A traveler's guide to Vail
Learn how you get back from the bowls before you drop in. Vail is big in a way that punishes a casual traverse.
Vail is the ski resort in the Colorado resort town of the same name, and the Back Bowls are why it is on this list. The village at the base is walkable and expensive. Blue Sky Basin is the far side of the map. A week here is gondolas, bowls, and a pedestrian street that was designed rather than inherited.
When to go
January through March. The bowls need snow; a dry early season is a front-side week. February and March are the reliable bookings. Crowds follow U.S. holidays and powder mornings. The village looks like spring before the high bowls do.
On the hill
The front side is a complete resort of groomed runs. The Back Bowls — Sun Down, Sun Up, China Bowl, Siberia, and the neighbors — are the reason to come, and they funnel you to specific lifts home. Look at that exit before you ski in. Blue Sky Basin is farther still and worth a day when it is open. Marked trails and signed bowl gates are the resort. Ducking a rope is how this mountain gets people into trouble.
Village and passes
Vail Village and Lionshead are the two walking bases, linked by a bus that fills up at the close. Stay near the gondola you will actually use. The town is purpose-built, which means the streets work in ski boots and the prices match the brochure. A rental car is useful for nothing in the village and useful for everything outside it. The lift pass is often sold as part of a wider company pass; buy what matches the week you are skiing.
If you only remember this
- Know the lift out of a bowl before you ski into it.
- Blue Sky Basin is a day, not a last run.
- Vail Village and Lionshead are a bus apart at 4 p.m.
- A dry January is a front-side trip. Check the snow, not only the village.