March 20, 2018 V ail

Yes, we are at the Big Kahuna of Epic. We got an early start from Dillon to get a free parking spot in Vail country. It was snowing at 7am and we thought it would be a quick drive, BUT there were 2 CO transportation snowplows and sanders driving side by side at 20mph along the west bound lanes of I-70 from Copper up to Vail Pass and down to Vail. We were fine with the travel (made it a lot safer), but a few drivers thought they could pass the snowplows - wrong.

There are 2 listed free parking areas with bus access, at least that is what we read on the Vail website. We did get a parking spot on the West Vail side across from the Safeway along the Frontal road
with a bus pick up every 10-15 minutes. We got off the bus at the Lionshead area. I asked the bus driver where would be a good pickup spot and he said at the Vail Village transportation terminal. We did the looooong walk across the icy parking lot, down the steps, and through the shopping area to the Eagle Bahn gondola and Born Free express. The fun part of the gondola ride was talking with an young orthopedic doc and his wife. He trained at Vail Medical Center in sports medicine, and got LOTS of experience dealing with all kinds of injuries from the skiers/ boarders in the area.

We used our Epic Passes and received a trail map plus a colored groomer map. You look at the trail map and the front part looks BIG. Then you look at the back of the trail map and you see the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin. This is a huge area. When you look at the groomer map you see that there are only 7 groomed trails in the Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin, but there's a phenomenal amount of untracked, skiable terrain. Last night they received 2" plus 7" the day before, and now it is snowing. Yes, this is GOOD.

Let's have a brief trip to the Back Bowls -- we rode the gondola, then the Game Creek express to the top of Wildwood at 11,000'. The ski down was powder to Mountaintop express. Then to the top of the lift at Ski Patrol Headquarters and Buffalo Henry's Hut at 11,250'. You are at the conjunction of 3 express lifts: Mountaintop, Northwoods, and High Noon. It was snowing and blowing and cold. I spoke to a Ski Patroller at the trial map board to get some info. This could be a problem with the weather and all the options. We skied down to the base of the Northwoods lift, returned, and headed to the Back Bowls. Long story short, we skied down and then got onto the long trail of Sleepytime Road. We got to see the Sun Express and Tea Cup lifts and on down to the Orient Express and rode . At the top we rode a poma to get to the Two Elk Lodge to warm up. The funny thing is that when you go into the lodge there are 2 folks there handing out tissues to wipe off your dripping nose! Now that is customer service.

We skied around some more after the Lodge break, but we needed a plan to get down to the base of Vail Village so we skied down Riva and Riva Ridge to get to the base. Now to get to the bus terminal - we got some info from a Vail host and wandered by ALL the shops. We saw a bus and asked the driver if his route would take us to our vehicle at the Safeway parking area. He pointed to the Transportation Building up 3 flights of stairs. Damn! Then he pointed to an elevator (unmarked from the outside) that is an option that few people know about. Relief after a long walk through the village. We rode the elevator with smiles on our faces. We waited for the correct bus because there are many options. I saw an office for the "Vail Map & Transportation Guide" and spoke to the manager. I asked about Free Parking areas, said that I only knew about 2 and that we parked at the Safeway. She said that it is the largest area and there were no other options. I need to find out the cost of parking in fee lots and if there are places for a van that is about 8'6" tall. We need to find something closer and less of a hassle when we ski here again.

Elevators?

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