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Back!!
By John
And man, oh man, was it sweet.
Vail is a resort beyond comparison. I've done most of the big ones in Colorado: Breck, A-basin, Steamboat, Winterpark, Keystone, etc...but Vail just tops them all. Biggest ski mountain in the United States. And it's a world attraction, too. We ran into tourists from all over the globe who had come to ski the famous trails or work the resort, including one very attractive blonde from Argentina who gave me the best deep tissue massage ever.
Yes, I had to pay for it.
Yes, it was worth every penny.
But anyway, if you're a skier or boarder, pro or recreational, you really have to make the trip to Vail at least once. It's kind of like a pilgrimage to Mecca for winter sports enthusiasts.
Good to be back. And many thanks to Bull Nav and Col P for keeping the fires burning while I was gone.
Small photo essay below the fold:
My trusty truck takes us up into beautiful white-capped Rockies, with my dirty hat in the foreground for scale. Or something.
I-70 West, between Denver and Grand Junction is hands down one of the most beautiful drives in the US.
Down I come, in one piece, after a particularly nasty run.
Taking a pause, and a breather, on one of the catwalks.
The real winner this trip wasn't Vail's legendary back bowls, but the relatively new Blue Sky Basin. Vail had to fight to build the place, I guess there was a potential Lynx habitat up there that got the hippies all huffy puffy about development, but in the end Vail won out. I spent the entire trip looking skywards and thanking the Colorado state legislature for that small miracle, in this day of inconvenient truths and all, as the skiing was absolute heaven. We spent many, many hours there cutting wakes through the fresh powder, weaving in and out of the pine trees that dotted the slopes. That's my friend Joy and I close to Blue Sky's summit, ready for another run.
Thursday we got snow. Lots of snow.
Buddy Joel and I bundled up on the lift, where the cold was at its worst.
And up into the clouds we go!
One of the better vacations I've taken. Whatta blast!
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Comments
wow John that looks incredible. what views!
I've been to Tahoe Nicholas, liked it, but it was no Vail.
The place is in a league of its own, I'm telling ya.
I would like to know more about this "attractive Argentinian blonde."
Surely there is more of a story there than you are letting on!
walked into the massage parlor, masseuse came in, gave me a massage, I paid and left.
I wish it was more entertaining than that bingo, but it wasn't. har.
Blue Sky Basin also has some pretty neat military history. Back in the 50's - that area - along with much of Copper Mountain was staging for various maneuvers. My dad has a great story about a training exercise involving a Weasel, dad and a couple of other instructors, and the incentive of a weekend pass.
A general came out to see the action, and was in one of the weasels. It parked in a clearing that was right smack in the middle of where dad and the guys needed to get in order to reach enemy territory and 'capture' them. Well - guys in the Weasel were the enemy. So - they captured the general.
General wasn't too happy. Guys still got their weekend pass after the monitor of the exercise (probably wrong term) reviewed the rules and ruled in the favor of Dad and the other instructors!!
All this happened in the valley that Blue Sky Basin surrounds!
Glad you had a great time skiing there! It is an awesome place indeed!
Nina
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Have you skid Heavenly at Lake Tahoe? I spent a couple of days there once. Pretty amazing views during the descent, and at one point you can choose whether you want to ski into California or Nevada :)
I lucked out and went at a time where the snow was reasonably fresh but there were very few people. Dunno how that happened. I guess I showed up very late in the season or something. I doubt it has anything on Vail but it was still great.