Vail Celebrates 50 Years
Having grown up in Colorado, Vail has always been such premier destination. People from all over the world visit Vail while locals and front rangers alike agree that skiing is unmatched. I would bet that we can all remember our first time dropping into the back bowls with nothing but open powder fields in front of us! It is so much more than a ski area…it is VAIL! It is hard to believe that the town is only 50 years old. I can’t even imagine what the Vail Valley looked like before the legendary back bowls, before Vail Village, Lionshead, Beaver Creek, etc.
I had the very unique and humbling experience of sitting in on a presentation conducted by two members of the 10th Mountain Division – Earl Clark & Dick Over. It was truly amazing to hear their stories first hand and get a glimpse of what it was like before Vail was VAIL. If you haven’t checked it out, they conduct a presentation each month at the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum. It is definitely worth attending. It was after hanging out with Dick and Earl that I began thinking of Vail’s history. It was also then that I realized we are approaching Vail’s 50th Anniversary.
While browsing the web, I found some very cool videos chronicling the story of Vail told by the founders themselves. Starting with the early years and leading up to the present, these videos show the amazing story of hard work and dedication that went into founding Vail 50 years ago.
Click here to enjoy the video.
As we all know, Vail does everything on a big scale. The official 50th Anniversary celebrations will be conducted in December of 2012 and they will certainly not go unnoticed. Vail will celebrate its 50th in a big way: with a new gondola replacing the Vista Bahn with service to Mid Vail from Vail Village! Also, look for concerts, history presentations, and more to come. Also, a full length feature documentary film première by Roger Cotton Brown telling the entire Vail story. A series of free videos will lead up to the celebration, so stay tuned! This will be one celebration you won’t want to miss!
Sincerely,
Matt Bodenchuck and Ski Butlers Vail
