Vail Ski Resort — Hotel in Four Corners States

We spent a four day vacation at Vail. Vail is massive and has 3 main sections, the front side, backbowls, and Blue Sky Basin. The grooming was very nice and the snow quality was decent. They have a massive terrain park and when we were there, we were lucky enough to see some pros competing in a competition. Vail has lots of trails and most of them are always open. I will say that if your looking for more advanced terrain, Vail isn’t the greatest place to go because they have 6 double black diamond trails and only like 2 extreme terrains. The double black diamonds aren’t that hard too. If your intermediate or a beginner, Vail is awesome. I would recommend going in march because it isn’t peak season, but most trails are still open and there’s still regular snow. Another negative things about Vail is prices. A day pass is really expensive and is around $300. I would recommend getting an Epic Pass because it’s cheaper and you get discounts on food. I will now discuss each section of Vail.

The Front Side The front side is the main part of vail with lots of trails. It has trails ranging from greens to extreme terrain. The greens and blues are regularly groomed and well-maintained. There are lots of lifts and the lines aren’t too long in non peak season. Hairbag Alley is my favorite trail here.

The Legendary Back Bowls This might be the most famous section of Vail and it lives up to its hype. There are multiple massive bowls here. When you ski down the bowls, it is truly exhilarating. When its powdery, it feels like your on top of the world and that nothing can stop you! (Until you fall!😂🤣) Anyways, this is a great section and definitely lives up to its name.

Blue Sky Basin In my opinion, the best section is Blue Sky Basin. First of all, there’s almost nobody there. Also, if you like glade skiing, here has lots! They have 2 bowls, and even some cliff jumps. Blue Sky Basin is by far my favorite section of Vail and you guys should definitely try it out if you have the chance. You will have to go early because Blue Sky Basin opens at 10 and closes at 3. You can eat lunch at Belles Camp up there. If you want to ski all of Blue Sky Basin it will probably take 2-3 days. My favorite trail here is lovers leap. You jump off a small cliff and then ski through some moguls and trees. Blue Sky Basin is so underrated and my...

Update 2022: we took a flight to Zurich and went skiing 7 days in St. Anton. Skipass in St Anton for 7 days: 402$. Same price in Vail for same days: 1,645$. If you go skiing with a family of 5, the 6,215$ price difference already pays for a luxury hotel in Austria. Vail prices are insane.

2021 I wrote: First time in Vail. For comparison, my other skiing resorts: Aspen, Lake Placid, Park City Utah, St. Anton, Lech, Zillertal, Kitzbühel (Austria), Garmisch, and Cortina (Italy).

Snow is great, the Back Bowls live up to their reputation if you have powder snow. Without the right conditions, the bowls are ... simply a vast South-facing skiing area. But maybe the safest and one of the best off-piste experience you can find anywhere with beautiful nature views.

The terrain is family friendly but not thrilling, some runs are really nice, but few are very long. If you look for an experience of never ending runs, you won’t find it in Vail. The more challenging/steep runs are not groomed and 100% moguls. Seems to be a Vail thing to love moguls. Why are all black/double black runs moguls? Limits your ability for a fast&vertical and more Alpine skiing experience. Flatten the moguls! The high number of runs make skiing a private event, you won’t meet too many other skiers on the piste. But there is a limited number of lifts, so some waiting time has to be expected. There is a lot of crossing to do to get from lift to lift. Certainly not comparable to the Austrian high tech resorts with their abundance of lift capacity and connectivity. Service is outstanding and helpful throughout. Vail village is old-world cozy, restaurants are excellent. Family atmosphere.

To the Mountain management: pls build more lift capacity, nobody wants to stand in line. Avoid Saturdays, it gets...

Vail is a beautiful place, and Mother Nature has not been kind with snow this year. That is understandable. What is not understandable is Vail’s refusal to limit lift tickets to the point that skiing is outright dangerous, even for experienced skiers.

Lift lines were 30 minutes or more everywhere with the wait for lifts on the beginner hill at Lionshead even longer. It seems that lack of true beginner terrain and ridiculous lift lines encouraged some beginner skiers to venture onto runs for which they were not prepared. Crowded runs, stopped skiers, and other skiers/boarders flying way too fast created an absolutely miserable ski experience. There were just far far too many people for the amount of open terrain.

I have never seen a mess like this on a hill in over 25 years of skiing. I skied one run today, got plowed down by an out of control boarder and called it quits. It’s the first time I have ever felt unsafe on a hill due to overcrowding. I would have tried to speak with management, but that line was also so long that it just wasn’t worth the wait, plus I seriously doubt they would have cared. They already got (a lot) of my money and that is their only concern.

I understand that there isn’t much snow, but I do not understand why Vail did not limit ticket sales to a reasonable number of people on the mountain. Its absolutely unacceptable. I expect Vail to be expensive, it is Vail after all, but I also expect a reasonable level of service and concern for pass holders. This was, however, the absolute worst mountain experience I have ever had. I will not be returning, there are far better places to ski with management that cares. Vail has gotten so big that they have forgotten about service and only care...