The snow in Vail is amazing. It's leagues apart from the slush/ice crap that I have to ride down in Mammoth or Big Bear or wherever. The snow here has such a low moisture content, that it's practically dry. This leads to a lovely pillow of powdery fluff that is a pleasure to ride down.
It's like this: in Mammoth, I feel as if I'm fighting the mountain. It wants me to fall, and I'm doing everything in my power to stop it. Whereas in Vail, the snow is so perfectly enjoyable, it's as if the slopes are working with me to provide the optimum skiing experience. The powder more or less catches me when I'm about to fall, and I hardly hear any ice-scraping noises as I speed down the mountain. Mammoth and the like scream at me, Vail sings.
Also, the mountain is so ridiculously large that it feels practically empty. See?
Notice the absence of any other people on a perfectly good run. This is what I was blessed with the whole day.
Except for complete whiteout for a while and being pelted by stinging needles of snow when going at high speeds, I couldn't have asked for a better day on the slopes.
Now, on to the food. For lunch I went to the Red Lion, which was more or less a tavern. I had a Blue Cheese burger with some good bacon, and a side of onion rings. The blue cheese and bacon added such a smoky taste to the high quality meat of the burger that I nearly cried. I love smoky. It's as if some brilliant man canned the essence of good smoke, concentrated it, and injected it into my burger. Sadly, the onions were devoid of any sort of flavor. Oh well.
To drink, I had a mix of hot apple cider and Tuaca, an Italian liqueur that is brandy-based and has a strong vanilla flavor. It warmed me to my soul.
Skied some more after lunch, went back to the room to shower, and went out to Beaver Creek, a small village a short distance from Vail. It's like Vail, only cuter and more lively.
There was a beautiful creek that ran under a covered wooden bridge, pretty much typifying my vision of winter.
Browsed a few art galleries and clothing stores for snooty rich people. A ski jacket on sale for ONLY $2000?! What a bargain! And if anyone is in the need of a 289 lb chunk of metal that crashed from outer space for $50,000, let me know. Or a perfect fossil of some gigantic fish for $125,000. What a steal! Rich people have too much money on their hands.
(For the record, my dinner was paid for by the type of snooty rich people I just mentioned. Except, they weren't snooty at all. They were making fun of the snooty ones. Great people, really.)
Ate dinner (or a better word: feasted) at the Beaver Creek Chop House. As soon as I heard Chop House in the name, my heart leaped. It could only mean one thing: good beef.
Well, I started it all off with a Shrimp Creole Bisque. It was heavy on the southern flavor, with bits of pepper and such floating around. Tasty, but not remarkable.
But the filet mignon, on the other hand. Wow. Best. Cut. Ever. The meet was so tender, I could go at it with a blunt spoon. It was cooked medium rare, right on the dot. The beef came with a Cabernet reduction dipping sauce, which went great with the red meat. As I took a bite of the filet mignon dipped in the sauce, then took a sip of red wine, it was like a symphony of flavor. The Cabernet reduction matched up excellently with the Rubicon Estate Cabernet, like two forces joining together in a dance of awesomeness in my mouth. I shouldn't forget to mention the sides, either. Sweet Potato Puree and pommes frittes covered in truffle shavings. Yum.
Now this, I feel, was a bit much. Acqua Panna, bottled in Tuscany, Italy. I will admit that it was cleaner and smoother than tap water. The couple that took my family out to dinner swore that it was better. Part of me agreed, while the other part could only stare in disbelief at the price tag and think seriously? Meh. Just give me some tap water. I'll live.
By the time we finished dinner, the town was dead quiet. Except for the Thriller playing at the ice skating rink. That was awesome.
:]
"What the neighbors might think..."
"But baby, it's cold outside."
Dude, Vail's fun. I don't want to go back and sign up for APs and take 100 makeup tests. Yar.
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