Vail had parking on Saturday. Beaver Creek – no parking!!! We had a late start, not arriving until 9:30 am. The traffic was backed up to the second roundabout in Avon after getting off of I-70. And…the traffic was moving slowly. There was a major backup of vehicles attempting to drive up the mountain towards Beaver Creek. The free lots seemed to be full. People were parking on the street, even in Edwards. After trying to get a spot in our “secrect parking lot” and finding it was full too, we realized our secret stash was not such a secret anymore.
An executive decision was quickly made to get back on 70 east via Edwards. No way were we heading back towards Avon. It was smooth sailing driving east towards Vail. Keep in mind, it was still dumping in Avon and there was a reported 16″ of new snow at Beaver Creek. There was a reported 7″ at Vail. The other three ski areas, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Arapahoe Basin received maybe 1″ of new snow. Additionally, today is MLK day. So there is a 3-day weekend. And…the Honda Sessions are in town during this weekend.
So…now you’ve realized that everyone went to the Beav. We were hoping Vail would be empty! We were 100% incorrect!!! Vail was jammed. We did get a good parking spot. However, the mountain was very busy. The snow was amazing. I was very centered on my skis and had a great day. I was even able to open my vents on my jacket. It was that warm at certain times of the day. We skied till about 3:00 pm.
We made it out to the catwalk that takes us to Blue Sky Basin. As we made the final turn before the bridge, I quickly noticed something I’ve never seen before. There were ridiculous lines for both lifts. The lines started at the beginning of the bridge. We chose to abort going to Blue Sky and got on Tea Cup. Even the outhouse at the top of Tea Cup had a line.
All in all, the snow was great, but the amount of people was overwhelming. Would I do it again??? Yes…because it was either Vail or The Beav for freshies, and we could not get into the Beav!
Until the next post, have a great day!!!
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