Vail, CO Dec. 4-9

Best Week Ever!!!!!

With everything bad that happened 12 hours before our flight to Denver behind us, Aaron Johnson and I finally had a place to stay in Vail for our week long, 30 inches of fresh snow, SNOW DAZE ski trip!!! Let me tell you, Colorado skiing is amazing! Having skied Whistler not 2 weeks prior, our four months worth of planning finally paid off and Vail was actually going to happen!

December 4th was a tired but much awaited day for my buddy and I as we awoke in the USO in SeaTac airport that morning. We had a beer before our flight just to kick the trip off! Our flight was bare and the cranberry vodka's kept coming while we waved goodbye to the rainy WA welcomed the snow covered Rockies of CO! We were nothing short of amazed when we saw that they had ski luggage racks in baggage claim and not to mention a Samuel Adam's Brew Pub next to our shuttle service! A quick pint to warm our insides for the near 3 hour van ride to Vail, which by the way someone bought for use, and we were set for our trip to come! We checked into our condo which was about 1.5 miles from Lions Head in Vail village. It was amazing how friendly everybody was there, I don't think I met one asshole there! That night we hit a bar that everybody talked about, had a drink and got tickets for an after party of one of the many concerts that was happening during "Snow Daze Festival." We ended up going to the village to explore the pubs but actually called it early so we could be up for the mountain that awaited its skiers!

December 5th, blue bird and nice snow! Actually, it was probably the worst day while we were there, but we didn't know that then! We hit some very fast groomers and found some very steep and amazing terrain! We ended up staying in the glades the whole day because, let's face it, that's where the pow is! I wasn't feeling too good because of the altitude and all the drinking from the night before, so while were made our way down to the bottom, I stopped and puked! I felt soo much better! I later read that you should drink too much if you're not acclimatized enough...opps! That night was the start of Snow Daze, and too kick it off, they had a Warren Miller Rail Jam. They had some cool lines and what not, but I'm not into that. I went there to check out the premier of his new film that was just put out on video, Off the Grid. They had it on a jumbo screen! It was really cool! After we checked it out, we went back to the bar we check out first the first night and found out it was called "White Trash Wednesdays!" They sold 24oz PBR's and 24oz Keystone lights for 3 bucks!! It was a good night!

December 6th, my 24th birthday and I woke up to fresh snow and lots of it! We got to the mountain a lil' late but we skied more than we did the first day! The snow was soooo deep! We tried finding the same lines we hit the first day because we knew that they'd be amazing with fresh snow, but we couldn't find them! We ended finding some of the deepest snow I've ever skied in and it was awesome! I was on point all day, I didn't feel sluggish or in pain, it was just perfect! I jumped off a lot of cliffs ranging from 10-20ft into chest deep pow all day, it was a lot of fun! That night we went to see Ziggy Marley play and was a LOT of fun! After, we went to the after party and I sang some Karaoke, what can I say, that is a lot of fun!

December 7th, more snow and it hasn't stopped since two nights prior! You might think one could get sick of all that pow, but oohhhh no, that's just crazy talk! We hit a lot of the same lines we did the previous day, but it was sooo much deeper than before! I couldn't believe it how great it was. There was this one line we hit at the top of Wild Card that was pow packed glades and you just zig and zag through trees all the way down and get hit with face shots the whole way! My quads killed me every time we got to the lift, but it was a good pain! We found some steep and deep stuff, but we had to duck under a rope to get there! we were under a lift that stopped right about an avalanche area. I should have known better to hit it, but we did it anyways and raced the slabs down it's 60 degree pitched face. I felt bad later when we saw ski patrol looking in the woods and following our tracks, if they followed them all the way down, they found out that we were ok! Shhh, don't tell anyone! Soon after, we found the best line we've ever hit in these woods that had chest deep pow and long glade runs that looked like they'd been cut just for us! That was heaven, if I die and go upstairs, I want it to be that run over and over again with fresh pow overtime! That night we saw Social D. and the Pogues and then went out for some drinks with some people we met the night before.

December 8th and 9th was no skiing for us, but we regret it a lot because they opened the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin. We were tired and we didn't buy tickets for thoughs days. But it was all ok because we got to see Ludacris and the Roots play on the night of the 8th. Plus, we had tickets for the after party that night where the Roots drummer DJed at the bar. It was amazing! We flew home the afternoon of the 9th and looked back at the amazing trip we just had.

I think I may live there someday, it was almost too amazing! Ski bum lifestyle is a good life sometimes. We talked to an older man and said, "Well, I retired when I was 19 and I've been trying to figure it all out since, but ski bumming all these many years have been great, not to mention the 100+ days of skiing each season isn't bad!" What a guy!

It was wonderful to read your trip report.  Your enthusiasm is contagious - never lose it no matter what you do in life.  Being an old, retired ski bum, I encourage young folks to enjoy your passions while you're young because there will always be time to get responsibities.  Plus when you get into your 60's, you acquire some unwanted aches and muscle limitations. 

I thought cliff hucking was the best part of Vail as well, sounds like you hit it right. Word of caution: ducking ropes is not "bad form", but a sizable fine in CO and Ut. The take away here is huck what you want, just dont duck the rope.

I bet the Vail patrollers will be wondering all season if there are bodies under that debris pile ...!!!  You might want to delete your buddy's name, lest he be pursued as an ill-mannered inbounds rope-ducker next time he's in the Vail Valley   or this:

NOTICE TO VAIL SKI PATROL: A.... J...... is not dead! He's drunk and listening to good music or skiing in the PNW!!! Have a nice day.

Sounds like you hit an awesome early season storm cycle at Vail.

I lived there in the mid 80's for 3 years (I did exactly what Zap is preaching and got in some serious skiing while I was younger and less prone to joint pain), but the reality is that the snow in CO can be very hit or miss. You might get one stellar year of endless face shots followed by 5 or more lousy years of mostly hardpack or groomers.

Personally, I think we have the best consistent snow in the continental US right here in the PNW, plus easy access to all the great skiing in BC.