The first of the day's dilemmas presents itself as a soft, snow-filtered light penetrates the edges of my hotel curtains. Part of me wants to float in the cocoon of my doona for another hour, before emerging for a leisurely breakfast, eggs over easy, in front of the fire that comes on with a whoosh when I press a button. Outside the giant windows of my Solaris Residences apartment, snow falls on fir trees. Inside, my toes are toasty and a lazy morning beckons.
Then again, another part of me wants to leap into my ski gear like a cartoon superhero and be at the top of the slopes in quick-smart time. After all, I'm in Vail, one of the world's best ski resorts, and there are a reported 193 trails to ski, cruise, attack and conquer. By day's end, I want my Epic Pass app – which electronically tracks my ticket and sends information to my mobile – to tell me I've plummeted thousands of vertical feet and skied a million miles.
Such are the cruel dilemmas of a ski holiday. I'd like to be pummelled by a masseur and linger over long lunches but I also want to make the most of the skiing. In the end, it's usually the skiing that wins out – certainly in the first few days, before my muscles start to seriously protest. After all, I can long-lunch back at home but I only have a week a year to ski. In Colorado's Rocky Mountains, that's an opportunity too good to pass up.
And so, bed and breakfast abandoned, I'm standing at the top of the mountain, my cheeks rouged with cold, my breath puffed in protest. This is the ultimate ski moment, when I hover in anticipation, then just lean forward and let gravity take over. And I'm away, skis hissing, mountains tilting on the horizon, chest filled with a great surge of pleasure.
There are plenty of reasons to be happy about skiing in Vail, the United States' most-visited and largest ski resort. It has plenty of snow and caters in abundance to intermediates. Advanced skiers are spoilt on the Back Bowls, nearly all rated black diamond and, unusually in the US, treeless. For the moment, though, I'm on the front of the mountain, the most obvious of its three main ski areas, reached by gondola from the centre of the village. It's a good place to begin, with nicely groomed slopes meandering through the trees, with reassuring names like Cappuccino, Christmas and The Meadows, that ease me into my first runs of the season.
This is the ultimate ski moment, when I hover in anticipation
By midday I'm ensconced in The 10th and find my focus wavering. The slope-side restaurant encourages distraction by providing furry slippers, starched tablecloths and waiter service. I tuck into a chicken and pheasant pie accompanied by glass of pinot noir. Should I stay or should I go? The molten chocolate cake with poached pear is tempting but outside the snow is falling like confetti and the powder piling ever higher.
OK then, go. I sacrifice dessert and take the Mountaintop Express back upwards before plunging down Riva Ridge. It runs for more than six kilometres back towards the village and, about two-thirds of the way down, funnels into Tourist Trap, a steep black wall that sees the unsuspecting abandon their skis altogether. It's more challenging than a chocolate cake but just as satisfying.
More dilemmas present themselves as the day closes. Perhaps I'll regret lingering too long at The Red Lion, a pub in the centre of Vail with live music and too-tempting chicken wings, washed down with Colorado microbrewery beers. Later, after dinner, ski videos play above the bowling lanes at Bol Bowling. The vibe is buzzing, skittles flying, and I'm running on adrenaline and the wrong time zone. At 11pm I force myself to bed. Tomorrow, more energy is required.
Another day, another decision. There's plenty more of Vail to ski but I decide to head 20 minutes up the road to Beaver Creek. The resort is much smaller, more exclusive, family-oriented. It has a reputation as a cruiser's mountain and sounds like a good place for a second day of skiing before I return to more challenging business in Vail. It isn't as if I'm sacrificing anything. Beaver Creek has 16 lifts and 146 ski trails, superlatively groomed.
I put in a day of almost non-stop, unthinking, hedonistic zooming, spiced up with a few more challenging runs on Grouse Mountain. Beaver Creek is beautiful, with lots of skiing above the tree line, and slopes below lined with silvery-trunked aspens pretty as sculptures. The day is blue and clear, deer tracks frozen in the snow, icicles twinkling from eaves. At 3 o'clock I slide back to the bottom of the hill for still-warm chocolate chip cookies, handed out for free by hatted chefs.
Ski legs limbered up, it's the other side of Vail's mountain that interests me next day. Blue Sky Basin offers an excellent variety of terrain, some steep, some lovely shallow swoops between the trees on the aptly named Cloud 9 run. By lunchtime I'm at 3499 metres at Belle's Camp, having decided on a grab-and-go meal. Other skiers have hauled steak here in their backpacks, and are throwing them on outdoor barbecues under a cloudless heaven.
I could laze away the entire day at Blue Sky but it's time to ramp it up a notch. The runs of the Back Bowls have names latent with the promise of a challenge: Morning Thunder, Red Zinger, Rasputin's Revenge. Après Vous seems like a warning to let someone else go first and suffer the consequences. But I find that, while most of the Back Bowls feature black runs, they don't seem as challenging as blacks in Europe. Cautious intermediates could have a good afternoon here. Even confident beginners might give it a go: the Silk Road run that loops around the edge of the Bowls provides terrific views and is rated blue.
Any holiday is about weighing up choices. There are a few downsides to Vail. It's within a day-trip of Denver and parts of it can get crowded on weekends. The town lacks the history and character of some other Colorado resorts, and is purpose-built in pseudo-Austrian style and very sprawling, though a good free bus service gets you around. Head to Breckenridge, a 45-minute drive away, if you want a genuine Rocky Mountains mining town.
For once I've avoided making a decision between one and the other and will be spending the last three days of my holiday in Breck, as the locals fondly call it. The town was founded in 1859 and has 350-odd historic facades that make it look like a set for a western movie – albeit snow-covered. It has a laidback, unpretentious, hippy-hipster vibe and is jammed with restaurants and bars. Almost immediately I like it.
It's good to acclimatise in Vail and ski Breck last, since the village sits at 2925 metres and can provoke altitude sickness among some visitors. I can ski here (as in Beaver Creek) on the same Epic Pass that covers me for the week. I open up my trail map and see it's easier to take in at a glance than Vail. All the skiing runs down the same mountainside from 10 numbered peaks. Peak 8 is reached on North American's highest chairlift, at 3914 metres, but high winds keep me lower on the slopes, between the sheltering trees.
There are still choices to be made, and more dilemmas. Peak 6 has some extreme terrain on Serenity Bowl, Peaks 7 and 8 have high snow bowls and floating powder, Peak 10 some lively intermediate runs. I've yet to ski the same run twice. I linger at the junction of Mustang, Dark Rider and Black Hawk runs, grinning in anticipation. Then I tip my skis forward and, with a whoosh, am away.
DINING DECISIONS
Matsuhisa serves inventive cocktails and chef Nobu's signature Japanese food, including great sashimi and sushi plates, or more hearty lamb with wasabi pepper sauce. matsuhisavail.com
Larkspur at the base of Golden Peak features modern American lunches with a luxe twist: try the Angus beef burger with Danish blue, or butternut squash soup. larkspurvail.com
La Bottega is good for stone-fired pizza and inventive sandwiches at lunchtime, fine-dining Italian fare for dinner, as well as a decadent truffle-themed menu. labottegavail.com
In Beaver Creek, mountainside Beano's Cabin is reached on a motorised sleigh-ride and features hearty fare such as venison with sweetcorn mash and Colorado lamb. beanoscabinbeavercreek.com
In Breckenridge, try the creative fine-dining menu at Relish, where you can nibble on truffle chips and tuck into a buffalo escalope or mustard-braised pork ribs. relishbreckenridge.com
The writer travelled courtesy Vail Resorts.
GETTING THERE
United Airlines flies to Los Angeles or San Francisco (13hr) with onward connections to Denver (2hr). Phone 131 777, see united.com.
Colorado Mountain Express runs a shuttle between Denver airport and Vail from $95 per person. Phone +1 970 754 7433, see coloradomountainexpress.com.
SKIING THERE
Vail Resorts' Epic Pass lets you ski at Vail, Beaver Creek and Breckenridge. See epicpass.com.au.
STAYING THERE
Solaris Residences in Vail provides luxe accommodations from one-bedroom units to six-bedroom penthouses. Rates from $684 per night. Phone +1 970 476 5656, see solarisvail.com.
In Breckenridge, Mountain Thunder Lodge has rustic appeal and as is opposite BreckConnect gondola. Rates from $219 per night. Phone +1 888 400 9590, see breckresorts.com.
MORE INFORMATION
vail.com
beavercreek.com
breckenridge.com
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