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Snowboarding Zone - Vail, Colorado:
Riders Guide - Vail is often voted the country's best mountain resort with 33 lifts including 14 high speed and a gondola that take you up to 193 trails where you can enjoy 350 inches of deep powder on their longest run of 15,840 feet. Their trails are rated 18% for Beginners, 29% for Intermediates, 45% for Advanced and a very nice 8% for Experts only. Nearby Beaver Creek has 16 lifts including 10 high speed that take you up to 148 trails where you can enjoy 310 inches of deep powder on their longest run of 14,520 feet. Their trails are rated 19% for Beginners, 43% for Intermediates, and 38% for Advanced.
Parks and Pipes - Vail has some world class parks with an absolutely awesome superpipe. The area has four separate terrain parks with endless tabletops, rails and log rails. The superpipe is 425 feet long with 22-foot walls which have to be among the world's highest. The Golden Peak Terrain Park starts off with a superpipe that you can hit in succession with the tabletops. The park also features rails in all sorts of sizes and shapes. Mule Skinner Terrain Park is on an adjacent trail to Golden Peak and includes a bit smaller features for less experienced boarders. For people who are just starting out in snowboarding should head to Bwana Park, Hunky Dory Park, or even go to Chaos Canyon which is a kids adventure zone and terrain park. The mountain itself also has some amazing natural features like the motocross jumps, which are three huge wind lips that form amazing natural tabletops. Cheetah Gully, Riva Bahn, Riva Glade and Hairbag Alley are the snowboarders' choice runs. Over at Beaver Creek try Moonshine Park and Pipe which is absolute heaven for expert level boarders. The Zoom Room is an excellent intermediate park, and Park 101 is the mountain's beginner-level park.
Out of Bounds - Vail is renowned for its wide variety of winter activities, such as hot air ballooning, ice skating, jeeping and off-road driving, rock climbing, sledding, cross country skiing, fishing, horseback riding, and snowmobiling. Vail's hot spot for outdoor activities is Adventure Ridge at Eagle's Nest. It features an ice-skating rink, kids' snowmobile track, a lift-served tubing hill, rebound trampolines and lots other activities. One of the craziest activities is ski-biking, where you go hurtling down the mountain at night with a light strapped to your head. Check out the Colorado Snowboarding Blog for more local info.
Hangout & Hookup - Vail is chock full of amazing après-ski action. Try The Red Lion for some live music and great munchies. Check out Los Amigos at the base of the Vista Bahn, or if you're feeling mellow, Mickey's at the Lodge at Vail has the best piano bar where lots of singles congregate to check each other out over martinis. Garfinkel's and Vendetta's in the Village are also great places to hang out. Mickey's at the Lodge at Vail has the top piano bar. For real local charm you have to see Bart & Yeti's which is a bar named after the owner's dogs. At night, The Tap Room on Bridge Street is the adult's favorite dance place, while just down the street you can go hang out with a younger crowd at Samana with their very loud rock. For more genteel music, try 8150 for live alternative, and The Club for acoustic guitar.
