The snow is still falling in the Vail Valley! Beaver Creek reported 17″ and Vail reported 13″ on 12/23/2008 taking them over the 7 foot mark for December. Beaver Creek has reported 49″ in the past week and Vail has reported 41″ in the past 7 days. The new snow has increased the base depths of these mountains to over 50″ which is not too common this early in the season. Vail has nearly 100% of their terrain open totaling 5131 acres open and 31 lifts open. Beaver Creek has 101% of their terrain open totaling 1815 acres and 25 lifts open. The snow is very deep and very powder-hound friendly all the new snow has kept the mogul size small and the tops soft; this helps riders of all abilities enjoy the fresh snowfall. The paths through the trees at both resorts are well covered, and provide the best skiing on both mountains. There is minimal rock exposure, and the ones that are showing are over 4 feet tall in the summer when the snow is absent. We had 11″ Christmas day and 12/26 so it was definitely a white Christmas for those of us here in the Vail Valley. The crowds are smaller than average this year as people are scared to vacation due to the economic downturn of recent. This is making for some of the best skiing in decades for the people who are lucky enough to make it out for the 2008-2009 ski season. My recommendation is if you have the money to come up this year DO IT because we may not see snow like this again for a while (and by while I mean years). There are many specials and packages available to help promote this years ski season, and taking advantage of these specials can save you and your family thousands of dollars. Beaver Creek West Condominiums in Avon, CO at the entrance to Beaver Creek are offering packages over the holidays and throughout the rest of the season starting at $337.61 per person including Lift Tickets, Ski Rentals, and Lodging at the Gold rated Beaver Creek West complex. Call 1-800-222-4840 for more information regarding these rates and package options. The rates and dates can also be found by clicking here. The snow is not stopping so what is stopping you from coming out to the Vail Valley to enjoy all the great snow and fun family activities.

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it was a chilly night on December 19, 2008, but the crowds were still out in full force for the 2008 Vail Village Christmas Tree lighting. There were many different caroling groups singing to the crowd, a live orchestra, and multiple guest speakers including Vail Mayor Dick Cleveland who eventually lit the tree.

There was a parade from Lionshead Village to The Vail Village with Dancing Christmas Trees, Santa and his reindeer, Two Frosties, a Polar Bear, and other fun characters for the kids to enjoy. Once all the extrativities (yes i made that word up, but i like it) the tree was finally lit and what a sight to see it was. And since you all are so diligently reading this article you get to see it to. YAY!!!

The normal Christmas tree that is normally used has been relieved of its duties this year due to stress from having the Christmas lights on it all winter long, but I have to say that the substitute still looks amazing.

The 2008-2009 ski and snowboard season is underway and booming! the snow in the Vail Valley and Summit County keeps falling and is not looking like its going to quit anytime soon. Vail has had 44″ of snow in the past week, Beaver Creek has had 48″ in the past seven days, Breckenridge has seen 19″ in the last week, and Keystone has reported 16″ in the past week. In my expert opinion, the skiing in Vail and Beaver Creek far exceeds that of the Summit County Resorts. Vail has 119″ of total snowfall this season, Beaver Creek has 118″ of total snowfall this season, this far exceeds Breckenridge’s 80″, Keystone’s 59″, and Coppers 97″. If you are planning a last minute Holiday vacation Vail and Beaver Creek are the place to be!!! Vail and Beaver Creek are surprisingly keeping up with the southern Colorado ski resorts in snowfall Wolf Creek has 128″ of year to date snowfall, Silverton Mountain has seen over 100″ since their opening day, Telluride has also seen 119″ of total snowfall this season. The resorts in Colorado are very excited about the recent snow and would like to see more people coming out to enjoy it. The facts and figures on this page are as of 12-19-2008, and the snow is still falling with no end in sight…. what a great feeling!!!

It was a cold evening in Vail Colorado for the 2008 Vail Snow Daze Rail Jam, With activities beginning shortly after 4 pm there was a great deal to see at this contest. The field was split into Amateur and Pro with the winners of the am division getting a shot to shread with the hot shots. The beginning of the event was a great show the amateur guys and gals killed it out there. As seen below Beaver Creek local Ben “Bennie” Hernreich cleans the dub-kink down flat down to catch the judges eyes.

and after doing so was very stoked (also referred to as excited)

The Skiers were also destroying the features at this years contest seen below locals “Coop Dawg” and “Johnny Blaze”show their skills on the down flat down rail, sooo much steeze!!!

After an hour of the amateurs killing it it came to be that The Rodriquez Brothers stood atop the amateur podium and moved into the finals. Ricky Rodriquez was standing a lil’ taller than his little brother today as the box for 1st was about 4 inches higher than 2nd.

above are the before victory shots of Billy and Ricky Rodriquez the looked just as stoked after they killed it out there.

The pro division was dominated by local pro Andrew “Droid” Steward, who was flipping off the Y-Rail at the bottom of the course and pressing his board in to all sorts of crazy contortions before spinning like a top back down to the snow. It really was a sight to see last Wednesday night as a variety of really incredible riders went at it for the number one spot. these riders included John Spriggs, Pat Milbury, Dave Lesh, James McCotter, Rob Bak, and many many others.

Seen below Billy Rodriquez is “handing the key to the city” to Andrew Steward

Andrew steward ended up winning the contest and his share of the 3000 dollars up for grabs. The Vail Valley local says he is looking forward to the rest of the season – “I don’t care what happens as long as I get to shread” – Andrew “Droid” Steward