1985, five high-speed detachable quad chairlifts were opened, the second mountain in the country to use them, after Breckenridge. Vail Associates bought Vail, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Heavenly in California in 1996. The company allowed skiers to buy an all-mountain pass that granted admission to all of their resorts.

In October 1998, the Earth Liberation Front set fire to the resort's Two Elk restaurant, Camp One, ski patrol headquarters, and four ski lifts, causing US$12 million in damage, to protest the planned expansion of ski terrain into lynx habitat. All the buildings destroyed by arson were rebuilt. Poma Ski Lifts Company added three high-speed quads to open the Blue Sky Basin expansion. Most of the lifts suffered only minor damage. However, the drive station for High Noon lift was destroyed, and later rebuilt.

In the early 2000s, hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in the resort. In 2000, Vail opened Blue Sky Basin, an intermediate-expert back-country area with moguls, tree skiing, cliffs, and ridges.^{[citation needed]} Vail has been the number one ski resort in the United States 14 times in a 17 year period.

In 2004, the original Lionshead skier bridge was replaced. At the end of the 2005-06 ski season, the chairlift number one (located at the base of "Giant Steps"), the last double chairlift in operation since the early 1960s, was replaced. According to a press release on 1 August 2006, Vail began offsetting all of its power usage by purchasing wind power credits. They were the second largest corporation in the United States to do so.

In summer 2007, after seven years without a new chairlift, Vail undertook one of the biggest lift improvements at a Colorado ski area when it installed two high-speed quad chairlifts to replace the Highline (double) and Sourdough (triple) lifts. This eliminated a traverse from the Sourdough lift to the Two Elk Lodge restaurant. A new plaza was opened at the bottom of the Vista Bahn Express ski lift in Vail Village in 2008. On 27 February 2010, one of the original black diamond trials (a steep slope for advanced skiers), International, was renamed Lindsey's to honor Vail's Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn. The trail is next to "Giant Steps" and one of two flanking the original lift number one from the base of the mountain. On 10 December 2010, a new high-speed quad chairlift in the Sun Down Bowl, the High Noon Express, opened, replacing a fixed-grip triple.

White River National Forest

Vail Resorts operates on National Forest System lands under special use permit to the White River National Forest. Master Development Plans, Winter and Summer Operations Plans, Construction Plans, and every phase of the permit holder's skiing operation is approved by the federal government annually prior to construction and operation. In exchange for the use of National Forest system lands the resort pays an annual fee to the U.S. Treasury amounting to about one dollar per skier visit. Twenty-five percent of the fees collected are returned to Eagle County, Colorado, for roads and schools, in lieu of taxes. The federal government supports the objective of providing healthy recreation opportunities in quality natural outdoor environments. Millions of national and international users during all seasons of the year appreciate the opportunities provided by Vail Resorts and White River National Forest through the public and private partnership on federal lands.

Reference: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property, Part 251—Land Uses, § 251.51 Definitions. Ski area —a site and attendant facilities expressly developed to accommodate alpine or nordic skiing and from which the preponderance of revenue is generated by the sale of lift tickets and fees for ski rentals, for skiing instruction and trail passes for the use of permittee-maintained ski trails. A ski area may also include ancillary facilities directly related to the operation and support of skiing activities. [1]

Forest Service Feasibility Studies

In 1972 the White River National Forest analyzed the terrain surrounding Vail, Colorado, to determine ski area feasibility of the greater regional area and identify additional opportunities for public parking and access to National Forest lands between Vail Pass and Lake Creek above Edwards, Colorado. The investigation was stimulated by the planned construction of Interstate 70 in Colorado over Vail Pass, or alternative Red Buffalo Corridor, and the awarding of the '76 Winter Olympic Games to Denver, Colorado. by the International Olympic Committee with the showcase downhill event planned for the yet to be developed Beaver Creek ski area. New parking areas on Shrine Pass, Battle Mountain, Meadow Mountain, Minturn, Stone Creek, Avon, and Lake Creek were identified as development sites, base areas, and potential new skier entrance portals. Integration of Vail Ski Resort, including Blue Sky Basin, with skiing terrain on Battle Mountain, Grouse Mountain, Meadow Mountain, Stone Creek, Beaver Creek, and Lake Creek were analyzed and considered physically feasible as an integrated mega-resort with multiple portals. Twenty-eight ski lifts were planned for Grouse Mountain above Minturn, which was rated comparable to Snowmass in overall size and capacity with significant amount of terrain in the intermediate category with good snowfall. Findings were presented to William Lucas, Rocky Mountain Regional Forester, by Thomas Evans, Forest Supervisor, and Erik J. Martin, professional landscape architect, lead member of the Blue Ribbon study committee for ski area planning feasibility, and program manager for ski area administration. Grouse Mountain above Minturn was highly rated for developed alpine skiing and conceived by White River National Forest skiing experts as a potential future phase of a large mega-skiing complex on National Forest System lands linking the existing Vail ski area and Battle Mountain east of Minturn with Grouse Mountain, Beaver Creek, Meadow Mountain ski area, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead on the west side. Development of Grouse Mountain did not occur due to the high cost of development, rejection of the '76 Winter Olympic Games, vocal public opposition at the local and statewide levels, and a desire by Vail Resorts to fully develop Beaver Creek and Vail Mountain prior to expansion. The opportunity to provide developed alpine skiing on Grouse Mountain was eliminated from future consideration with the establishment of the Holy Cross Wilderness in 1980.

Forest plans

The 2002 Revision of the 1984 Land and Resource Management Plan Forest plans, White River National Forest, Chapter 3-Management Area Direction, 8.25 Ski areas - Existing and Potential, pages 3-80 through 3-8, and 8.31 Aerial Transportation Corridors, page 3-84, establishes long-term planning direction for Vail Ski Resort. Lift access from remote areas and new portals, including Minturn, were analyzed in the plan. The theme of an 8.31 aerial transportation corridor designation is to serve the principal purpose of transporting people to, from, and within communities, and ski areas. The theme of an 8.25 land allocation is to allow ski areas on federal lands to be developed and operated by the private sector to provide opportunities for intensively managed outdoor recreation activities during all seasons of the year. The 8.25 management area prescription includes existing developed ski areas and undeveloped expansion areas with potential for future development. Ski areas provide winter sports activities and other intensively managed outdoor recreation opportunities for large numbers of national and international visitors in highly developed settings. In some areas, use in the summer may be as intensive as in the winter. The White River National Forest forest plan addresses vegetation management, intensity of use, seasons of use, and motorized access. The 8.25 management area includes existing resorts that have already been permitted and developed, as well as additional suitable terrain into which development is planned for the future. The 1984 Forest Plan and 2002 revision were authored by Erik J. Martin, Program Manager for Ski Area Administration, to identify future expansion opportunities and alternative special-use permit boundaries for Vail ski area. The 1984 Land and Resource Management Plan [Forest plan] was revised in 2002 [2], and analyzed in a Final Environmental Impact Statement [3]. A summary of the Final Environmental Impact Statement to accompany the Land and Resource Management Plan - 2002 Revision is available to the public at local Forest Service Offices, public library, or National Forest web site [4].

Resort statistics

Elevation

• Base: 8,120 ft (2,470 m)
• Summit: 11,570 ft (3,530 m)
• Vertical Rise: 3,450 ft (1,050 m)

Trails

• Skiable area: 5,289 acres (21.40 km²)
• Trails: 193 total (18% beginner, 29% intermediate, 53% advanced/expert)
• Longest run: Riva Ridge - 4 miles (6.4 km)
• Average annual snowfall: 346 inches (8.8 m)
• Terrain Parks: 3
  • 1 Superpipe
• Bowls: 10 (7 official)
  • Sun Down Bowl
  • Sun Up Bowl
  • China Bowl
  • Siberia Bowl
  • Tea Cup Bowl
  • Inner Mongolia Bowl
  • Outer Mongolia Bowl
  • Pete's Bowl
  • Earl's Bowl
  • Game Creek Bowl

Lifts

• 31 total
  • 1 Gondola (12 person)
    • New gondola planned for 2012
  • 18 High-Speed Quads
  • 1 Fixed Grip Quad
  • 2 Triple Chairs
  • 1 Double Chair
  • 9 Surface Lifts

External links

• Official Vail website
• Vail Resorts corporate site