Arrowhead At Vail

Love it here. Will eventually be buying a property here… It’s so beautiful and there’s so much to do with the whole family.

Arrowhead is a great spot for family skiing. It is less crowded than the other bases in the Vail Valley, meaning it has been a relatively quick process to get rentals if you need them, along with tickets, and the lift lines have never been that long. You won’t find many black diamond runs here, but it is great skiing, and you can ski over to Bachelors Gulch and Beaver Creek as well, so you have a lot of variety available. Staying in the condos at Arrowhead means walking to the lift, which can’t be beat!

The Setting: Ski Trip with 8 people, stayed at condo nearby (walking distance to lift).
NOTE: Weather can have a significant effect on what kind of experience people have on a ski trip, so I’m leaving the weather out of it (it was a mix).
The GOOD:
1. Snow quality and crowd — There are a ton of solid Blue runs for those wanting speed without excessive moguls. The crowd is thinner here than on the Beaver Creek side, so it’s shorter lift lines and less dangerous for those going skies down…
NOTE: For more advanced/​expert skiers, definitely take the lift up, over to BC, and up the Birds of Prey lift in order to ski the Golden Eagle run. For a Double Black, it is reasonable to get down, and this run will serve as the Super G for the 2015 World Championships. Neat run to ski!
2. Epic Mix Phone App — One of the coolest innovations among the Vail resorts, by downloading this free app, all of your stats (and free resort photos) are stored in the app, based on every time your lift badge gets scanned. Really neat free addition to the ski experience!
The Not-​so-​Good:
1. Pricing (for anything) on the mountain — obviously people don’t go skiing to save money, but if you’re being economical with meals, avoid the Red Tail restaurant halfway up the mountain. Beers are actually priced so-​so, but $ 30 for a burger, Gatorade, and cliff bar is a bit ridiculous…
The Bottom Line — Enjoy the great skiing and stat-​tracking, and leave the food and booze to the bottom of the mountain (or away from it).

This is the best place to park if you want to ski Beaver Creek. The parking lot is just a short walk to the lift. Most of the runs are fun blues with one green catwalk but it’s quick and easy to get over to Bachelor Gulch or Beaver Creek if you want to try different terrain. Much less crowded here and with an awesome huge patio with fireplace and chairs and benches. We didn’t want to wait in the long line for the burgers being grilled on the outdoor BBQ, though they smelled amazing, and instead occupied ourselves with the condiments in our bloody marys: pepperoni, pepper jack cheese, pepperoncini, tomato, mushroom, pickle, olive, celery, who knows what else. YUM! And didn’t cause me to take a second mortgage out on my house. Cush spot with plenty of room to spread out on the runs.