Plum's Liz Rackoff rips through a secret stash on Vail's front side on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008.
Young ski school kids enjoy homemade cookies at Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek chefs deliver free, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies around the base area at 3 p.m. every day.
Karin Prescott enjoys the scenery of flocked trees after a storm on Vail Mountain.
A couple of skiers discuss their lines on a bluebird day in Sun Down Bowl on Jan. 31.
Visitors | Getting Here | Weekend | 7 Days | Kids | Facts
If you're only in town for the weekend, you really should stay in Vail Village or Lionshead. Not only because it’s easy walking access to all the town’s shops and restaurants, but also because you’ll be the first up the mountain in the morning. For high-end, think Vail Marriott in Lionshead or Vail Mountain Lodge. If you stay at the cozy, St. Moritzesque Hotel Gastof Gramshammer at Pepi’s in the village, you may run into Hermann Maier if not the entire the Austrian ski team and you’ll be smack in the middle of everything.
Day 1: Hit the Front Side of Vail
It’s a powder day (fingers crossed!), so grab a breakfast wrap at The Flying Burrito in Lionshead and get on the gondola. You don’t want to waste a second of this white utopia. Today's the day to explore the mountain. You will find a run you love, but don’t ski it all day. The next run will be a run you love. And the next. Get a trail map and set your compasses on wide range. You could ski every day for seven days and not hit all of Vail’s 193 marked trails. Plan to tackle as much as you can of the front side of Vail on Saturday.
When the mountain closes at 3:30 p.m., or even before if your legs get tired (which is when you should quit, since most knee injuries occur late in the day), pamper yourself with a massage or hot tub at Cascade’s Aria Spa and Club. While you’re at Cascade, hit the Fireside Bar for some live après music and a hot toddy before a couple of tapas plates, or go for the rock shrimp and the bruschetta at Blue Tiger.
Dining in Vail offers so many options (See our Dining Guide). But to make sure you indulge at least once and get a nice hearty meal for all of your hard work making turns on the hill, try Russell’s Steak House. Don’t forget to drink lots of water.
If the adrenaline is still pounding despite your full day on the hill, head up Bridge Street for some dancing to live music at The Club or anything between live tunes, top 40 or techno at Samana Lounge. Don't get too crazy or dehydrated. You want to be functional for another mountain attack in the morning.
Day 2: The Back Bowls Beckon
If you’re willing to sacrifice a couple of runs for an elegant early morning affair, have a four-star breakfast of mimosas and salmon omelets at The Wildflower for breakfast. But don't let the leisurely start fool you. Adventure is looming.
This is what you’ve heard so much about -- Vail’s Back Bowls. Today is the day. Map? Out. Layers? On. Ski legs? Ready to work. The bowls are nearly all intermediate to advanced. The best route is a counter clockwise loop beginning in Game Creek – don’t forget to pause at the top of the gondola to admire the view of Mount of the Holy Cross and the majestic Sawatch Range - to Sun Down, Sun Up, Tea Cup, China –with lunch at Two Elk Lodge – Mongolia, Siberia and wrapping up at Blue Sky Basin. Lifts back there close at 2:30 p.m.
It's been a big day, but you don’t have to go away sore. Iron out the deliciously earned kinks with a massage at Vail Mountain Lodge and Spa and have some pizza (the best in the valley) and a beer at Pazzo’s, just a few doors down, before you skip town.
I would like to order some
I would like to order some souvenirs from Two Elk
Restaurant's gift shop. Is there a way I can do this on
the Internet, or does it have to be done over the phone?
Thanks!!
Sincerly,
Gregory Oak
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