Most Memorable

This past season turned out to be pretty damn EPIC!  It started off slow but it sure did turn around.  There was some serious POW days all over the Rockies, but the most memorable areas were Vail for me and the Shift'D crew!  In my opinion, (and I'm sure most people would agree with me here) Vail offers the best terrain out all of the Rockies resorts!  In case you missed one of our previous blog posts on how Epic Vail is, click here to read up on why I say this.

So I wanted to right up this blog post to showcase what our most memorable experience was for this past season, which just so happened to take place at our favorite shred spot, Vail.  But first, let me briefly explain the situation here.

We were running through the trees over at Blue Sky Basin off of Pete's Express Lift.  This is a place where you can almost 99% of the time see the Shift'D crew cuttin loose.  The trees are well spaced with great vertical drop!  Long runs too.  On this day it was dumping and it picked up super heavy around 12:30 PM.  Seemed like it was dropping an inch or more every 30 minutes!  So I was riding with my buddy Nick.  The other two, Donald and Lucas were behind us a little ways so all I could see was Nick at this time.  When I came out of the trees around lift #11 under Pete's, I couldn't see Nick.  I waited and waited until Donald and Lucas showed up but no Nick.  They said they hadn't seen him.  By now 10+ minutes had passed and I was starting to get concerned.  Then I get a call from Nick saying "where you at"?!  Nick was already at the bottom waiting at the lift.  When he told me this I noticed that there was nobody riding the chairs.  He then said they closed down everything to Blue Sky due to the super heavy snow.  This was a first for me, I mean, usually chairs shut down due to wind but not heavy snow.  It wasn't windy at all in fact, just snow.  So me, Donald, and Lucas head down and meet with Nick and continue on down the mountain to figure out where we should ride next.  We were on the cat walk headed to Skyline Express lift and we see a crowd of people walking in our direction.  We asked what was up and they confirmed that Skyline Express was closed and the wait to get to the front via Tea Cup Express lift was an hour plus so they were outta there.  We followed suit and hiked to the next closest lift, Orient Express, which had NO lines.  We got there right in time because after hiking the hill to this lift, this is what was following us.

(Click the image for a large view.  See how hard it's snowing?)

When the four of us got back to the parking structure and called it a day, we all talked about this experience.  We all agreed that this what we loved about our sport, snowboarding or skiing and the people involved.  We take joy in being outdoors in nature, working physically to have fun.  When something like this happens, we could've waited hours to get out of there, but NO!  We unstrapped our boards and hiked to the next best option.  Nothing could hold any of us back as we were all on the same wavelength.  We were all in this together.  Hearing these good folks hootin and hollerin at all the snow coming down, hiking this hill, helping each other out.  Wow!  This by was our "unforgettable moment" of the 2012/2013 season.  What was yours?

-Brandon

Vail Extended!

Extraordinary snow conditions allow for one extra weekend of skiing and snowboarding! We’ve received 2 feet since closing day, so Vail is extending the 2012/2013 season another weekend. The lifts will run from 9am to 4pm April 19, 20 and 21. See more info below!

Even after a spectacular 13 inch powder “closing” day on Sunday at Vail Mountain, the largest ski resort in the United States, Mother Nature continued to gift the mountain with heaps of powder snow, allowing the resort to extend its 50^th anniversary season for one more weekend. With two feet of new snow since closing day, and more than three feet over the past three days, Vail will reopen for skiing and snowboarding Friday, April 19 through Sunday, April 21.
As of April 16th, Vail plans to provide skiers and snowboarders access to more than 2,400 acres of terrain and the following lifts this weekend, 4/19-4/21:

• Gondola One
• Avanti Express Lift (#2)
• Wildwood Express Lift (# 3);
• Mountaintop Express Lift (# 4);
• High Noon Express Lift (#5);
• Born Free Express Lift (#8)
• Northwoods Express Lift (#11)
• Eagle Bahn Gondola

Lifts will open at 9 a.m. There will be no beginner terrain available.
Skiing and snowboarding at Vail this weekend will be free for 2012-2013 season pass holders. Lift tickets will be available for purchase at the Lionshead Children’s Ski School office and at the ticket office in Mountain Plaza for $50. A special $25 ticket will be available for guests who hold season passes from non-Vail Resorts owned and operated resorts. Guests will have the opportunity to apply their weekend ticket purchase towards the purchase of a Vail Resorts 2013-2014 season pass. The $25 daily ticket is also available to holders of Summit County or Epic Local passes that have used all 10 days.

Vail Ski & Snowboard School
The Vail Ski & Snowboard School will be open for private lessons only based out of Lionshead and Vail Village.
On-Mountain Dining
Dining will be available at Mid-Vail, Marketplace at Eagle’s Nest and Buffalo’s.

Source: Vail.com

Vail on a POW Day!

We had an EPIC day at the largest and in my opinion, best resort in the US, Vail; all on a POW day!  If you don't know about about Vail, here are some quick facts:

• Vail Ski Resort is located in Eagle County, Colorado, next to the town of Vail.  Vail Mountain, at 5,289 acres (2,140 ha), is the largest single mountain ski resort in the United States.  Vail Mountain rises from 8,120 feet (2,476 m) to 11,570 feet (3,527 m), giving a vertical height of 3,450 feet (1,052 m). It has 33 ski lifts, 193 marked skiing trails on three faces: the front side, the back bowls, and Blue Sky Basin.  The seven back bowls are Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Teacup Bowl, China Bowl, Siberia Bowl, Inner Mongolia Bowl, and Outer Mongolia Bowl. Blue Sky Basin includes Pete's Bowl and Earl's Bowl

Pretty dope right??!!  Now you know why we love this place.  So, here are some pics I would like to share with you from one of the best days of the season, for me.  Enjoy.

We knew it was going to be good from the very start when we started to drive up from Denver.

 The snow kept falling, and the stoke level kept rising.  Shit was gonna be epic!

 If you have never driven to the Rockies from Denver than you have never driven through the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel.  Let us drop some more knowledge on you regarding this tunnel:

• This is a dual-bore, four-lane vehicular tunnel approximately 50 mi (80 km) west of Denver, Colorado, United States. The tunnel carries Interstate 70 under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. With a maximum elevation of 11,158 ft (3,401 m) above sea level, it is one of the highest vehicular tunnels in the world. The tunnel is the longest mountain tunnel and highest point on the Interstate Highway system. Completed in 1979, it was one of the last major pieces of the Interstate Highway system to be completed. The westbound bore is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower, the U.S. President for whom the Interstate system is also named. The eastbound bore is named for Edwin C. Johnson, a governor and U.S. Senator who lobbied for an Interstate Highway to be built across Colorado.

 With snow falling the entire way, we finally get to our Spot, VAIL!

Once you make your exit to Vail, you have to park in their parking structure.  It costs $25 for the day (sucks I know) but here's are lil secret to you.  Peep the next pic.

 Drive all the way though the structure and down to the bottom level to the Golden Peak Exit.  This will set you up to walk straight out of the structure, right through the Village to the Riva Bahn 6 lift.

So from the structure we pass Vail River

 And the Bavarian style Village..

Then we get to the mountain.  Only takes like 10 mins to walk.

 Now Vail is huge, as I noted earlier.  On a POW day, anywhere on the mountain is going to be epic but IMO, it is best to get your booty on over to Blue Sky Basin.  This is where the POW always seems to be world class.  I do want to point out with the below pic, it was pretty damn cold this day.  When the wind picked up on the lift, it was said to be -16 below, but in the trees riding POW, it was a hot mess! 

 So, as you can see, it was time to get loose in the trees!

A nice shot from within the trees.  So much POW and it kept dumping, all day!

 As always, a Trees Sesh goes down.  After all, refreshments are needed when you shred as hard as we do!

The trees from the lift didn't look like this earlier in the day!  It just kept coming!

 Here is the last run of the day and visibility was low.  Check Lucas in the red and Donald is fading off into the snow.  Sure was hard to leave when the POW conditions were this good.

Here's a shot of myself, looking back on where we started.  Sad that it has to come to an end.  All we can do is say some prayers to Ullr and hope for another POW day!

Of course, when it's snowing out, the drive back to Denver sucks!

So that was Vail on a POW day!  It was a dream come true and I definitely cannot wait for the next one!  If you are ever considering riding Vail on a POW day you should hit us up, seriously.  We would love to shred with you.  Tweet or Instagram us @shiftdunion and we will do the damn thing!