Vail Day 7 - Beaver Creek

The plan for the day was to change it up and ski at Beaver Creek about 10kms down I70 from Vail. Beaver Creek is kinda like a club field for the rich. It's a gated community where day trippers have to park their car outside and catch a bus into the area.

We decided that would be too much hassle so we drove a little further along I70 to another ski area called Arrowhead. Although Arrowhead is also a gated community for some reason the guard was satisfied we fit the entry criteria - ie we were there to ski - and let us pass.

Arrowhead and Beaver Creek are connected via lifts so the plan was to leave the car at Arrowhead and ski across to Beaver Creek. A good plan. Mason sometimes comes up with good ideas.

Mason and Jim rugged up beside the fire at the base of Arrowhead

The advertising catch phrase for Beaver Creek is: Beaver Creek, not exactly roughing it. And it's the understatement of the century. BC almost makes Vail look low brow.

Beaver Creek base area

So we rode to the top of Arrowhead and hit the groomers across to BC. As is to be expected by now the groomed runs were superb, and we had them all to ourselves.

The sheer size of the ski areas takes a bit of getting used to. There are literally thousands of people on the mountain but the runs never feel crowded because the mountains are so vast.
After a couple of high speed cruisers down a groomed blue called Larkspur we rode the Birds of Prey chair to check out the downhill course.

The skiing world champs are being held in Beaver Creek at the end of January and the downhill course is being prepared in earnest. The Birds of Prey downhill course in Beaver Creek is legendary. I've watched the Beaver Creek downhill on television many times but to ride above the course gave it a truly jaw dropping perspective. The slope is incredibly steep with massive drop offs and rollers. Just imagining a skier ripping down at 120kmh sent a chill down the spine.

Beaver Creek base area

It turned into a quite relaxing day of green and blue groomers. All the bodies feeling somewhat tired after the week's exertions.

Wide open and empty groomers are par for the course

Lunch was taken at Talons, the aptly named restaurant at the bottom of the Birds of Prey. I had a delicious Turkey and vegetable soup. The best lunch thus far. The girl at the cash register enquired if I was Australian, and was relieved when I lied that I was because she'd earlier asked the same question of a man who turned out, she said, to be English. Apparently he huffed and puffed that he was most definately not Australian, in fact he was an Earl. To which she'd replied maybe you can show me your castle sometime.

We headed back to the top at 3pm and skied the 5.5km run back to Arrowhead base.

Back in Vail Mason and Claire went out for a romantic dinner and Jim and I caught the bus to Lionshead which is the base area that I worked out of when I was in Vail. It was interesting strolling around Lionshead. Almost impossible to picture it as it was when I was there because it has changed so much. Jim and I grabbed a bite at a bar called Garfinkels which was the main haunt for all the ski instructors in my time, and which ironically has changed very little.

Tomorrow the kids are heading over to Arapahoe Basin with Team Breck. I'm thinking after 7 days of full on skiing a day off might be a good idea.

This is a better shot of the statue at the base of the Vail Village gondola.