Vail, Colorado is nestled at the base of Vail Ski Mountain in the heart of the Rocky Mountains and surrounded by White River National Forest. It is easily accessible from Denver International Airport via I-70 approximately 100 miles to the west or via Eagle County Regional Airport also via I-70 approximately 30 miles east. At 8150 feet in elevation, Vail is a spectacular mountain town with bountiful recreational opportunities from skiing, snowboarding, ski biking, tubing, sledding, ice skating and even ice climbing to hiking, biking, jeeping, mountain climbing, kayaking, paddle boarding and horseback riding to wildlife watching. Vail is home to the highest botanical gardens in the world, as well as the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and host to some of the world’s best orchestras, musicians and performers at the spectacular Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater and intimate Vilar Performing Arts Center. The Vail community has built up an enviable calendar of Vail events, with something for everyone, from adventure races to wine & food events to cultural events that rival any large metropolitan area yet set in a quaint alpine town. Vail may be best known for its epic ski resort but has much more to offer. As local residents like to say, “We came for the winter, but stayed for the summer.”
Town of Vail
Vail, Colorado is nestled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains and White River National Forest yet easily accessible from Denver and Eagle Regional Airport
Vail was incorporated as a town in 1966, just four years after the ski area was founded. Today the town is home to approximately 5,000 residents, 1,100 acres of open space and 350,000 acres of surrounding national forest land. Vail has built a recreation path system includes over 15 miles of paved, multi-use recreation paths with connections to a variety of mountain biking and hiking trails. Vail’s Gore Valley Trail connects to the Eagle Valley Trail towards Glenwood Springs to the west and to the Vail Pass Trail into Summit County to the east.
Vail Ski Resort
Vail Ski Resort is the largest ski resort in North America based on skiable acres. It boasts 5289 skiable acres, 195 runs and 31 lifts. 1200 of the 5289 acres are groomed each night providing an amazing variety of terrain for skiers of all abilities. The resort is home to seven legendary back bowls spanning seven miles across the backside of the resort. The ski area boasts four distinct base areas (Golden Peak, Vail Village, Lionshead Village & Cascade Village) connected by free buses and heated walkways. The Antlers at Vail hotel is conveniently located 150 yards from the ski lifts out of Lionshead Village.
History of Vail
View from Antlers at Vail 608 balcony looking southeast in 1979, before many of the homes on Forest Road had been built.
During World War II the 10th Mountain Division trained for alpine combat at Camp Hale, just south of what was to eventually be Vail. Members of the 10th Mountain Division were phenomenal skiers and mountaineers and so upon their return gravitated to the ski industry. One 10th Mountain Division veteran, Pete Seibert, returned to Colorado after the war to work for Aspen Ski Patrol, Aspen Ski School and eventually to run Loveland Basin Ski Area. The other founder of Vail, Earl Eaton grew up in Colorado and began skiing at a young age. By 1940, Eaton was ski racing in Aspen where he met Pete Seibert. The two friends eventually hatched the idea of developing a new ski area in the Rocky Mountain region. After climbing Vail Mountain during the winter of 1957 they both agreed that this would be the perfect site for what was to become, arguably, the best ski resort in North America. The Antlers at Vail is proud to have been a part of the life and history of Vail since 1971, just a few short years after Vail was conceived.
