Over the last ten years I've had numerous people say to me "Oh you've got to go to Vail, it's awesome, it's huge!".  This placed it firmly on my do-before-die list and I'm glad to say that we finally got around to visiting it.

Any resort charging $108 for a lift ticket is either hosting something amazing or is a complete rip-off. Things weren't looking mind blowing on the first day as sunny, windy, icy conditions meant the back bowls were closed. I resigned myself to at least having seen some of its potential and gaining psychological peace of mind having boarded the mighty Vail! Besides, we'd had such a good dump of powder in Utah the week previous that I wasn't feeling short changed by the vacation. Anyway, luck was on our side and 8 inches of snow fell overnight! We weren't planning on going to Vail again, but we had to experience the back bowls in powder. So $216 more of credit card sting (cha ching) and we find ourselves going up on the lift, snow falling heavily and looking down on untouched pow. Brilliant.

The videos tell the rest of story. Once we got across to Blue Sky Basin we were hooked. We had a couple of the runs practically to ourselves and spent the day messing them up.

So, did Vail live up to its reputation? Yes. 
Is it worth $108 per day (counter price)? Debatable. 
Is Blue Sky Basin a little corner of heaven? Definitely!