![]() ![]() ![]() The arson fires baffled investigators, who eventually learned a radical environmental group took credit. Firefighters arrived to see the wooden Two Elk Lodge engulfed in flames. Blue Sky Basin was the next major project, and Vail Resorts obtained permission from the USFS to install three new high-speed quads for the 1999-00 season.ĭuring October of 1998, fire alarms sounded from both Two Elk Lodge and patrol headquarters. That same season, work began to replace the old gondola in Lionshead with a new 12-passenger system, known as the Eagle Bahn Gondola today. With four ski areas, Vail Resorts became the largest single operator in Colorado’s ski industry. In January of 1997, Vail Associates announced the purchase of Keystone and Breckenridge. The next season, Vail (and again, what is now Beaver Creek) hosted the World Alpine Ski Championships, which put Vail in the media’s spotlight all over the world. The China Bowl opened that same year with a new quad chair, making Vail the largest ski area in North America. Vail celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1988-89. Armed with the newest lifts, back bowls, and excellent customer service, Vail continued to set pace for investing in an excellent ski experience. Denver voters rejected the games, which upset many in the ski industry.ĭuring the summer of 1985, Vail hired Doppelmayr USA to install four high-speed quad chairs including the Vista Bahn, Mountain Top, Northwoods, and Game Creek lifts. Vail was selected, along with what is now Beaver Creek, to host the downhill events. Vail Associates erected new trails and lifts, while the town constructed a transit system, library, ice arena and parking structures.ĭenver won the Olympic bid in 1976 for the Winter Games. The 1970s brought even more construction to Vail. President Gerald Ford first traveled to Vail that same year, and was so impressed that he began to make annual trips and purchase property in Vail. During the 1968-69 season, Bell Gondola installed the Lionshead Gondola, a six-cabin tramway for the newly developed Lionshead Base. Vail Village grew at an incredible rate in the 1960s. His influence on trail cutting and grooming created what Vail is today. William "Sarge" Brown headed operations at the ski area. Parker's objective was to put Vail on the national map, stating that skiers were guaranteed to have an exceptional ski experience. One of Vail’s biggest assets was that it was only half the driving distance from Denver to Aspen.īob Parker became the new marketing manager of Vail that same year. Lift tickets were $5 the first year, for a skiing experience that consisted of one gondola, two chairs, eight ski instructors and nine ski runs. Unfortunately, the warm winter continued into December, producing marginal conditions for opening day. Winter in Colorado started off mildly that year, allowing work to continue late into the fall as opening day approached. 15, 1962, construction crews worked all summer to build a Bell gondola from Vail Village to Mid Vail, two chairlifts, many condos and base facilities. Initial investors paid a mere $10,000 for a condo unit and lifetime season pass. Seibert quickly secured investors, which was crucial because Vail needed $1 million in the bank in order to obtain a permit from the USFS. To get the ski area rolling, Seibert and Eaton needed something that neither of them had-money. Seibert and Eaton first climbed Vail Mountain during the winter of 1957, and both agreed it would be the perfect ski area.Īlthough local ranchers owned the surrounding valley, but Vail Mountain was property of the United States Forest Service. ![]() By 1940, he was working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Glenwood Springs and ski racing in Aspen, where he met Seibert. While at Loveland, Seibert and Earl Eaton began looking to develop another ski area in the Rocky Mountain region.Įaton grew up in Colorado and began skiing at a young age. One veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, Pete Seibert, returned to Colorado skiing after the war to join the Aspen Ski Patrol and Aspen Ski School, and eventually became the manager of Loveland Basin Ski Area. Upon return, they became major players in the quickly growing ski industry, founding or working at over 50 resorts in the U.S. Made up of excellent skiers and mountaineers, the 10th fought in mountainous Northern Italy. The Utes called the majestic peaks of the Gore Range that overlook the valley “The Shining Mountains.” Settlers moved west into the Gore Creek Valley in the mid 1800s, turning the area into ranching and grazing land.ĭuring World War II, the United States Army created a training center south of the valley called Camp Hale, where the 10th Mountain Division trained for alpine combat. The valley offered a summer home for the Utes, who spent winters in the more arid lands of Western Colorado. The Ute Indians first inhabited the Gore Creek Valley long before settlers moved west. ![]()
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