Ask Ira Riklis about his favorite place to ski and he’s quick to tell you that it’s on the slopes at Vail. To be sure, there are plenty of fine ski resorts in the West, including such famed venues as Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge in Colorado alone. But unlike Vail, those other resorts were actual towns before they became skiing destinations. Put another way: Vail was built for skiing from the ground up.
During World War II, the area was used for training the 10th Mountain Division. And after the war, some of the veterans who had trained there returned with dreams of creating a world-class ski resort. To say they succeeded in realizing those dream would be to put it mildly. Vail offers top-notch facilities, great powder and a great number and variety of runs. But on top of all that, what impresses Ira Riklis the most is the quality and extent of daily grooming that keep the slopes fresh and accessible. Each day, Vail staff groom up to 1,600 acres of trails!