Remember When....at Vail!

SnowWitch joins you today at the end of 2007, as we begin a new ski season at Vail in 2008 by recalling some fond memories in years past skiing at Vail! Remember when...

Early Vail Skiing - When there was ONLY Vail Village at Vail and no parking structures! Everyone parked along the frontage road!

Studded SnowTires - When few had 4-wheel drive and they allowed studded snowtires or you had to stop, get on your back at the rear of the car, with exhaust and snow blowing in your face and put chains on to get over Vail or Hoosier Pass (there was no access from I-70).

Too Young & Poor to Buy Dinner or Stay the Night - We drove up from Colorado Springs, starting at 5 am, reaching Vail when the lifts were opening, skiied all day and then stopped at Pepi Grammshammer's at the end of the day, bought an "after-ski snack special" of a glass of red wine, a piece of brown bread and a small bowl of spaghetti, wolfed it down and then left to drive back to the Springs. Great times!

It's Better Now - We like it better now - more runs, more bowls, more parking, more lifts, more places to eat....Vail is older..... YET BETTER than ever!!

Vail Ski Conditions December 2007

12/31/2007 New snow again, but windy and cold. Vail Resorts probably isn't selling too many lift tickets. China Bowl, Tea-Cup and Blue Sky were closed the whole day. 10 inches of new snow but with the wind it was all in the trees. There were 10 inches new but on the ski slopes it seemed like 3 inches. Someone said the line at Chair 5 was 45 minutes because they could only load every other chair with the wind. Ouch. But the front side there weren't many lift lines at all. Everyone that wanted powder was stuck in only one bowl at Chair 5. The sun will be shining Jan 1 and 2.

12/28/2007 O.k. I scammed a lift ticket to get up while our passes are restricted. Cold out but again, good snow. 1-2 inches each day are keeping things soft, yet the front side is a bit icy. All the Xmas vacationers are just skiing on the front side. Some small lines, but then I went in the back and NO ONE was back there. Nice soft powder snow. Empty Chairs on Chair 5. Faro glade had fresh tracks at 3pm. Chris R.

12/27/2007 "Skiers lent" has started. For locals, our ski passes are restricted during the Christmas/New Year's holiday. We have to rest our legs and leave Vail Mountain to the vacationers. It hurts to miss this snow when we are getting fresh each day. The downside for the tourists is that it has been COLD. Tomorrow the high on the mountain will be around 13 degrees. Ouch.

12/26/2007 Us locals haven't been able to ski much lately but local Owner John Taylor has. He reports the skiing as awesome. He skied with the part owner of Bart and Yetis and received a few pointers. These past weeks we've been receiving new snow virtually every other day. Nothing huge, but 2-4 inches every so often. Just enough to keep things soft and fresh. Still COLD.

12/24/2007 John Taylor owner of 314 skied front side and said conditions are great for all levels of skiers. Something for everyone. 5 inches of new snow. Not too cold. A little too much grooming on the front. Leave some powder for us powder fools! says JT -- Sun coming out late in the day. They are predicting another storm tonight!

12/23/2007 Lightly snowing outside but warmer. 19 degrees. 100% of the mountain is now open. We've always had enough snow to open the whole mountain but we think they were waiting for employees to open the Bolshoi Ballet area for skiing. More importantly the Arrabelle shops in Lionshead are now opening! The Mall area of Lionshead is back together after 3 years and you can walk everywhere once again. It is pretty darn cool. The ice rink is not open at this time. Not sure when they'll have that up and running.

12/22/2007 Another powder day in Vail and the sun is out. I'm heading up this afternoon and hope to make a report a little later. (It was cold!) 9 degrees at 3pm, great snow however. Chris R.

12/21/2007 Powder day in Vail. None of us could get up but everyone was telling us how great it was. Makes us jealous.

12/20/2007 It is snowing in Vail! Only time for 2 runs this morning. Pickeroon and Columbine. 1 inch new reported but snowing hard. Conditions will be great tomorrow. No lines, yet there was a goofy guest service guy directing people at Chair 2 and bothering everyone. He had the line goofed up more than us the skiers. Sort of funny to watch. Chris R.

12/19/2007 Was warm up on the mountain but we froze up in Blue Sky. Major wind with the cold front starting to come through. We did a bunch of runs on Pete's lift in Blue Sky. Great views. I quit early due to being so cold. Skiing was great. Skied with Tom Schlader and Tom Conville. Chris R.

12/17/2007 Vail ski conditions are still pretty good. They are opening the chairs at 8:30 now so Eric (Guest Services) and I went up at 8:45. There were a few icy spots in the high use areas but other than that it was great. Good groomers. Snow felt a little like styrofoam but I guess when it is 15 degrees in the early a.m., that is what we should expect. Highs in the low 30s today. We did two runs in the back. They groomed Headwall! Chris R.

12/16/2007 Now we are talking!! Sunny skies, not too cold, beautiful groomers. Perfect temps in my opinion for Vail skiing (25-30 degrees F). I hit a good lift line on Chair 2 today but it was my fault (going out at 9:30am is a bad idea), but after I hit the back-bowls it was clear sailing. Chair 10 and Chair 14 are a blast since they have been replaced. For beginners it is fun to ride Chair 10 and then take FlapJack all the way around for a long, long run. Chris R.

12/15/2007 Ouch, it was cold this morning up on the mountain. -3F, -20C. We did 4 runs and went in to warm up our feet. The snow is great however. I wish we could have stayed out longer during the day as it warmed up but I had to get to work. Beautiful sunshine. Chris R.

12/14/2007 Burrrrr, it's cold out there today! I don't have even a single day on the hill yet this year, how lame am I? Another big storm is predicted but I'm not gonna hold my breath. Just a light dusting came down last night. Vailmama

12/12/2007 Powder again! 8 inches of super dry snow. It was like feathers. Heaven. Another movie. Chris R.

12/11/2007 Sorry, no update today. Too busy skiing. Chris R.

12/10/2007 Great day. Longest day for me of the season. I started out with Bob Grossman Owner of 208 at the Antlers at Vail. Vail Ski conditions were excellent. Powder left over from the day before and sunshine. They are predicting snow tonight. That could be neat. I later hooked up with some friends from Waconia, MN area and I ate all their food up at Two Elk. That's the deal here. If you want a tour from a local, you might have to cough up for the food at Two Elk. Ouch. Corny Movie attached. Chris R.


12/09/2007 Well........ another 8 inches WOW! We got a good lead on everybody for the race to Chair 2 then Game Creek, Ricky's, Milts, West Wall, Blue Sky, Chair 14, Northwoods, Mid-Vail and home. Actually we took two runs on Chair 14 for the heck of it. 120 second ride for powder turns. Too bad you're not here. Click on the photo for a full size version. Chris R.

12/08/2007 Another 8 inches of snow, but no real report from any of us today. (Sorry) I think Rob got some runs. They opened most of the back bowls. 4500 acres My ball and chain said it was incredible. Big smiles from her. She was in Blue Sky most of the day. Knee deep snow on the hill (thigh deep for the short ones). Chris R.

12/07/2007 I decided to celebrate Pearl Harbor Day by making a few runs (any excuse is a good excuse). I'll spare you any references to the skiing being "the bomb", but it was in fact fantastic. I'm riding up chair 8 first thing, ready to head to chair 2 like usual, but the snow right under the lift was just too tempting. So I broke with tradition and came right back down under the chair. 15" - 18" easy. It was all the way up to your smile. 2 out of 3 turns were in unbroken snow. Make that 3 out of 4. Back up chair 8, ready to try plan A again ... but on the way there, the snow on lower Ledges just looked TOO GOOD. Oops, hard left ... a virtual repeat of the first run and back to the bottom. Back up and finally, I made it to the top. Everything up there was great, although part of the time you had to ski by the braille method ... it was just snowing too hard to see. I ended it with an epic run down Minnie's (almost always a sure bet for good deep pow). Back to work by 10:45 ... but with a whole new attitude. I need to do this more often.
Rob

12/06/2007 The sales team (& Randi) took some runs this morning just to give a special report on the Vail ski conditions! Unfortunately, we didn't venture too far due to time constraints. We had hopes of hitting Chair 26, but headed to 2. 26 & 9 are not running today. Great runs on 2. Pickeroon was especially nice & full of powder before the crowds hit it. There's even some fun little lip hits for those of you who like to play! We headed back to the west and had our final run down on Pride which had only a few tracks in a good 5 inches of powder. (p.s. don't tell anyone!) Katie S.

12/05/07 Hey, it's Rob here. My first day of the season (yeah, I know I don't get out enough). Wow, conditions were GREAT! I went skiing with Mike Glass from Alpine Bank. We did the "Woods" over in Game Creek. A few sapling trees showing on the run, but it just made for some fun slalom turns. For how much snow we've received I was really surprised at how good it was. A series of storms are predicted Thur - Sat Rob L.

12/04/07 I went up around 1pm today with the ball and chain. Pretty warm out, but awesome skiing. Man the groomers were fast. This could mean icy conditions super early a.m. tomorrow. But they are calling for snow Wed. night. We did a bunch of runs on Northwoods and GameCreek. They still haven't opened Chair 14. Maybe they are waiting for more employees or guests. Totally no lines. Groomers made a path down the back bowls on Yonder. If we get 6-8 inches back there, they could open Chair 17, but I have my doubts on Chair 5 unless we get a foot. Chris R.

12/3/2007 There probably weren't enough people on Vail Mountain this morning to fill a school bus. It was deadsville and the skiing awesome. 2 weeks ago I pulled out my rock skis for the first time in 3 years. Today, I hopefully put them away for the ski season. I took out my new skis. It's good out there. Now, if we don't get snow in a week, the rocks will be popping up for sure but otherwise coverage is good for early Dec. The groomers hopefully won't ruin everything by pulling out their plows too often (are those guys from Nebraska?) Chair 14 wasn't open, not sure why. Chris R.


12/2/2007 Yipee! Photo above of Alan Sandberg, publisher of Vail's The Parent's Handbook. 11 inches new. What a day. They opened Chair 11 and it was powder skiing. The mountain has been transformed. Looks like they'll open the new Chair 14 tomorrow for more beginner skiing. Making turns today with Rick from RJ Limosuines and Jeff Jacobs from the Westwind Condos. The mountain was loaded with locals. Wish you were here (see photo below) Chris R.
12/1/2007 New snow today and still snowing! Vail ski conditions improved. 4 inches reported up on the mountain. They are opening Chairs 2, 3, 4 and 7 today, so over 500 acres of skiing. It's about time. And of course I have to work today. More snow predicted through the weekend. Guests coming back to the hotel had grins on their faces. Good reports for Chair 4 Chris R.

FREE LUNCH - WOO HOO!

Yesterday Darci, Randi, Crissy, Eric, Kristen and I all went to the new Vail Chophouse for lunch. It was their "soft" opening ... invited neighbors and friends only ... just to help them work out the kinks. We were excited for a free lunch, but we really got wound up when we arrived and our super cute, South African server Karen said, "We want you to order as much as possible ... soup, salad, appetizer, entree AND dessert". Look out. We waddled home two hours later.
As awesome as the lunch was, the buzz in the place (and outside) was even better. I sat down with owner Brian Nolan, Vail Jazz Foundation exec dir Mia Vlaar and PR guru Pat Peeples for a few minutes and everyone was practically giddy with the excitement of the Arrabelle opening. I've got to admit, after four years of talking about how great it's going to be ... it is pretty incredible.
Rob

Antlers "antlers" make it to Russia.... We received this photo from Alden Thorndike at Vail Resorts central reservations. He in turn received it from some travel agents located in Moscow.

Mention you saw this post to win your own free foam antlers.

Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability

Evelyn and I recently went to a program put on by the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability. Matt Scherr runs that organization and what a saint he his ... talk about good karma. This particular program had three different developers speaking, but each with an eye towards sutainable communities, both environmentally as well as socially. Jonathan Robert, the guy from McStain homes, in Denver was great. I didn't realize how many cool things that company does in their home building efforts. He referred to some of it as "good weird" which was fitting. Stuff like giving away a year's worth of wind energy credits and a Vespa when you buy one of their homes, rather than the traditional discount on closing fees, or whatever.
There was also a guy who called himself Farmer John (don't remember his real last name) but he's hoping to develop a subdivision near Buena Vist with it's on self-sustaining farm. Pretty bold. All in all the program was great and it made me proud to be alligned with them. Now that we're a finalist for the Green Business of the Year in the Vail Valley, it's even more gratifying to work together. We host their speakers on a comp basis whenever necessary and for that they call us the "Official Hotel of EVAS". It's all fun.
Rob

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This year I procrastinated a little too long on the Christmas decorations, I think. Usually, we have a very intricate Christmas village set up in our lobby but lots of the pieces got broken last year and I just plain waited too long to put it up this year and now I feel that it wouldn't be "worth it" to put it up just for two weeks. I was starting to get a little stressed about it until an idea came to me in a dream. I dreamed that we had a tree in the lobby covered in nothing but candy canes, and then I made it happen! I put up this little sign to let people our candy is for sharing: So far, people seem disappointed with the absence of lights (but there were none in my dream!) so I may have to add some. What do you think?

12/23/7 Update: The tree has been a big success; I had to go to the store today to buy a second round of candy canes because they all got eaten!

The Christmas Party

Last night was the Antlers Christmas party at Vista Restaurant in Arrowhead. They just opened in the Arrowhead location and their new space is very impressive. They have dark leather chairs that are the most comfortable restaurant chairs in which I have ever sat.
The turnout was great with about sixty people attending this year, including all of our families.
Our very own Santa (aka Hap) made his annual visit and handed out gifts for everyone. The children were posing on Santa's lap while their parents snapped pictures and it must have looked like a lot of fun because the next time I looked up, the adults were posing on Santa's lap for their Christmas shots too!
As usual, everyone had a great time and good conversation, and lots of fun opening their presents. I'm already looking forward to the next gathering!



There was a type-o on the menu which had salmon spelled s-a-m-o-n. Here is Rob coming up with the "very funny" joke of dubbing it the "Christmas Salmon-because it's got no L":

'SnowWitch' joins you today to divulge some hidden pleasures in early December skiing at Vail!!

Ski early in the day - you'll get some powder runs and the slopes won't be crowded (I know, it's torture to get up early when out here on vacation....unless you're from the East Coast and then it seems like it is mid-day at 9 am!!)
Ski front-side at Vail when there is new powder - everyone else will be in Gamecreek Bowl.....and you'll have Lodgepole and Christmas to yourself!
Take advantage of early-bird or early season restaurant discounts - often 30% off entres is offered
Stop for a break at Wildwood - their apple pie is the best (with whipped cream of course!)

More later - good skiing!!

Timber Hearth Grille

Tuesday night was the annual concierge function at the Timber Hearth Grille at Cordillera. Crissy, Darci and I went and a good time was had by all. When we arrived we decided to go outside first since we were all still bundled up. On the terrace outside the dining room, there were benches surrounding a wood burning outdoor fire pit to warm us while we waited for the sleigh to come back around to give us a ride. We took a horse drawn tour of the golf course which they use as their Nordic Center in the winter, pulled by Charlie and Jacob of Bearcat Stables. Afterward, we posed for a picture with them and then went inside for dinner. There were three stations set up throughout the dining room. One with penne, prosciutto and black truffle carbonara and pulled rabbit meat. The second was a lamb carving station which was delicious, and the third was dessert with pecan tarts, carrot cake petit fours and coffee. As we sat and ate, waiters continually came by with trays of passed hors d'oeuvres and by the end of the evening the three of us were very full. A big Thank You to Timber Hearth Grille and Bearcat Stables!

The PR Bigtime

Well, we've hit the bigtime ... from a Public Relations standpoint, that is! Last Sunday we were featured in the New York Times Travel Section (you can see the article in our on-line press room). Needless to say, it was a PR homerun ... or so says Monica McCafferty who handles that role for the Vail Valley Partnership. The only twist was that they goofed and put in the price as per person, per night ... when it was really just per person (for all five nights). Oh well ... we've still had some calls and are able to clarify everything on the phone. More importantly, the exposure from just being in the NYT is HUGE.

November was a heckuva month from a PR perspective ... the NYT feature, a couple quotes in Travel and Leisure magazine, some more in the Vail Daily and an interview on CBS Channel 4 in Denver. Man oh man, our queens of Public Relations (and most favorite consultants) Darla and Eliza have really been kicking butt. The Times article was the biggest coup for the WordenGroup since they got us on the front page of USA Today's business section a couple years ago. I love it when they tell me that Regis & Kelly is next ... but then I'm easily amused.

Office Massage

In addition to being one of our most favorite owners, Janina Greene has been a physical therapist for many years. Chris managed to coerce her (which in Janina's case means simply asking) into giving some ten minute neck massages to our hard working (no, that doesn't mean "hardly" working) staff. Greg (from maintenance) was the first happy recipient, and no sooner did he start to loosen up, but our director of conference services, Kati (also an experienced massage therapist) decided Janina deserved a little neck work as well. Our controller, Randi (who has no official theraputic expertise whatsoever) just couldn't help but join the fun. It may look like the bunny hop, but trust me ... it was much, much better.

Vail Ski Conditions 2007 November

11/23/07 Well, the season started out with excitement (in October) with over 2 feet of snow before Halloween. Some of the most snow I've seen in Oct. in a number of years. However, it sort of jinxed us for November (so far). November has been quite dry and warm. The Tues/Wed before Thanksgiving things finally cooled down and we received 4 inches of snow. Enough to get Born Free run open with man-made snow, but that was about it. Vail Mountain has now moved their snow guns over to some green runs and Bear Tree. C. Ratz

11/23/07 Still cold outside and the weather people are calling for perhaps a couple of storms between Nov 27 - Dec 1. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Chair 15 opened for beginners with a large learning area at the top of the mountain. C. Ratz

11/24/07 Darn cold this morning, around 10 degrees. Great for making snow. In fact, they are making snow on lower Simba this morning. Sort of surprising that they are making it over there already. I would think it will take a lot of time to get that run open but who knows. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they work on some of the upper trails to get some top to bottom skiing. C. Ratz

11/25/07 I went up right away in the morning. Good groomed slopes. This is the key during early season when there are just a few ski runs available. They have the cat-walk going around to Chair 2 open.... Good for practicing the technique. Saw Mark Ulmschneider (owner of 517) and did 4 runs with them. Also saw Paul Green (owner of 416) Amazing how we could find some decent snow after the holiday weekend crowds. They were blowing snow on Pride, Simba, base of Chair 9 and on Columbine. It makes me think they are working on getting Chair 2 or Chair 9 open soon. You can tell they don't need much snow higher up or just a bit of snowmaking here and there to open more runs. Let's keep our fingers crossed. Chris R.

11/26/07 Snowing lightly outside from 9am-11:30am, not a lot but enough to make the runs soft. I took out the telli skis today and hooked up with Mark and Bernd from 517 again. Five quick runs before work. It was nice with less people on the runs after the holiday. Weather is calling for more snow on Wed and Sat perhaps. Just a foot of snow and ski runs will be open all over the place, but we need that foot. Chris R.

11/27/07 Got out on the mountain pretty late (3:00pm) but got three runs in before the lifts closed at 3:30pm. Certainly a bit icy this late in the day. They are blowing snow on Pride but still haven't opened any extra runs. I saw that someone has been skiing down Columbine near Chair 2 but it isn't open to the public. Not sure if Ski Patrol is working on the trail or what. Clouding up late in the day and they are calling for 2-4 inches tonight. I sure hope so since I have tomorrow morning off. Chris R.
11/28/07 New snow this morning and still snowing as of 10:30am. I did four quick runs. They said 4 inches up at Mid-Vail but there was probably 3 inches down in Lionshead and up on the top of Born Free lift. Nice to get soft snow again. Yellow Jacket guy said they were opening Chair 26 and the Pride ski run today but he didn't know what time. Columbine and Ledges are open from the top of the Gondola but you have to walk to the top of Chair 15 to get to those runs. They were blowing snow at the base of chair 2 (pic above). I still say we need 8 more inches before they can open the upper half. Buddy of mine said East Vail got 6 inches, so top of mountain probably received same. Sweet! Chris R.

11/29/07 They opened Pride and Chair 26. We now have top to bottom skiing from the gondola. They need to blow a bit more snow in a few spots on the Pride, but below Chair 26 (swinging down through lower Simba) the snow was excellent. Then I took the gondola up and walked over to Chair 15 (beginner) and skied Ledges all the way down. It was decent. But we still need a good slab of snow to come down. 4 inches at a time isn't quite doing it to build a base. They were blowing snow on lower Lodgepole so it looks like they are trying to get either Chair 2 open or the Vista Bahn lift for this weekend. Chris R.

11/30/07 I did my daily runs super early. Here's the scoop. Runs were groomed better and it is snowing over by Holy Cross mountain (as of 9:30am). We could see the storm clouds moving in from the South. Vail announced they are opening Chairs 2, 3, 4, 7 on Saturday tomorrow. Wow! My opinion is that it might be a bit thin up there but who knows. They are making a lot of snow and if we get the snow they are predicting, it might be pretty decent. Keep your fingers crossed. Chris R.

Rocky Mountain Vacations Travel Agent

Each year Julie from Rocky Mountain Vacations spends Thanksgiving out in the Utah desert with her relatives. Apparently they have some sort of golf tournament. Hmmmm.... were they drinking?............

Hi Chris,

As promised…the third annual Vail Antlers Ladies Wilderness Golf Tournament held Thanksgiving day on the San Rafael swell. I had everyone show off the logo this year! Thanks for the good times with the Antlers. And remember…don’t feed the wildlife.

Julie Stepniewski
ROCKY MOUNTAIN VACATIONS
Division of Travel Organizers/American Express

Want to Avoid the Lift Lines like a Local?

1. Get out before 9:30am and you'll likely stay out of lines the whole day. You'll be out in front of the crowds, into the Vail Bowl areas and a couple of lifts ahead of the ski schools, crowds and commuters from Denver. If you are going to sleep in, just have a late breakfast and wait until 11:00am or so and you'll zip right up.

2. Stay away from the gondola. Only ride that thing if there is NO line. You can get up quicker and further up the mountain by taking Chairs 8 and 2 and actually get a bit of a warm up on the cat-walk at the same time.

3. Look before you leap. It sounds too simple but look for a moment at each side of the lift to see which maze has less of a line. And then look closely to see which lane has less people. I can't believe the number of times a well meaning friend will just dive right in to the closest line, when with just 5 seconds of thought there is a better option available.

4. Single lines can be deceiving. Be careful splitting up. Sometimes the regular lines go QUICKER than the single lines. When a maze is completely full (single lines and regular lines are out the maze), many times the regular lines go quicker (particularly on the High-speed quads). Exception is Chair 5

5. If at top of Chair 7, look down to the base of the lift first before diving in.Chair 7 (Game Creek) can be a mess between 10am and 11:30am as the goofs riding the gondola take the cat-walk down to Gamecreek. But you can see down in from the top of 7. If it is mess, dive down the back to Chair 5 or back to the front for Chairs 3 or 4.

6. Don't do Chair 11 between 2:45 and 4:00pm. If you are coming back from Blue Sky or China Bowl and your legs can handle it, ski down Yonder to get to Chair 5. There won't be anyone there at this time of day and it brings you back to the top.

7. Thumbs up for: North side of 7, East side of 2, East side of China lift, East side of Northwoods, East side of Chair 3 anytime, East side of Chair 4 before 10:30 but then West side of same Chair after lunch.

8. Loser moves: Going down to Chair 5 after 10:38 on a powder day (You might as well start walking back up the hill). Skiing runs around Chair 2 from 9:45-11:30 (don't choose those 50 acres to ski on when there is 5000+ out there waiting for you). And the ultimate loser move? Sticking with a friend on a powder day.

New Stone Work

Slowly but surely, the Antlers' building facade is being updated. The original building, which was constructed n 1972, had a different type of stone treatment on the outside than the new Antlers which was completed in 2001. From many vantage points, the discrepancy was glaringly obvious. We are proud to say that it is now almost non existent. This is our clock tower as seen from the sixth floor hallway in our courtyard: It is the last major thing left to be covered in the beautiful new stone.

Here is a section where the two come together: The new stuff is much nicer, don't you think?

Antlers GHOSTS

Although the 07’ ski season is upon us here in Vail, I felt it necessary to inform you of our success in the summer softball league as the Antlers staff (and a few stranglers we found roaming aimlessly on the streets), dusted off our mitts, bought 2 bats, 4 softballs, and called ourselves the ANTLERS G.H.O.S.T. (God help our sh%@#ty team) We were an organized softball team again. Let me re-phrase that. They were organized and we showed up for each an every game with high hopes and aspirations of proudly displaying the athletic talent we were not quite sure we had. Our dreams were dashed of possessing the 1st place trophy and displaying it in the Antlers lobby, when after one inning, of one game, we found ourselves losing by 7 runs and wondering how to make an out. The anguish continued and I wonder if it has taken this long to write of it, because of it. Healing takes time. Some of the healing included the following: LeVine-thigh, hamstring, ankle…Ziccardi-two knees, right arm… Schlaeder-ankle… Walls-leg… Harl-both legs… Everyone else-bruises, contusions (most of these injuries sustained because we tried to catch the ball with various body parts rather than use our mitts).

I was proud of our team though, and the enthusiasm we all displayed throughout the 8 game season could not be compromised. We finished with a perfect record in our division ( 0 and 8 ) and we were taught many lessons because of the experience this past summer.

One of the most important lessons was realized after the first game. We knew that one case of beer was not enough to keep the team satisfied in the dug-out. Then we learned that Bagallis had the best pizza. Then we learned that the Sand Bar had the best wings. Then we learned that a team barbeque was in order to celebrate a complete disaster of a season.

There is talk of organizing again for next year, but that was only for 5 minutes after the last game was played. We thank all of you that attended and were able to witness our play and extend a thank you to all that supported us otherwise. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Greg Ziccardi

New Grocery Cart

A few years back, Greg in maintenance took one of our older luggage carts and converted it to a grocery cart for guests to use. It was such a big hit that we were constantly looking for the thing all over the property. We just decided that it was probably a good idea to make another one. And then there were two....More to come?

Zip Line Adventure in Wolcott

Antlers owners unit 406 (the Brinkmans) stopped by the front desk and went on and on about how fun the zip line was out by Wolcott (20 minutes west of Vail). Scott Brinkman said he has done sky diving and bungee jumping and this zip line was one of the most fun and exhilarating things he has done. The kids thought it was a blast. One of the zip lines was over 1000 feet long. I think he said it was $125 per person. It is open through November. Zipadventures

Start of the Antlers at Vail blog

With the beginning of the 2007-2008 ski season underway, the Antlers at Vail figured it was time to start a blog. A place to check on ski conditions, ask questions, give feedback on the Antlers, etc.

Welcome