Blue Sky Basin is the most recent expansion to Vail Ski Resort in Colorado in the United States. It is the most debated and controversial ski area expansion in Colorado history.[citation needed] It opened to skiers in 2000 despite conflict about whether the expansion would endanger the lynx, a mountain cat re-introduced into the Colorado wilds.
In response, the largest eco-terrorist attack in the United States occurred at Vail in 1998 - a $12 million incident involving several Vail facilities, including the destruction of the Two Elk restaurant. Authorities believe it was planned by William C. Rodgers and other environmental activists. The FBI launched Operation Backfire, which eventually led to convictions of the arsonists. The incident created sympathy for the resort, if not necessarily for Blue Sky Basin or the corporate owner, Vail Resorts.
The Basin opened on 6 January 2000 with three high-speed quad chairlifts, an extra 525 acres (2.12km2) added to Vail's already enormous size — over 5,000 acres (20km2).
Blue Sky Basin offers a more natural ski experience down its 1,900-foot (580m) vertical drop, with mostly meadows and glades, rather than wide, clear-cut runs.
Avon is a home rule municipality located in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 6,072 at the 2020 United States Census. The town is a part of the Edwards, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. Avon is the gateway to the Beaver Creek Resort which lies about two miles (3 km) south of the town. It was the previous site of Vail Resorts before the company moved its physical headquarters to Broomfield, Colorado, in 2006. The town is the home of Liberty Skis, an independent ski manufacturing company.
Red Cliff is a statutory town in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 267 at the 2010 census. The town is a former mining camp situated in the canyon of the upper Eagle River just off U.S. Highway 24 north of Tennessee Pass. The town site is concealed below the highway and is accessible by a side road leading to Shrine Pass in the Sawatch Range. It was founded in 1879 during the Colorado Silver Boom by miners from Leadville who came over Tennessee Pass scouting for better prospects. The name derives from the red quartzite cliffs surrounding the town. As the first community in the Eagle Valley, it served temporarily as the first county seat of Eagle County until the relocation of the county seat to Eagle in 1921.
Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually, such as the Vail Film Festival, Vail Resorts Snow Days, and Bravo! Vail.
Winter Park is a home rule municipality in Grand County, Colorado, United States. The permanent population was 999 at the 2010 census, although with 2,572 housing units within the town limits the seasonal population can be much higher.
Snowmass Village is a home rule municipality in Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,826 at the 2010 census. A popular winter resort location for skiing and snowboarding, the town is well known as the location of the Snowmass ski area, the largest of the four nearby ski areas operated collectively as Aspen/Snowmass. In 2010, the accidental discovery by a bulldozer operator of fossilized elements of a Pleistocene ecosystem in the ice age lake bed at the Ziegler Reservoir put Snowmass Village prominently on the paleontological map of North America.
The Town of Breckenridge is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,078 at the 2020 United States Census. Breckenridge is the principal town of the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town also has many part-time residents, as many people have vacation homes in the area. The town is located at the base of the Tenmile Range.
Keystone is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Summit County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the Keystone CDP was 1,079 at the United States Census 2010. The Dillon post office (Zip Code 80435) serves Keystone postal addresses. The Keystone CDP includes the Keystone Resort and Keystone village.
Big Sky is an unincorporated census-designated place (CDP) in Gallatin and Madison counties in southwestern Montana, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 2,308. It is 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Bozeman. This unincorporated community straddles both counties, is not considered a town, and does not have a town government. The primary industry of the area is tourism.
Arapahoe Basin is an alpine ski area in the Rocky Mountains of the United States, in the Arapaho National Forest of Colorado. Arapahoe Basin is known for its extended season—usually staying open until early June, and sometimes into early July, whereas most other northern ski areas close in early April. Arapahoe Basin is located south of Loveland Pass on U.S. Highway 6 in Summit County.
Eagle County Regional Airport is in Gypsum, Colorado, United States, 4 miles from Eagle and 37 miles from Vail. It covers 632 acres (256 ha) and has one runway. The History Channel rated Eagle County Regional Airport as #8 on its list of Most Extreme Airports in July 2010 due to the elevation, weather, approach through mountainous terrain and challenging departure procedures. In 2008–09 the airport completed a runway repaving and extension project, increasing the runway length to 9,000 feet.
Keystone Resort is a ski resort located in Keystone, Colorado, United States. Since 1997 the resort has been owned and operated by Vail Resorts. It consists of three mountains – Dercum Mountain, North Peak, the Outback – and five Bowls offering skiing at all levels. The three mountains are connected by a series of ski lifts and gondolas and access from two base areas called River Run and Mountain House.
Big Sky Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in southwestern Montana in Madison County. An hour south of Bozeman via U.S. Highway 191 in Big Sky, Montana, it is the second-largest ski resort in the United States by acreage.
Snowbasin Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Weber County, Utah, 33 miles (53 km) northeast of Salt Lake City, on the back (east) side of the Wasatch Range.
Beaver Creek is an unincorporated community in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. Beaver Creek is located immediately south of the town of Avon and encompasses the Beaver Creek Resort and adjacent business, lodging, golf course, and residential areas. The U.S. Post Office at Avon serves Beaver Creek postal addresses.
Whitewater Ski Resort is a ski resort in western Canada, located a 25-minute drive from Nelson in southern British Columbia. In the Selkirk Mountains, the resort is situated in Ymir bowl, beneath the 2,400-metre-high (7,874 ft) Ymir Mountain. The Selkirks receive plentiful, dry snow, and the location in a high alpine bowl provides an annual snowfall average of approximately 12 m.
Northstar California is a mountain resort in the western United States, located in Placer County, California, near the northwest shore of Lake Tahoe.
Vail Ski Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located near the town of Vail in Eagle County, Colorado. At 5,289 acres, it is the third-largest single-mountain ski resort in the U.S., behind Big Sky and Park City, featuring seven bowls and intermediate gladed terrain in Blue Sky Basin.
Eldora Mountain Resort is a ski area in the southwest corner of Boulder County, Colorado, near the unincorporated community of Eldora and 3 miles (5 km) west of the town of Nederland.
Peter Werner Seibert was an American skier and the founder of Vail Ski Resort in Colorado. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1980.
The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2015 were the 43rd FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held from 2–15 February in the United States at Vail / Beaver Creek, Colorado.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
