Westbound Boarder

As I mentioned early last week, I caught up with five people from the Vail Resorts crew during their stay in LA last Tuesday.  As a blogger located in sunny Southern California, I don’t often get the opportunity to attend or write about ski resorts in other parts of the US, so it was really nice to be able to meet the staff face-to-face and learn about what the 09/10 ski season will bring.  Wait a minute… “Ski season,” you ask?  “But it’s summer!” Well yes, this is true, but it is never too early to begin thinking about the winter ahead and planning out your trips for… next year.

Typically, each winter Danielle and I take one or two big ski trips a year, and last year we decided to forgo the usual Whistler/Blackcomb trip in favor of something a bit more local… Colorado (read our review here!)  We decided on Vail because our good buddy Kevin just got a job as a ski instructor there, and we thought that a trip to visit him was well in order.  Plus, what a great opportunity to visit a new hill!  Now, I’ve been to several different ski resorts across the country (and if you include Whistler, I can officially say “across the world” ) but Vail was a new one for me.  However, I’m so glad we did go.  The snow was amazing, the people were great, and the resort truly lived up to its “luxury” reputation.  However, Vail is only one mountain in the Vail Resorts family, and I’d highly encourage you to check out all five resorts when planning your next trip East.

To make your research a bit easier, I’ll briefly recap the five resorts in the Vail Resorts family below and highlight a couple of the features that makes each mountain unique from its brother.

Vail Mountain – “Like Nothing on Earth”

Seriously, read our review.  And our second.  And check out their Web site.  Need I say more?

Beaver Creek - “Not Exactly Roughing It”

While Vail is known for its luxury and class, Beaver Creek sways more on the intimate side.  It is a nice, quaint little resort tucked away from the rest of the land, so you truly feel like you’re getting a relaxing vacation.  With several restaurants, museums, shopping, and relaxing spas in three villages and two towns (Avon and Edwards), there is plenty to do; and the town is certainly family-friendly, too (SKI Magazine recently called it “consummate kid-friendly resort”).  But don’t forget about the riding – during the day, Beaver Creek boasts 149 trails, 17 chair lift, and several great terrain parks (4 parks and 1 pipe).

Breckenridge

Hosting events such as the Dew Tour, Breckenridge has slowly grown into its reputation of being the “cool,” more “hip” brother mountain in the Vail Resorts family.  Breckenridge is definitely more well-known as the Colorado snowboarder favorite, and with its five stellar parks and four pipes (all which can be seen on “Breck 1080” – the Resort’s interactive trail map), what’s not to like?  This resort also boasts the Breckenridge Freeride Team, which is a team of both pros and local up-in-coming riders; its nice to see a resort putting time and effort into the newbies of the sport.  So in sum, 155 trails, a good variety of parks, 76 bars, and 20,002 pillows (???), and a fun night life, Breck is the place to be.

Heavenly

If Breckenridge is the cool hip brother, then Heavenly is, well, the other cool, hip brother; maybe even the cooler, hipper brother… okay, wait… the cooler, hipper sister   Being the only resort in the Vail family to be located outside of Colorado, Heavenly is the perfect home hill for Nor-Cal residents, and a great “home away from home” for the people like me who are only about six hours away.  Now, there’s plenty to do on the mountain at Heavenly – the California sunshine combined with the 30 lifts, 95 trails and killer terrain parks certainly makes for one great day.  But when night falls… well, let’s just say you better not waste all your energy skiing   Heavenly has quite the reputation for being one of the best party mountains.  The resort even has Vegas-style casinos and an awesome music scene.  Oh, and of course more than 100 bars and night clubs.  Party on, Heavenly!

Keystone - “It’s All Here”

Their tagline says it all.  While most ski resorts claim to have it all, Keystone really does.  Though I haven’t heard too much about this resort and can’t personally speak to many of its differentiators, this resort has everything from dinner sleigh rides (!!!) to guided snowcat skiing and riding.  Oh, and they are the only resort in the Vail family to offer night skiing, which is awesome if your goal is to get as much riding in as possible.

So there you have it.  Five great resorts, one big family.  And in case you can’t decide which resort you’d like to go to (after all, they all sound great!) check out their Epic Pass promo going on so you can attend all five resorts for the price of one.

Found a couple YouTube videos (as promised) highlighting the slopestyle comp. during the Winter Dew Tour this past weekend.  Check ‘em out!
Men’s Ski Slopestyle

Women’s Slopestyle

Men’s Slopestyle

The Dew Tour continued today, kicking off with the Women’s Superpipe comp.  I’m glad I got to watch some of the women riders today because they were freakin’ awesome.  Here’s a quick recap of some of the highlights:

•  In the prelim. round on NBC, Gretchen Bleiler stepped up first and performed an awesome run.  Her spins were impressive, though not quite enough to bring her into first in the prelims.  Her second though began with a frontside 9 into a backside crippler – her signature move – straight into a backside 5.  The run was amazing and propelled her to first, with an outstanding score of 90.25.
• Kelly Clark went second; though she didn’t spin as much as Gretchen, her run was so solid and clean that she walked out of the prelims in first place, with a score of 86.75.  Her second run was solid, but a quick scrub on the third hit cost her first.  
• Hannah Teeter, known for her unpredictable runs, was up third and took second place in the prelim round.  She threw out two 5′s and a 7, and though she didn’t get as much air as Kelly, her second place finish in the prelims was well-deserved.  Her second run, though, was a bust, and a bit surprising for Hannah.  She landed too far into the pipe on the first hit, which ultimately cost her the run and a chance at top 3.
• Elena Hight was up next with her second run of the day; she threw out both back and front side 900′s in the run, however, clipped the side of the pipe in landing after the first which impacted her speed and height quite noticeably.  But being the only female thus far to throw a backside 9, it was enough to boost her to second place.
• Holly Crawford and Kjersti Buaas also performed throughout the day; Holly’s run was smooth but not enough to place, and after a nice first run, Kjersti fell hard during her second.   

The final scores:

1. Bleiler – 90.25
2. Clark – 86.75
3. Hight – 82.00
4. Teter – 78.75
5. Crawford – 75.50
6. Ostgaard Buaas – 58.75

Just finished watching the Men’s Freeski Slopestyle event in the Winter Dew Tour at Breckenridge, and all I can really say right now is… Wow!  This year’s Breckenridge Dew Tour roster boasted 24 Olympians, including 2006 gold medalists Shaun White and Hannah Teter, so needless to say it was pretty much amazing.  But no one’s set impressed me more than 17-year-old Bobby Brown’s winning run.

The Colorado native kicked off his routine with a switch 1080, then headed into a switch double rodeo 9, a kangaroo flip 900 over the third jump, and finally a misty 450 over the kinked rail (which was so amazing, and if I find a video of it on YouTube later today I’ll for sure post).  His landings were solid throughout, with the exception of the second where he had to grab his knees for support; though, after that stunning routine, I’ll let that one slide  

Though I didn’t get a chance to watch the rest of the events, winners so far include Shaun White in the Men’s Snowboard Slopestyle, Spencer O’Brien in the Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle and Sarah Burke in the Women’s Freeski Superpipe event. 

The Winter Dew Tour - this year’s first ever – is an event that will tour three of the nation’s best resorts with more than 100 top riders all competing for a $1.5 million prize.  It features women’s and men’s ski and snowboard events in both slopestyle and Superpipe. Coverage streams live on NBC. 

After this weekend, what’s next for the Winter Dew Tour?  Mt. Snow in Vermont on Jan. 8 to 11, then Northstar-at-Tahoe Feb. 19 to 22.

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