Out to Colorado on business this week. Got there early for a day of boarding at Vail. I haven't seen a lot of blog entries to give people a sense of what the conditions are really like on April 8 for skiing/boarding. Unlike some ski areas (most of the East Coast), Vail does not have an almost fraudulently cheerful daily assessment of conditions during early and late season. Instead, they provide just the facts -- which doesn't tell a lot.
1) Not crowded in the slightest. #30 in the gondola line arriving 5 mins before it opened. Guy scalping lift ticket vouchers within sight of the cashier. Plentiful parking but still expensive ($17/day). However -- Northwoods Express (the only real way to get back right on the mountain) was crowded. Not unbelievably, horribly, as it is during even non-peak times. But still a real line.
2) The bottom of the mountain was in pretty bad shape. Luckily, the bottom of Vail isn't that great to begin with so you're not missing much other than an unpleasant ending to the day. The signs posted recommending downloading on the Gondola are the right idea. Unfortunately, their very nice intermediate terrain park is below the Lionshead gondola making cycling through it pretty unpleasant. The intermediate halfpipe is excellent -- tall enough to practice proper technique, but short enough to be safe. In contrast, the main pipe at Steamboat is ridiculous and the beginner pipe there is useless (far too short). The main pipe at some places on the East Coast is equivalent to the intermediate pipe at Vail.
3) Back bowls/Blue Sky Basin were nice but slushy. The warm weather had actually made much of the ungroomed areas better than it normally would be several days after snow as it had reduced mogul size, probably through melting. Many wooded areas were unboardable due to severe trenching. People focused on the groomed portions of the back area, completely missing out on the best area -- Mongolia Bowl. It had been closed for the past few days, but people assumed it had been skiied off and didn't check it out. Instead, I got run after run on untouched (and a bit slushy) snow, each time with less than 5 people in the entire bowl. A top 5 lifetime day.
4) Wait for the snow to soften later in the morning or stay on the groomed areas (and don't fall down -- rock hard at the beginning of the day).
When Vail is good it is unbelievable. When it is bad (extortionate concessions/lodging/everything, crowding, inconvenience) it is pretty annoying. Will definitely go back at this time of year -- better than a normal day during peak season, though not a powder day :)
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