Provided by Jake Mihalek, Concierge at Beaver Creek West:

Top 14 Things that are FREE

See more vacation tips at Beaver Creek West’s website.

1. FREE ski or snowboard tips are offered for intermediate and advanced skiers from Mid Vail at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Snowboarders looking for free tips depart from the base of Golden Peak at 11 a.m. Offered November 28 – December 16, 2005 & January 9 – February 4, 2006.

2. Never been to Beaver Creek or Vail? Join a knowledgeable guide for the FREE Mountain Welcome & Blue Sky Basin Tours designed to introduce you to the vast terrain and amenities of both Beaver Creek and Vail Mountains. The Beaver Creek Mountain Welcome Tour meets daily at 10:00 am at the “Information” sign at the top of the Centennial Express Lift #6. The Vail Mountain welcome Tour meets at 9:30 am at LionsHead and Vail Village, Blue Sky Basin tour meets at the Blue Sky Basin Information sign at the top of lifts #4, #5, & #11 and are available to intermediate and advanced skiers and riders.

3.The Gondola is FREE after 2:00 p.m. in the winter and in the summer after 5:00 pm Thursday thru Saturday – take a FREE scenic ride up to the top of the mountain to enjoy the views and activities at Adventure Ridge.

4. In the winter, on Wednesday nights, don’t miss the FREE concert series in the streets of Vail Village. Each week features a different act and provides family entertainment for all! Concert series dates: November 30 – December 14, 2005 and March 8 – April 19, 2006; 6pm – 7:30pm

(more…)

With this many wines, its no wonder that Avon Liquors always gets it right! There are all varietals, countries, and price ranges, and as I learned candidly from one particular customer, some rare finds.
(more…)

Its reasons like last night’s Cracker concert that make me glad to live in the vicinity of such a worldly resort as Beaver Creek. Locals like me wouldn’t normally venture up to Beaver Creek, except maybe to show off to relatives and friends who have come to visit. For the most part, all but the slopes of Beaver Creek is out of reach, except on nights like that of the 2013 bid party, when the resort opens up to vacationers there to check out the World Cup Birds of Prey races and also locals like myself. (more…)

Looking forward to getting out here this winter? You’re not alone. And Vail and Beaver Creek have you in mind as well, particularly if you’re bringing the whole family along, or coming out with the buddies in December to catch some early powder. The resorts have made some major improvements and changes to ensure an enhanced experience for as many visitors as possible, especially the little ones. (more…)

Are you dying to get out on the slopes? You’re not alone. It’s every single one of us right now, in October, even though A-Basin is open, but maybe by now its December or later, and you’re looking forward to getting out there at spring break or during your time off. It doesn’t matter where you are, or where you will be shredding- you’re dreaming of it already, and sitting in your office isn’t helping. Well fret no more- here are some great games designed to help you get the most of your pre-slopes fixation.

Ski Stunt Simulator– Despite leaving something to be desired in the animation sphere, this game is surprisingly realistic. You control a ski jumper by your mouse position, providing initial parameters for your jump- terrain, speed, etc. It was created by two masters of science, so you know it has to be right on! The game works in both Safari and Firefox browsers.

Snowboarding! – Don’t be fooled! This game might be on a kids website but it is one of the most sophisticated games on this page! Steer the snowboarder with the arrow keys to make gates and avoid obstacles. Beautiful illustration and animation. Firefox and Safari both test out.

Downhill Challenge -Choose your character and difficulty, and get ready to ride by steering with your mouse to avoid obstacles and hit bumps for great jumps. This game has multiple levels, so beware of getting sucked in! Works in Safari, not so much in Firefox.

Ski Game – Crude animation with a high entertainment value. Use your arrow keys and space-bar to control the skier through an endless field of obstacles. Be sure to crash into something- the animation is funny. Checks out in both Firefox and Safari.

Chevron Cars Snowboarding – Hilarious dog snowboards by mouse control. Extra entertainment value: Try hitting every obstacle at least once. Firefox and Safari compatible.

Aggressive Alpine Skiing – Colorful graphics and custom surfer music are the hallmarks of this fast-paced profile-view game. Collect stars and avoid obstacles. Are you able to get past the man in the gondola? Let us know! We haven’t been able to. Firefox and Safari safe.

CR Snowboarding – Choose your character and terrain and you’re off! Take jumps and try tricks for extra points. Game is clearly a blanket attraction for the website where it is hosted, but if you enjoy the game then it should not be too difficult to look past. Firefox and Safari tested.

Free Skiing Game – A java game using the arrow keys with no apparent penalty for running into anything or missing gates. Game has little point, but it can be entertaining to see if you can make all the arrows. Firefox and Safari ready.

Here is a list of games I could not test, due to lack of shockwave plugin development for Intel-based Mac’s*:

• Miniclip Ski Run
• Snowboarder XS
• Snowboarding Madness
• Snowboard Mt. Fuji
• Snow Grind Snowboarding

*You might be wondering why I have not tested any of these games in Internet Explorer. Truth be told, 70% of the market share uses Internet Explorer to browse websites, so if these applications don’t work in Explorer, they don’t exist, period. I only use Internet Explorer to test my designs for rendering. Otherwise, I prefer to browse happy. Visit Browsehappy.com for more information.