Skiing Nirvana

Springtime in Vail

European-inspired, American-born

By Cary Dunst

Despite the warm spring weather at the resort’s base, nearly 100 percent of the 5,317 acres at Vail, Colorado’s largest ski resort, were still snow-covered. The hot weather had softened the snow into a wet slush, making my skis’ metal edges feel like knives cutting through warm butter.

At night, the slushy moisture refreezes, and the resort’s crew members use their maintenance tools to blow new snow and groom it into a grippy corduroy surface. This spring cycle repeats as the snow melts during the day, then refreezes at night.

At the summit, there are 360-degree views of endless Colorado peaks. I giggled and hooted as I sped down the front side’s wide and gentle groomers, and I was humbled by the steep pitch and sheer enormity of the Back Bowls. Each bowl is more acreage than an entire average-sized ski resort, and there are seven of them!

The very next day, storm clouds rolled in, bringing colder temperatures and a half foot of fresh powder. With each run, my skis disappeared beneath the white fluff, producing that addictive euphoria known to ski enthusiasts.

While the crowds seem to prefer visiting during winter holiday weekends, there’s no doubt that spring ismy favorite seasontoski.In thesecoveted few weeks, daylight lasts past dinner, the weather is temperate, faces bronze (or burn without sunblock), lift lines are short, and the fresh powder is abundant. It’s common to see fellow revelers on the mountain in shorts, costumes, and other bits of flair, such as Hawaiian luau gear.

Vail decided to extend this season for the first time to May 1 in order to show appreciation to their resort community.

Vail is easily the ski industry’s most recognizable brand, famed for this iconic namesake resort, the acquisition and management of dozens of mountains around the world, and pioneering the multi-resort Epic pass. However, its founding is a classic tale of American passion and entrepreneurship.

The Army’s 10th Mountain Division

VAIL DENVER

COLORADO

It takes about 3 to 3 1/2 hours from Denver International Airport to Vail.

ment that the U. S. Army would need to be ready for alpine warfare and that it would be easier to recruit and train skiers to fight than it would be to teach soldiers to ski and navigate mountains.

Thus the Army’s 10th Mountain Division was formed and opened Camp Hale in 1942 near the not-yet established Vail to prepare for mountain combat. The training for this talented ski brigade was grueling.

The 10th was credited with turning the tide of the Italian alpine front; they went on to take heavy casualties in the mountains of Northern Italy during Operation Encore, where they surprised the Nazis, overtaking them on Riva Ridge and then went on to Mt. Belvedere. Their mountain skills proved crucial to their success.

Vail Is Born

After the war, veterans of the 10th Mountain Division were credited with creating the modern U.S. ski industry, having built or held key leadership roles in more than 60 American resorts.

One such veteran was Pete Seibert, a talented ski racer badly injured in the war. He was told he wouldn’t walk again. With grit and determination, he proved the doctors wrong, then took advantage of the GI Bill to study hospitality in Switzerland.

More than anything, Seibert wanted to start his own ski resort, and having already overcome considerable adversity, he had the can-do attitude that he needed to do so. He teamed up with friend and Colorado native Earl Eaton, who took him on a now-famous seven-hour hike of a mountain with nonamethatroseaboveanondescriptvalleyalong thehighwaynearnumerousfamily-ownedranches.

Seibert was blown away by what he found at the summit, which was hidden from the valley below. There were wide-open snowy basins in every direction, at every pitch, from steep to gentle. They knew this was the perfect site to open a ski resort. To not be stymied by competitors, Seibert operated in stealth mode when he bought the land from local ranchers, telling anyone who asked that it was to be a fishing and shooting club.

Seibert and Eaton created their new resort in 1962. Early investors paid a mere $10,000 for a condo and a lifetime ski pass! Now it’s not uncommon for a condo to be worth more than $10 million.

And what started with just two chair lifts and a gondola on opening day in December 1962 has now grown to 32 lifts and millions of annual ski visits.

The Sonnenalp’s Authentic Bavarian Charms

It wasn’t just Vail’s founders who created this distinct European mountain vibe in Colorado. The Faessler family first opened an inn in the Bavarian Alps of southern Germany in 1919. Three generations later, it would transform into a luxury mountain retreat with gourmet food and limitless recreation. The Faesslers then opened a second outpost in the town of Vail in 1979.

As capital investment and worldwide popularity of Vail grew, so did the Faesslers’ operation. Today in its fifth generation, their Sonnenalp Resort is right in the heart of Vail Village.

It was the passion, timing, and risk-taking of folks such as Pete Seibert, Earl Eaton, and the Faesslers who made this overlooked valley into the world’s most famous ski resort. While inspired by the Alps, it’s authentically American in its gusto and exceptionalism. 

The author was a guest of Vail Resorts Management Company.

Over 5,000

skiable acres make Vail Ski Resort a great destination for ski lovers.

If You Go

Getting There:

Fly direct to Eagle airport, a short ride to Vail, or fly into Denver International Airport and rent a car. For the latter, arrange your timing to cruise during the daytime to enjoy the views of the plains of Eastern Colorado, the Eisenhower Tunnel at the Continental Divide, and the descent into Vail Valley. Skiing: If you ski longer than three days, Vail Resorts makes it cheaper to buy a season pass than to pay per diem, and then you can ride at 38 North American resorts and over 80 globally.