train36 Posted February 28, 2008 Report Posted February 28, 2008 I got back from Vail last night and had a great time. We left Friday afternoon and our flight to Denver did not get delayed which was a plus. We connected in Denver to Vail/Eagle Airport which is about a half hour from our place down the road from Vail. We had a condo and the bus stop was out front and we were only a couple stops away from the mountain. We arrived at the mountain Sat morning before the first lift and were in line at the Cascade lift when they started to take people up. There was a dusting of new snow and conditions were good but the visibility sucked, real bad flat light. It snowed the whole day we were there which kept conditions pretty good. We did some groomers on the front which were real nice and then headed to the back bowls. The back bowls are enormous, we messed around back there for a while and then headed to Blue Sky Basin. It has been a while since a dump and we were searching for some pow stashes and we found some stashes in the woods of Blue Sky. The tree riding in Blue Sky was fun and the other terrain there was great. We then worked our way back to the front and did some more runs in the bowls and some more laps off the Northwood lift before calling it a day. We went back home and got changed and headed to Red Lion for some beer and grub, food was good and so were the Fat Tire Amber Ales. The rest of the group went home but a few of us decided to party it up at Sumana which was fun. They had a two guitar band when we got there that played mostly Sublime which was good, but the DJ that followed them sucked, called it a night around 1230 and took the bus home. Day two (Sunday) started at the base of the gondola and we headed straight game creek bowl on the frontside , we found some good snow in the trees at the beginning of game creek bowl, they were short but it was fun. It was again snowing and trhey were expecting a strom to hit later that day. We lapped game creek bowl for a while and then headed to the back bowls again. We mostly rode the sun up lift and the orient express while in the back bowls. I wanted to get over to outer and inner mongolia but the cat walk back looked terrible , they should put another lift back there. My biggest complaint about the place was the amount of catwalks, if we would of planned better we probably avoided some of them but some couldn't be avoided. After the back bowls we hit up the front side for a bit and I went over to check out the main park (Fly Zone ) and the medium park (Flight School) . I was quite impressed to say the least , I didn't have my park board so I didn't do anything besides ride through and check out the features. The two parks sit next to each other and both have great features, perfectly cut 13' and 18' pipes, two different jump lines and a huge quarter pipe that looked awesome. They also had a bunch of jibs of all different varieties. I ended the day with a few more runs on that side of the mountain and called it a day. I met up with everyone and we barbecued and drank some Levity Amber Ale which was also an incredible beer. Called it a night pretty early and it was dumping outside. Day three (Monday ) we woke up to seven inches of fresh snow and we were stoked to get in a powder day before we left. The bus was packed , more so than on the weekends. We headed up the Vista Bahn lift to the Mountaintop express we put us at the top of the Sun up bowl. We dropped in and the snow was perfect , the Rome Anthem I was on floated great but I still wish I had something bigger. We lapped the Sun up lift for a while getting fresh tracks each time. It was starting to get a little crowded back there so we headed over towards the orient express lift and got some more fresh tracks. We started to head further and further towards outer and inner mongolia but the cat track back was too much for us. We had to unstrap several times on it and we weren't even that far over yet. We then went over to Blue Sky Basin which was also good , did some real good tree runs over there before I lost the group. There were nice small cliffs over there but didn't feel comfortable hucking them without a spotter and being by myself. I worked myself back to the front from Blue Sky and hit the bowls again before heading down to the base of the front. I caught the bus back to the condo, everyone was already there and we got changed and headed to Bart and Yetis. It was a small cabin like bar in the Village and we got some beer and grub. we ended the night around 930 and we were getting picked up to go to the airport at 600am . I packed up and the ride home was smooth, besides a bunch of turbulence coming into philly. Overall it was a great trip and I liked the mountain a lot. Its so big you would need over a week to ride everything. The only downfall was the catwalks which could be a pain. I am glad we got snow the last day and got to enjoy the back bowls. I will definitely be back to Colorado such a chill place. I have some pics but they are not that good but I will try to get them up. Quote
ColoradoHigh Posted February 28, 2008 Report Posted February 28, 2008 Sweet, I can't wait to get out there for spring break. we'll be there for 4 days. So stoked. Quote
Johnny Law Posted February 28, 2008 Report Posted February 28, 2008 Sweet pics. Did I miss something ? Quote
train36 Posted February 28, 2008 Author Report Posted February 28, 2008 I am pretty sure he was being sarcastic , I will try to get some up later. Quote
Erin808 Posted March 2, 2008 Report Posted March 2, 2008 Cool! The traverse to Mongolia is gross but its worth it (I think). I love the trees under that lift but you do have to watch it and try to go skiiers right at the end to avoid the cliffs that dump to the catwalk and minimize the traveerse. I love the Red Lion, such perfect cheesy apres. Glad you had a fun trip! Quote
train36 Posted October 12, 2008 Author Report Posted October 12, 2008 (edited) Finally Some Pics form my Vail trip last year, just got a new computer a little bit ago and can finally post them. Most pictures are from the back bowls. IMG]http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr271/train3636/DSC00408.jpg[/img] IMG]http://i491.photobucket.com/albums/rr271/train3636/DSC00434.jpg[/img] Vail Airport Edited October 12, 2008 by train36 Quote
Shadows Posted October 12, 2008 Report Posted October 12, 2008 nice pics. cant wait to get back out to vail on some deeeeeep days. Quote
Tyler Posted October 12, 2008 Report Posted October 12, 2008 nice, perfect time to post some stoke Quote
train36 Posted October 13, 2008 Author Report Posted October 13, 2008 nice pics. cant wait to get back out to vail on some deeeeeep days. I was actually surprised how fast it got tracked out. I am sure if I knew my way around better I would of had better luck. We had a weekday powder day and it was more crowded than on the weekends. Don't get me wrong I had my fair share of fresh tracks and had a great time, just planning where to go and what to hit with a mountain that big was difficult to say the least. Definitely some great terrain and the back bowls are huge. Quote
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