Vail
Friday 15 November 1996

Weather

Dull and overcast, snowing for much of the day. Visibility very flat with some clouds below summit level.

Conditions

Excellent. Fresh powder all over the place. Even some of the green runs had getting on for a foot of fresh powder.

Overall

Only mid November and a vast amount of terrain was open, with terrific snow conditions. Winter clearly started early this year.

When I first booked, there was little indication that conditions would be so good, so the price of everything from flights to hotel was extremely low.

Arriving at the airport, I found a snow warning for I-70 and the snow started as I neared Loveland and the Eisenhower Tunnel. The following morning it was still snowing and there was clearly a lot of fresh snow around. Unfortunately, I had to work first, so was not able to start until late morning.

I started from the Lionhead base at about 11:30 am. Because of construction of a new gondola, there was no skiing to the base, but one lift up to th higher elevations.

I intended this to be a gentle day of cruising the groomed slopes. It did not turn out quite like that! For a start, there were very few groomed runs; every run had loose snow and every run had to be skied with concentration. Secondly, the snow conditions made some of the more difficult runs just too tempting.

The lifts interlock very well and most of them are high speed quads. There were no queues, so it was possible to ski across a wide area pretty quickly.

This was my first day skiing on the new shaped skis with a broader "shovel" and narrow centre. They were a revelation and made skiing the fresh powder almost as easy as skiing the groomed slopes.

Eevntually, the lack of fitness told and cramp started to set in around 3pm.

Vertical (feet)

13824

Runs

Lift	Vertical	Easy Runs	Intermediate Runs	Advanced Runs
Born Free	1550	Lion's Way, Post Road, Gitalong Road, Cub's Way		International
Vista Bahn	1950
Wildwood	831		Hunky Dory	Look Ma
Wildwood	831		Hunky Dory	Look Ma
Mountaintop	1100		Northwoods	Northstar
Lunch
Mountaintop	1100	Ramshorn	Ramshorn
Wildwood	831	Eagle's Nest Ridge	Pickeroon	Berries
Avanti	1100	The Meadows		Challenge
Wildwood	831		Showboat
Game Creek	950	Ledges, Eagle's Nest Ridge, Practice Parkway
Minnie's Lift		Practice Parkway	Ledges
Born Free	1550
Total vertical	13824