Trail History

The majority of this information was adapted or taken directly from 'A Glossary of Vail Valley Names' by Don and June Simonton, as well as from 'Vail, A Story of a Colorado Mountain Valley', by June Simonton and 'Vail, Truimph of a Dream', by Peter Seibert.

The Origin of the Name 'Vail'
The name of the town and mountain was originally the name of the pass between the Gore Valley and Summit County. Charles Vail was the chief engineer for the State of Colorado in the 1930's, and Vail Pass had been named in honor of the work he had done, developing the hundreds of miles of roads that connected Colorado's mountain communities. When Vail's founders were deciding what to name the resort, some suggested Shining Mountain, which had been the name the Ute Indians had used for the area over the years. Pete Seibert-a native of New England and therefore sensitive to thought that Shining Mountain suggested that the slopes were icy. So, instead, it became Vail-short, easy, euphonious and adopted from the name of the pass to the east.

Golden Peak
Golden Peak, named by Vail's first marketing man, Bob Parker, for its autumn display of aspen leaves, was the site of Vail Associates' first major expansion in 1967.

Gopher Hill
A ski area for beginners nicknamed for the Richardson's ground squirrel. Local lore has it that when construction for Vail Village first began in 1962, hoards of these critters moved out and set up housekeeping on 'Gopher Hill'.

Mill Creek Road
Mill Creek drains the eastern section of Vail Mountain, which was an active lumbering area and the site of two sawmills during the early part of the 20th century.

Ruder's Route (Originally Ruder's Run)
A monument at the top of Golden Peak's main trail honors Leonard Ruder, the son of Gore Creek pioneers. Ruder, a heavy equipment operator, was responsible for the construction of many of Vail Mountain's early ski runs. Whippersnapper 15 acres of ski-playground set aside for youngsters in 1987, with fort, tipi, 'mines' and trails featuring Western adventures. Trails are named Mule Skinner for mule drivers whose whips callused the skin of their teams. Pony Express-The legendary short-lived postal service that carried mail by horseback across the West 1860-61 and Whippersnapper- An impertinent child, a rascal; a ski trail descending from 'Fort Whippersnapper'.

Northeast Bowl
This forested area escaped the fires of 1879. Drained by Mill Creek, where a sawmill was built, it was an era of active lumbering. Therefore many trail names relate to logging and lumberjacks. It was first opened to skiers in 1967 with the cutting of Northwoods. In 1973, expansion began resulting in a variety of new runs, the addition of Chairs 10, 11 and 14, the Far East shelter overlooking China Bowl to the south.

Blue Ox
Named for the lumberjack's folklore hero Paul Bunyan, whose ox Babe turned blue during the 'Winter of Blue Snow'.

Boomer
The boomer was a device that tightened the chained around logs that had been loaded for transport.

Brisk Walk
A skating catwalk leading from the bottom of chair 10 to Golden Peak. In the days when chair 6 ended in Mill Creek a portion of this was known as 'South Six Escape', used in case of lift breakdown.

Choker Cutoff
Chokers were the cables wrapped around bundles of logs in order to haul them out.

First Step
For the steep plunge at the top of the run, reminding one of the saying, 'watch that first step'.

Flapjack
A run almost as flat as pancake at the top and named for the loggers' favorite breakfast.

Gandy Dancer
The Gandy Manufacturing Company of Chicago made the tools used for laying railroad tracks. Gandy Dancers were the men who laid the track.

Grand Junction Catwalk
Loggers and ski area operators describe their access roads as catwalks. This one leads from the midway unload on the Riva Bahn Express to the bottom of chair 10. Grand Junction is a city 150 miles west of Vail.

Hairbag Alley
Designation of a gulch out of Northwoods popular with the long-haired skiers in the 70s.

Highline
Another logging term, referring to a pulley rigged to the top of a tree through which a cable (highline) was hooked to a steam engine to haul trees out of the woods.

Log Chute
A steep clearing cut through the trees and lined with poles where logs went shooting down the mountainside to loading sites below.

Northstar
This run points to the North Star.

Northwoods
First trail in the Northeast Bowl, cut in 1967 before lifts 10 and 11 were constructed and named for the beautiful stands of timber through which it runs.

Prima
A word associated with the leader, premier and first. Prima's steepest pitch, called 'Brown's Face' is named for Bill Brown, Vail's expert trail builder.

Pronto
Meaning quick and fast, the way some like to ski this run.

Rim Runs
The North and South Rim runs drop steeply off this rim of Riva Ridge into First Step and Northstar.

Roger's Run
Pronounced 'Rowjayz'. Commemorating Roger Staub, champion Swiss skier and Olympic gold medallist, who served as Vail's ski school director from 1965-69. Roger's Run opened in 1974, a year after Staub's death in a hang glider accident in Switzerland.

Skid Road
In the early days of logging, teams of horses pulled the logs out of the forest on skid roads.

Snag Park
Long ago, a fire burned over this area, creating a big snag at the top (no longer there). It still contains snags and tree stumps from that time.

Sourdough
A fermented dough saved from one baking to the next and used in pancakes, biscuits and breads.

Tin Pants
Refers to the canvas chaps worn by loggers and waterproofed with grease or pine pitch. In cold weather, the pants often froze so stiff they were called 'tin pants' and men were known to slide back down to camp on them.

Whiskey Jack
Canadian nickname for the gray jay, common to northern regions of North America and the high Rockies.

Mid-Vail
Mid-Vail has been a focal point for Vail skiing since 1962, when only a four-passenger gondola out of the village served area and a double chairlift took skiers on up to the top of the mountain. Before construction it was called the Northwest Bowl.

Cappuccino
Named to match its neighboring run, Expresso, Cappuccino is espresso coffee mixed with milk or cream.

Challenge
A trial used by adventuresome skiers from the early days of Vail, but not designated on ski maps for many years.

Christmas
The beautifully shaped evergreens on this run remind skiers of Christmas trees.

Compromise
A catwalk off Riva Ridge allowing skiers to bypass the steep face of Tourist Trap.

Expresso
Named for the hearty Italian coffee espresso, this run was once a racecourse; espresso became Expresso.

Hunky Dory
Original site for Vail's NASTAR races, this intermediate run was named after the expression 'everything is hunky dory'. There is also a lake in the vicinity of Mount of the Holy Cross called Hunky Dory Lake.

Kangaroo Cornice
Winds create the cornice of snow that crowns this run, making the entry into it a jump.

Look Ma
'Look Ma, no hands!' Experts show their stuff in view of everyone at Mid-Vail.

The Meadows
Wide and gentle as a meadow, the classic early run for beginners.

Mid-Vail Express
A quick run from the top of the Avanti Express lift, first named 'Over Easy' because it leads right to the restaurant door at Mid-Vail.

Over Easy
A route to Mid-Vail from the top of the Avanti Express lift previously named 'Chow Down'.

Powerline
This line, cut through the trees for power poles, was once an unofficial, ungroomed run for experts.

Ramshorn
The story goes that the horns of a bighorn sheep were found when Ramshorn was surveyed; some local opinion has it that the curve of the run itself suggested the name.

Riva Ridge (and Glade)
One of Vail's first and most famous runs, named for a ridge in the Italian Apennines be Vail-founder veterans of the 10th Mountain Division, who fought a decisive battle there during World War II. Vail skier Penny Tweedy named one of her horses for this run; Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby in 1972. The glade was the first officially designated as such on the mountain.

South Look Ma
Parallel to Look Ma, but shorter, less steep, and not as highly visible as its famous sister.

Swingsville
One of the first runs cut for Vail's 1962 opening, good terrain for skiers doing 'wedelm' the popular easy-swing skiing style popular in that era.

The Skipper
Nickname for George Knox, SR., who at age 62 came to Vail and began publication of a weekly newspaper, The Vail Trail. The run was cut and named for him after his death in 1975.

Tourist Trap
The sharpest pitch on the original Riva Ridge run, named by Rod Slifer, later mayor if Vail, who saw the trail being cut and claimed it would be a real 'tourist trap.'

Transmontane
Meaning, literally, 'across the mountain,' an extension of the Gitalong Road from Riva Ridge to lift #11. Also, an historic play on words: the first name for Vail Associates, when it's intentions of ski-area development were kept a secret, was the Transmontane Rod and Gun Club.

Whistle Pig
Whistle Pig is a nickname for the yellow-bellied marmot, western relative of the woodchuck. These alpine rock-dwellers whistle sharp warnings when approached.

Zot
This steep pitch was named for the bolts of lightening (labeled ZOT) in the comic strip, B.C.

The Avanti Area-Central Mountain

Avanti
Avanti's name was suggested by members of the 10th Mountain Division who fought in Italy during World War II. Avanti means 'forward' or 'let's go!' The early downhill race course for world cup racing.

Bear Tree
Named for an aspen tree at its edge which bore the black, curved lines of her bear claws, indicating a spot where a mother bear taught her cub to climb. This particular tree was cut down by mistake during the late 1970s, but sections of its trunk were rescued and placed in the Colorado Ski Museum.

The Pumphouse
Steep chutes off of the Vista Bahn line into the bottom of Tourist Trap and Riva.

Black Forest (race area)
Reminded trail designers of the Black Forest in Germany. An early arm of lower Avanti.

Chicken Legs
When your legs can't take it anymore, this section of catwalk on the lower mountain is for beginning skiers leading from Mill Creek Road to Lionshead.

Cold Feet
An easy way around the steep pitch on Avanti, for those who get 'cold feet' when they see the moguls.

Columbine
Named for Colorado's beautiful blue and white state flower, which blooms in profusion on Vail Mountain during the summer.

Cookshack
Refers to the ruins of an old logging camp cookshack found here when the mountain was surveyed for skiing.

Eagle's Nest Ridge
The easy, direct route from the top of lift #3, Wildwood, to the top of the Eagle's Nest gondola.

Giant Steps
Literally a series of giant steps, increasing in steepness as they descend to the bottom of Vail Mountain.

Gitalong Road
The long, easy way down the mountain from Mid-Vail to the village. This road includes part of an old livestock driveway and was named by Earl Eaton, the man who first discovered Vail Mountain's skiing potential.

Head First (formerly Adios)
Renamed for Howard Head, inventor of Head skis and tennis rackets, who owned a condominium at the foot of the slope.

International
Site of many international races, including the World Cup and the World Alpine Ski Championships. The International run was cut for Vail's opening in 1962.

Lions' Way
The name refers to Lionshead since this trail heads that way from Mid-Vail, descending across the mountain to Born Free, and into Lionshead.

Lodgepole/Lodgepole Gulch
Ute Indians used the straight, slender trunks of the lodgepole pine as support for their tipis.

Pepi's Face
The last (and steepest) face of International, dropping down to Vail Village. Pepi Gramshammer raced on the Austrian national team and was recruited to move to Vail when it opened 1962. Pepi and his wife Sheika built and still operate Gastof Gramshammer in Vail Village, also the home of Pepi's Restaurant and Pepi Sports.

Pickeroon
Another name for a peavey, a long-handled, hooked pole used by lumbermen to get leverage on heavy logs.

Spruce Face
Shortcut from Mid-Vail to lower Gitalong Road, through a stand of Engelmann Spruce. An original run (1962), closed for many years because of concerns about erosion.

The Chutes '
That's what they are' --a ski patrol definition suiting the terrain off the Vista Bahn lift line; avalanches have occurred in this area.

Windisch Way
Named for Erich Windisch, member of the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame and longtime Vail Ski School supervisor, who always wanted a way to ski back to Golden Peak.

LionsHead
The LionsHead area opened for the 1969-70 ski season, and included not only ski terrain on the front of the mountain and in Game Creek, but a six-passenger gondola and new village area as well. The name borrowed from a rock formation overlooking the town of Minturn (actually on the ridge south of Game Creek Bowl); this suggested the African theme, and the original trail names.

Born Free
Born Free commemorates the book and movie of that name, the story of Elsa, an orphan lion cub, who was later set free. The pitch at the top of the run was called Elsa's Face.

Bwana
In Swahili, Bwana means master, or boss.

Cascade Way
Trail from lower Simba to the bottom of lift #20.

Cheetah
Africa's speedy, speckled cat, and a play on words to indicate those who 'cheat' by taking the easy way around the steepest face of Simba.

Cub's Way
An easy trail for beginners, Cub's Way loops through LionsHead to the bottom of lift #1, where it joins Gitalong Road.

Eagle's Nest
Beginner Area or Little Eagle The name Eagle's Nest refers to the view from this area, across the valley to the north, of Eagle's Nest Peak, at 13,420 the second highest mountain in the Gore Range.

Ledges
A run that drops down over the ledges of sandstone that characterize this section of Vail Mountain.

Minnie's Mile
Named for Charles Minot Dole. 'Minnie' Dole not only founded the National Ski Patrol in 1938, but also was instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division of ski troopers.

Post Road
This old road existed before the trails at LionsHead were cut and was used to carry posts to the area boundary so that a fence could be built there.

Pride
A company of lions, and, just possibly, referring to a skier's mood after having negotiated this short, steep run.

Safari
An African hunting expedition, or, as it relates to many of Vail's ski runs, an interesting journey.

Simba
Swahili for lion and the name applied (for the day) to the lion that rode the gondola on LionsHead's Dedication Day. The lion's real name was Frasier (the bar at the bottom of LionsHead was once named 'Frasier's').

The Preserve
An attractive trail through groves of aspen trees.

Game Creek Bowl
Named for the creek that drains the area, originally named for local sheep herders, it came to suggest card games and games of chance.

Baccarat
Cut in 1985, Baccarat is a gambling game using cards.

Dealer's Choice
Cut the same year as Baccarat, these two runs cover the terrain between The Woods and Lost Boy.

Deuces Wild
For the card game term.

Faro
Sister run to Deuces Wild, named for another gambling game.

Game Trail
The trail leading from Eagle's Nest down into Game Creek and to the bottom of chair 7.

Lost Boy
Named for 14-year-old Martin Koether, who skied by mistake into the Game Creek area before it was developed and spent the night in a snow cave under a tree while rescuers searched the mountain for him. He made his way safely out of the bowl the following day.

Ouzo
Ouzo, a fiery Greek liqueur, relates to a deal cut between Eagle Valley sheep rancher Chris Jouflas, who owned the bowl, and Vail Associates, which needed his land. Jouflas brought a bottle of Ouzo to the bargaining table, and negotiations proceeded happily toward contract.

Poker Flats
Where all the 'game' trails come together - the flat, slow-skiing area at the bottom of Game Creek Bowl.

Showboat
Showboat fits well into the big-deal card-game theme of Game Creek, but is, in-fact, named because it parallels Chair 7 and is very much a 'show-off' run for those who can manage its moderate moguls.

The Woods
This narrow, secluded trail runs through a forest of subalpine fir and Engelmann spruce. The Woods was one of President Ford's favorite ski trails.

Wild Card
Another of the 1985 series, Wild Card cuts sharply off the Lost Boy catwalk. Although short, it is steep enough to suggest wilderness.

The Back Bowls
The Back Bowls have been part of the ski scene since Vail opened in 1962 with only a gondola out of the village and two chairlifts on the mountain. The Chair (now lift #5) out of the bowls was one of them. Two distinct drainage's from the area - Sun Up Bowl on the east side, Sun Down Bowl on the west - with High Noon Ridge rising between them.

Except for the forested area at the top of Sun Down, the bowls are almost devoid of trees due to weather conditions in the hot, dry year of 1879, when forest fires ravaged many mountain slopes in Colorado. On south faces near timberline, the trees returned very slowly due to the intensity of the sunlight. Although considered a disaster at the time, those fires left the wide-open slopes and sweeping vistas of Colorado high-country that have made the Back Bowls famous among skiers.

Sun Up Bowl

Milt's Face
Milt Wiley, Assistant Ski Patrol Leader in 1962, was particularly fond of this run on the west side of Sun Up Bowl.

Campbell's
On the west side of Sun Up Bowl, names for Don Campbell of the US Forest Service, Vail's first snow ranger.

Cow's Face
A tree-cutter once described a Loveland Basin run as 'steeper than a cow's face, and her a-grazin''. Vail founder Pete Seibert, then manager at Loveland, remembered the description and applied it to this trail at his new ski area.

Apres Vous
A narrow cornice-topped run where early skiers often paused and let others go first, because there were so few people and so much powder. Apres Vous means 'after you' in French.

Chicken Yard
The Chicken Yard cuts down to Sun Up Catwalk over a cliff. Skiers who jump the cliff avoid being called 'chicken'.

Headwall
The ridge and face between the Slot and Yonder Gulch.

Over Yonder, Yonder and Yonder Gully
Three runs covering the eastern side of the Bowl, an area referred to from the top of Chair 5 as 'over-yonder', meaning on the other side of Sun Up Bowl.

The Slot
Wide-open run following a slot of natural drainage in the Bowl.

Sun Up Catwalk
With the exception of Sleepytime, all runs in Sun Up Bowl feed into Sun Up Catwalk, which leads to Chair #5.

Sun Down Bowl

Forever
This run begins on the crest of High Noon Ridge, then swerves west into Sun Down Bowl. When Vail pioneer and lodge/restaurant/shop owner Pepi Gramshammer first skied this run with Pete Seibert in 1961 while being recruited to move to Vail, he had to climb back out because the lift would not be built until the following summer. When he finally made his way to the top he was tired but ecstatic and remarked to a waiting Bob Parker, 'By Gott, dot's a super slope! But it takes foreffer to climb out!'

Morning Side Ridge
On the west side of Sun Down Bowl, the morning sun touches this ridge first.

Never and Seldom
Far down Ptarmigan Ridge on the southwest side of the bowl, Never and Seldom drop off the ridge. When Vail started, both runs were so remote that they were skied 'seldom' or 'never'. Names attributed to early resident Bunny Langmaid.

O.S.
This trail skirts the far southwest boundary of the ski area and then cuts back into Sun Down Catwalk. In Vail's early days, if a skier missed the cutback and skied on down through the trees, he found himself below the chair and had to walk back up the hill. O.S. means 'Oh, s**t, I missed the turn!'. It is no longer possible to make this mistake.

Ptarmigan Ridge
The ridge forming the west side of Sun Down Bowl. Named for the timberline grouse with the expert camouflage that turns its feathers a mottled brown in summer and pure white in winter.

Ricky's Ridge
Named for Ricky Andermatten from Zermatt, Switzerland, one of Vail's first ski instructors.

Straight Shot
Literally, a straight shot down the gully from Wildwood into Sun Down Catwalk.

Widge's Ridge
For Alice 'Widge' Ferguson, an early Back Bowls fan from Denver, who always seemed to bring snow with her when she came to Vail.

Windows
This run drops through a forested area with window-like openings in the trees.

Wow
Wow starts in a forest and opens into the vast expanse of the Sun Down Bowl; skiers coming suddenly upon the incredible view often comment 'Wow!'. This is the only run in the bowl that required tree-cutting.

China Bowl
In 1988, Vail opened Tea Cup, China, Siberia, and the Mongolia Bowls, all served by the Orient Express Lift. The expansion more than doubled the size of Vail's ski terrain. Years earlier, China Bowl had been named for its headwall, a long limestone formation that brought to mind the Great Wall of China. In 1985, ski patrolman Jim Himmes and Sandy Hinmon skied the area and began naming the ridges, chutes, and gullies to pinpoint possible avalanche problems. Other patrolman added their ideas and trail names fell into place incorporating the Chinese theme, with Sibera and Mongolia Bowls relating to those remote stretches on the Asian Continent.

Dragon's Teeth
Named for the rock outcroppings on the run.
Chopstix, East and West Misspelled Oriental eating utensils, a feeder into Poppy Fields.

Genghis Khan
One of the steeper and meaner areas, named for the notorious 13th century Mongol conqueror.

Jade Glade
A steep drop through trees rhyming with highly polished green gemstone associated with the Orient.

Poppy Fields
Probably the most popular area in China Bowl, dropping out of the Chopstix runs, the Poppy Fields, with their grooming priority, give intermediate skiers the taste and thrill of bowl skiing.

Shangri La
As the name suggests, a remote and beautiful area offering skiers great skiing down the open ridge between China Bowl and Siberia Bowl, then curving west through glades of trees above the Poppy Fields.

Tea Cup Bowl
The names marked with an * are registered trademarks of Celestial Seasonings, Inc.

Emperor's Choice*
Descends the west rim above China Bowl, then drops into Tea Cup Bowl and connects with Sleepytime.

Morning Thunder*
Morning sunshine hits this trail from Sleepytime on the west side of the bowl.

Red Zinger*
Like the tea, a steep trail, a real eye-opener

Sleepytime*
A perfect name for the long, curving, easy trail all the way from the top of Headwall Ridge above Sun Up Bowl, past Tea Cup Bowl and into China Bowl.

Mongolia & Siberia Bowl

Inner Mongolia
In old China, this was the part of Mongolia nearest to the Great Wall.

Outer Mongolia
Farther from the Great Wall of China.

Orient Express
From the name of a famous trans-European train; the trail leads to the bottom of the Orient Express lift.

Bolshoi Ballroom
Named for the Russian ballet, and for it's mellow, ballroom skiing.

Gorky Park
Red Square was originally suggested for this park-like run, instead, it was named for Maxim Gorky, Russian writer, and dramatist, revolutionist and for the city and it's park in central Russia.

Rasputin's Revenge
This trail runs the ridge between Siberia and China Bowl and presents real slide- control problems. It was named for a Russian problem in the person of Gregory Rasputin, a peasant turned mystic and fanatic, who was murdered by the nobles.

Red Square
Name transferred from early Gorky Park. For the heart of Moscow.

Silk Road
The Silk Road had to do with the spread of the silk culture beyond China; in Vail, this Silk Road brings skiers smoothly along the base of Outer and Inner Mongolia and Siberia Bowls, back to the Orient Express lift.

Blue Sky Basin
The name Blue Sky Basin honors the original settlers of the Vail Valley - the Ute Indians. Prior to the 1870s the Utes were the only real inhabitants of the Eagle River Basin; what is now the Vail Valley. Other tribes referred to the Utes as the 'Blue Sky People.' Both the Ute name and Colorado's brilliant blue skies inspired the name Blue Sky Basin.

Since its inception, Vail has used the blue sky as an important element of its identity. The resort's first logo was blue, black and white - blue for the awe-inspiring sky, black for the exposed rock of the mountain peaks and white for the snow.

In the 1870s, a mining boom brought thousands of prospectors to the Vail Valley looking for adventure and carrying hopes of striking it rich. The trail names, signs and buildings in Blue Sky Basin capture the heritage of this era with names tied to the history of the area and structures that resemble old-time mountain shelters and mining structures. Blue Sky Basin opened January 6, 2000.

Earl's Bowl
In 1957, Earl Eaton discovered this area, which later became Vail Mountain, while prospecting for uranium. He told his friend, Pete Seibert, who had a vision of owning and operating a ski resort. Earl's bowl is a tribute to Eaton, whose discovery led to the development of North America's largest single-mountain ski area.

Pete's Bowl
Named after Vail founder Pete Seibert who fulfilled his dream of founding, building and operating a ski resort when Vail opened in December 1962.

Belle's Camp
Harsh, long winters made living in the mountains tough for the miners who ventured to the Vail Valley in the 1870s for the mining boom. One of the first places miners set up camp together was Belle's Camp, located on the other side of the mountain from Blue Sky Basin. This area is named in memory of the miners who survived the winters in Belle's Camp. Belle's Camp consists of a ski patrol outpost, a warming hut and public restrooms.

Cloud 9
This run winds through the trees in Pete's Bowl and provides the easiest route out of Blue Sky Basin. Skiers and snowboarders may feel they have discovered a little piece if heaven on this run that offers great views of Vail's legendary Back Bowls and the easiest path through Pete's Bowl.

Kelly's Toll Road
The mining boom in the 1870s brought much more than miners to the valley. Kelly, an enterprising man, built a crucial road that made it easier for miners to get from Red Cliff to their mines on Battle Mountain (where Blue Sky Basin is located). Kelly made his money by charging a toll to all that used the road. The ski run named after this road is the crucial link from Earl's Bowl back to the Skyline Express lift and the Tea Cup Express lift.

Encore
The skiing found in Blue Sky Basin will demand a repeat performance from skier and snowboarders. This 'bump performance' run will take them straight back to the Skyline Express for an another run.

Montane Glade
The Vail area has many different types of ecosystems that support the various wildlife and plant species. The Montane Ecosystem, where Blue Sky Basin is located, is home to pine and fir tree forests, black bear, deer and elk.

In the Wuides
Blue Sky Basin would have never become a reality without the guiding hand of Paul Testwuide, known by his friends as Wuide (weed). Testwuide has been with Vail since its first season and has been a major force behind the development of Blue Sky Basin.

Champagne Glade
With champagne powder and open glades, this run is named after the kind of snow that skiers and snowboarders glide through in their dreams. Early risers will find a phenomenal run on a powder day.

The Divide
Running down the ridgeline, this run marks the middle of Blue Sky Basin - dividing Pete's and Earl's bowls.

Heavy Metal
This run is named after the heavy metals, such as zinc and silver, which were mined on the mountain during the mining boom. The runs meaning also relates to the 'heavy metal' music one might hear while in the bumps.

Little Ollie and Iron Mask
Long before skiers and snowboarders hit the slopes of Vail, miners toiled on the backside of the mountain from Blue Sky Basin. The Little Ollie and Iron Mask were among the first and most prominent mines and their success gave rise to the mining boom and the development of the valley.

Lover's Leap
A Ute Indian Chief's daughter and her lover were forbidden to marry so they jumped off a cliff near the entrance to Red Cliff, Colo. Skiers and snowboarders taking this run will have to take a leap off of the cornice that runs along the east side of the ridge.

Steep and Deep
Named after the 1986 Warren Miller movie to honor the filmmaker on his 50th anniversary of filmmaking, which coincided with the opening of Blue Sky Basin.

Skree Field
When the snow melts away in the summer, this run is covered by a field of small, loose gravel known as skree.

Big Rock Park
This run is named after the huge boulders that lie in the middle of the run.

China Spur
Leading out to the Orient Express chairlift, this run takes skiers and snowboarders back to China Bowl.