Whistler & Vail

M

MattL_RG

Member
Whistler and Vail are both resorts that I've really been wanting to go to and I'm curious about Vail in particular in terms of lift lines - I would like to go to Vail but I would hate to hit it in the middle of winter and get hour-long lift lines because its such a popular resort. I've skiied Copper and Keystone and those were great because there were hardly any lines there.

I guess I'm just afraid that Vail is such a tourist trap and the lines are gonna be crazy long for any lift. Can anyone speak about that for Vail, Whistley, or any other major Western resort?
 
as a frequent skier at vial i can confirm that it is a very expensive tourist trap with long lift lines.vial has some good terrain but almost everything is very mellow, its only good because of how over-sized the resort is and it has some very good cliffs. go to whistler the skiing is way better there and the lift lines aren't as atrocious.
 
If you hit vail during the week the lines really aren't that bad at all. I've waiting just as long at keystone as I have at vail...and even longer at breck. with vail, just get there early and head straight for the back and you can get a bunch of runs in before everyone else works there way back there. once everyone else gets back there, work you way back to the front. that's what i always do and it seems to work out great.
 
Vail is big enough that you can avoid pretty much all lines if you know the mountain well enough. As for terrain, it's the same thing. There's a reason why Morrison skis there often. It has some incredible hidden areas, and some insanely gnarly hiking accessible stuff. People who claim it lacks intense terrain just simply don't know where to find it in the over 5,000 acres. That said, some other mountains have more easily accessed and densely located difficult terrain, ie. Whistler. You really can't go wrong with either man, but if you choose Vail you definitely need a plan of action for the day to avoid crowds, like Barefootin was saying. Cheers, have fun.
 
Fuck Vail, they won't let you ski naked and you have to pay for parking.

Go to a real mountain with real snow and real cliffs like Jackson or Alta.
 
and in vail if the lines are to big on the weekends you can head over to Beaver Creek just 10 minutes down I70, which as no lift lines what so ever. And terrain here is pretty good if u know where to go.
 
Vail is the shit if you know where to go. WFO anyone? EV slackcountry. It's great because they get mostly tourists so as much as you may wait in a lift line for a bit around 10am most of those pussies are done for the day by noon. Sooo much terrain. Go to Vendettas for debriefing and cocktails

 
Vail sucks. Really crowded, bad snow, no challenging terrain, $50 parking and $120 lift tickets, full of tourists and no real skiers.
 
as a dude who lives in edwards, which is 15min away from vail and 3min away from arrowhead which can get me to beaver creek i can say vail is a monster on the weekend you must have a plan to get to the back, stay away of midvail it is a trap, vail's lines can get real long if they get any sort of snow, beaver creek is more for the locals then vail is, except for christmas break, lines wont be found at at bc, but every weekend expect some sort of dumb line in vail. goodluck bro
 
I used to live there, and it sucks. It will cost you so much, and your not getting what you pay for. Ive never skied whistler, but im sure its at least better than vail
 
Summit county in general is overcrowded midwinter holidays and weekends. Best to know your spots for a powder day at Vail.

It should be known Whistler has the better terrain and snowpack.

Crowds will be everywhere just plan your timing.
 
I went to Vail a couple years back, snow was great, terrain had some fun parts, park was mental, lines weren't bad (Skied Tuesday-Friday) but the "locals" (probably all from Denver) were just a bunch of cocks. Slamming freeskiers/snowboarders, wearing their $2000 suits and barely linking turns.

Not to say I didn't meet some great guys there, but the general population sucked, and I wasn't happy paying $13 for a stale sandwich.
 
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Vail is indeed crowded very consistently. With that being said, the lift-lines themselves aren't terrible too often, but over holiday break, they are a nightmare. You're absolutely right that Vail is a tourist trap though, which means they get people from all over the world frequently throughout the whole year. Like someone else said, Vail gets monster crowds whenever there is any amount of new snow too (including weekdays). And the same monster crowds can be found every weekend from January-early April.

Whistler might be more expensive just because of airfare, I imagine the cost of the same style of trip would be roughly the same between the two. I don't know anything about Whistler but I do know that they have a better park than Vail, better terrain, and more snow. Vail's park itself is pretty darn nice, but they usually don't have it completely set up until late January.

 
dang it! i convinced all these idiots i skied at vail. now everyone knows where i really ski. THANKS ALOT.
 
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