?? Steamboat vs. Vail

Hi all,

Could any of you that have spent time at Steamboat and Vail shed some light
on how the blues at each compare? I have heard that Steamboat blue trails
would be green at most of the other slopes in CO. I'm taking the girlfriend
to Vail in a couple of weeks and she is crossing the line between beginner
and intermediate - she had no problems with the blues at Steamboat, but if a
Vail blue is a little tougher I'd like to line her up with a lesson on day
one. (Neither of us have been to Vail)

Also, for those that have ridden Vail - are the back bowls for the extreme
boarders or could an intermediate level rider handle the terrain?

Thanks for your help,

Sean

Plenty of Vail's back bowls are fine for intermediates. heck, i'm an
intermediate and i don't think there's much back there that will slow
me down, though some of the blue sky basin stuff can get a little tight
and icy when it hasn't snowed in a while...

But have at it. I love the resort. It's commercial and all that, yeah,
but there's something about all that space when there's fresh powder
and it's the middle of the week...Some of my best days of riding have
been back there.

As far as blues vs. steamboat...hmm...i think they're about the
same...But really, i'm probably only on them on the way back to the
front side from the bowls! Have fun...

Plenty of Vail's back bowls are fine for intermediates. heck, i'm an
intermediate and i don't think there's much back there that will slow
me down, though some of the blue sky basin stuff can get a little tight
and icy when it hasn't snowed in a while...

But have at it. I love the resort. It's commercial and all that, yeah,
but there's something about all that space when there's fresh powder
and it's the middle of the week...Some of my best days of riding have
been back there.

As far as blues vs. steamboat...hmm...i think they're about the
same...But really, i'm probably only on them on the way back to the
front side from the bowls! Have fun...


Thanks for your thoughts, JP. We're looking forward to going, and it is a
Monday thru Friday trip...maybe conditions will line up for some fresh
powder while we are there.

Vail is great. Go. Bowls kick ass and as long as you hit them when
the snow is fresh or soft (ask the guides) an intermediate would do
fine. Heck, much easier for a board beginner to be on powder than a
groomer IMO. Plus, once you get off the base (and get off the base!)
you get away from the annoying crowds who come there just to look
good....they usually stay on the groomers and don't venture far from a
latte, thus, easy to avoid them.

"todd" wrote in message
oups.com...
Vail is great. Go. Bowls kick ass and as long as you hit them when
the snow is fresh or soft (ask the guides) an intermediate would do
fine. Heck, much easier for a board beginner to be on powder than a
groomer IMO. Plus, once you get off the base (and get off the base!)
you get away from the annoying crowds who come there just to look
good....they usually stay on the groomers and don't venture far from a
latte, thus, easy to avoid them.


Thanks for the information Todd. FWIW, I'm not a big fan of commercialized
resorts but we were given a free room for the week and i couldn't turn my
back on it. I'm sure we'll manage...and we will stay away from the cafe au
lait crowd.