VACATION IN VAIL: Get extremely radical and bodacious

Sicktionary term #123
Vacation in Vail: [Va-ka-shun in Vale]: Extreme, radical, bodacious, bitchin, X. See also: Vail, Colorado. Ex: I got really extreme, radical, bodacious and bitchin during my vacation in Vail.

Day 1: I met up with Oakley Team Manager Leisl Hultz for a few days of shredding at Vail over the holidays. The mountain had received a Christmas delivery…… it seems a jolly fat man had dumped 6 inches on the resort in the early hours of Christmas day. You might be thinking “that’s about average,” but consider this: Vail’s back bowls often get about 3-6 more inches than the reported figures - and that’s more than a handful. We took our game back to Blue Sky Basin, where we hiked out to a sweet spot off Resolution to find the deepest, steepest tree runs – untracked, of course. We also hit untracked runs on the front, ripping through the Chair 2 trees after lapping the fast and furious Lodgepole trail. Our day came to an end at Vendetta’s on Bridge Street, as many Vail locals packed the pub as the après scene kicked off.

Day 2: Liesl and I headed to Beaver Creek for a mellow day in single-digit temperatures and flat light. The “Zoom Room” terrain park was all set up for the holiday shredders, fully equipped with 2 small jumps, a picnic table, more logs than Paul Bunyan’s cabin, a wallride and a spattering of rails sprinkled throughout the park. Though the park was primo, it was incredibly cold, and after a few runs we discovered the bar at the Ritz-Carlton, where the hot chocolate tastes like money and the Schnapps flows like Montezuma’s Revenge. We charged it to the Underhill’s tab, and once again, Colorado’s infamous nightlife was just getting started.

Day 3: A late start on the day found us back at Vail, and to our surprise, pass restrictions were being enforced, leaving most locals at home and ALL gapers boarding abound. One may see this as a bad thing, but as far as Liesl and I were concerned, if the gapers were out, the good spots were untouched. We headed over to Game Creek Bowl for some untracked turns, eventually finding our way over to the wide open, nicely spaced and especially deep Lost Boy Trees, where we played slalom racer in pow. With burning legs and sore joints, we headed back to Vendetta’s for some more drinks, per usual, and called it a day.

Day 4: Colorado Ski Country’s Nick Bohnenkamp and I trekked back to Beaver Creek and we took the Strawberry Park high-speed quad over to Bachelor Gulch and we checked out a tree run that Nick claimed that he would put it in his back pocket for another day. I won’t disclose the exact location of said forest, but it’s located off the cat track heading towards Arrowhead. Enough said. Due to a hangover, we only took a few runs, but they were quality runs at that. Over to Starbuck’s we went and we jumped on the bus back to Avon. After some mudslides at the Bully Ranch, Susan, Mary, Ciara and I met back up with Liesl at the Sandbar where we took in some Hell’s Belles, a prominent female AC/DC cover band that kicks SERIOUS ass. Take it from us, if you have the chance to check these chicks out, DO IT. Real talk.

The next morning, Liesl picked me up all too early (and hungover). We had to drive fast enough to stay ahead of the road closings, but slow enough as to not kill ourselves. We both felt like we had spent a week in Vegas. Our bodies were beat up from the feet up. At the airport, we chirped up to the curb, unloaded our bags and scurried to get inside, when the curbside dick informed us that we were at the wrong rental car company. We tossed our bags back inside the car, and went to the right spot, finally. The week I had in Vail was everything I wanted and expected it to be. Family, old friends, new friends, and lots and lots of snow, which led to lots and lots of shredding. Vail is the spot. Go there. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you……