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Visitor reviews for Vail Ski Resort

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• May 28, 2011
  Jamie Jones from United States
  

  If you're from the East coast and have that particular image in your minds eye of an intermediate Disneyland type Western theme driven vacation, then Vail is the place for you. It is large, it was built by Texans for Texans, and as we know they love their stuff huge. You'll appreciate the McSkiing, and the imitation Bavarian village that was so carefully thought out by a Texass architec whom saw a picture of a Bavarian village in a travel magazine in the late 60's. You'll revel at the freeway that so ubiquitously dominates the bottom of the Vail valley with its roaring modern day traffic that never lets you forget there are 6.5 billion people on this planet scurring to make a living. And of course you'll learn a new language, that being the invasion language of Spanglish. Hope you have a good vacation in Flail, I mean Vail.

• Vail Ratings

  Based on 2 votes. Vote

  Access: 4.0 (1) At least one overnight stop, (2) requires a whole day, (3) requires more than half a day – you may have time for a few turns (4) arrive by lunchtime and ski all afternoon, (5) there is a main airport within an hour of Vail.	Public Transport: 1.0 (1) There are no buses or taxis to Vail, (3) there are slow or infrequent buses / trains available, (5) getting to the resort is easy with frequent bus / train connections.
  Scenery: 3.0 (1) An ugly resort in a bland setting, (3) average mountain views and resort, (5) a spectacular setting and a beautiful / historic resort town.	Accommodation: 4.0 (1) No places to stay in/near Vail, (3) a few places to stay in the resort, (5) a wide variety of accommodation suitable to suit all budgets.
  Luxury Hotels: 4.5 (1) No luxury accommodation available, (3) just one or two luxury hotels so book ahead, (5) several up-market hotels in Vail.	Ski in/Ski out: 1.0 (1) The ski area is located far from any accommodation, (3) a free ski bus takes you to the ski area in a short trip, (5) Ski-in ski-out accommodation is available.
  Snowsure: 4.0 (1) Occasionally gets enough snow for skiing, (2) is often closed due to a lack of snow, (3) occasionally suffers from a lack of snow, (4) rarely suffers from a lack of snow, (5) Vail is snowsure even in the poorest seasons.	Snowmaking: 3.0 (1) Vail relies entirely on natural snow, (3) there are just a few snow cannons, (5) there are snowmaking facilities on all pistes.
  Snow Grooming: 4.0 (1) There are no snow groomers at Vail, (3) occasionally some pistes are left ungroomed and in a poor state, (5) all the runs at Vail are groomed daily.	Shelter: 4.0 (1) there is nowhere to ski when it is windy or visibility is bad and lifts often shut, (3) there are some trees for poor visibility but main lifts sometimes close, (5) Vail is mostly in forest where you can ski in flat-light and windy days, lifts rarely close.
  Lift Staff: 2.0 (1) The staff at Vail are rude or unhelpful, (5) lift staff at Vail are pleasant, cheerful and eager to help.	Crowds/Queues: 1.0 (1) the resort is always busy and there are usually long lift queues, (3) it is quiet apart from occasional weekends and school holidays, (5) it is uncrowded and lift queues are very rare.
  Beginners: 2.0 (1) Beginners can only watch others ski and snowboard, (3) a few gentle slopes but beginners will get bored in less than a week, (3) Vast areas of gentle terrain.	Intermediates: 4.0 (1) No intermediate terrain at Vail, (3) intermediate skiers will get bored after a few days, (5) vast areas of cruising runs.
  Advanced: 5.0 (1) Nothing for advanced skiers and snowboarders, (3) enough steep terrain for a few days with some good offpiste, (5) Enough steep terrain and offpiste areas to entertain advanced skiers for at least a week.	Off-piste: 4.0 (1) No off-piste worth mentioning, (2) off piste is out-of-bounds, (3) some varied offpiste that stays fresh for one or two days, (5) a vast array of off-piste routes that can stay untracked for several days.
  Mountain Dining: 4.0 (1) Nowhere to buy food by the pistes, (3) some places to eat up on the mountain but they are often busy and expensive, (5) there is a variety of excellent mountain eateries right next to the slopes to suit all budgets.	Eating: 3.0 (1) Bring your own food, there isn't even a shop. (5) A wide variety of places to eat and drink in the resort, from fast food to fancy restaurants.
  Apres-Ski: 3.0 (1) Nothing to do, not even a bar, (3) there are a few bars in the resort but nothing special, (5) clubs and bars stay open until very late and have a friendly atmosphere.	Ski Pass Value: 2.0 (1) A 1 week ski pass is overpriced compared to the number of lifts available, (3) the ski pass is averagely priced and covers a reasonable number of lifts, (5) ski passes are excellent value for money and cover a lot of lifts spanning a big area.
  Value (Global): 3.0 (1) Overall, Vail is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world, (3) overall it offers pretty average value for money compared to resorts from other countries, (5) internationally the resort offers excellent value for money.

  Based on 2 votes. Vote

• March 31, 2011
  laura palmucci from Italy
  

  I have just come back from a Spring break with two of my kids (one in college in New York city) and we really loved it.
  Vail is absolutely unbelievable. There is no other place I have visited in the Alps which can come close to it. In 5 days it is impossible to try all the runs, even if skiing all day. Only some of the runs are groomed, unlike most places in Europe, which makes lot of fun on bumps and fresh snow and less crazy people skiing too fast for their abilities. Some runs are really challenging and amusing, like The Glades in Blue Sky Basin or Steep and Deep and Lover's Leap: great with fresh powder snow! We even tried some extreme terrain; the only slope we didn't dare take was Prima cornice, a double diamond which looked really tough (and with a memorial gravestone at the beginning....).
  The organization is flawless and everybody is kind and friendly. Indeed a place to go back to.
  The price of the skipass is very high; if one decided to stay one week or more it would be convenient to buy a season pass which on the contrary is much cheaper than in Italy. Also renting skis and boots is not expensive at all and they give you first quality equipment.

• November 11, 2010
  RB from United States
  

  Vail has unparalleled terrain. The front side is bigger by half than most Western destination resorts, but the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin really set Vail apart. Vail gets a lot of skiers, but the mountain is so huge that they disperse pretty well. On-mountain restaurants are attractive and well situated.

  The town, although often criticised for being purpose built and unauthentic, is functional and easy to get around. Restaurant choices are diverse, particularly if you have a car and can venture away from town.

  The snow is OK, but not outstanding. Central Colorado simply doesn't get as much snow as areas further north and west like Snowbird, Jackson Hole, and Big Sky.

  The one drawback to Vail is the expense - particularly for lodging.

• November 06, 2008
  Ruth from United Kingdom
  

  I am heading back to Vail for the 3rd time in as many years for an early season week - It is a fantastic place with virtually empty slopes in early Dec!

• January 16, 2008
  Simon Ward from Australia
  

  Vail = Epic

• July 02, 2006
  Stephen from South Africa
  

  Having lived in Vail for three years I can honestly say that it is indeed the most versatile ski resort known to man. No matter what ability you are, there is something for everyone. For those of you with the more adventurous side, Vail has sick backcountry. A mandatory cliff jump is what it takes to get you into some of the best lines of Mushroom bowl (don't forget your gear as you might just have to use it - I did a couple of times). Some might say that there are limited expert+ runs. I say this is not true as only the locals know where the GOOD stashes are. Meet a local and get the best of what Vail has to offer.

  The ever growing town of Vail is of Bavarian style. Good food is found everywhere but sometimes with a nice little price attached to it. The night life is second to none stretching from Lionshead all the way through town to Vail Village. Good times are had by all and a free intown bus service makes sure you get home safely after a rough night out until about 2am.

  Vail rocks, and as everyone has mentioned already, it is undoubtedly the biggest resort around.

• April 08, 2006
  J. Duncan Mason from United Kingdom
  

  Let's get a current Review here at the end of an epic season NOW!

• November 28, 2005
  scott from United States
  

  Vail is awesome....there is something for everyone. For those who love powder, Vail is the place!! The back bowls are unmatched, and the lifts are quick and efficient. Great resort!

• November 25, 2005
  Jan Paul from Netherlands
  

  Vail is great,

  When there is fresh snow it is up to the back bowls. You go down for a day and still did not surf half of it. On the top of the chinabowl you can make a drop from a cliff just to get in. The aerea is so wide that you feel really free. When i was there it was not crowded. You have to visit vail. It is awesome.

• December 29, 2004
  Kevin from United States
  

  Vail is HUGE, but where is the tough stuff? What they call double-black is black everywhere else. There are a few cliff runs, but very little tough stuff for such a huge mountain.

  The crowds are HUGE though!

• November 13, 2004
  Chris from United States
  

  Huge can barely describe it. The Back Bowls are bigger than many other resorts. Fun trees in Blue Sky Basin. Great cruising in Northwoods and the rest of the front side. Just awesome.