48 AMERICANWAY
NOVEMBER 15 2009
Vail, Colorado
“I’vebeen toa lotofplaces inmycareer,
and Vail is my favorite place for awin-
ter vacation. You can spend a week at
Vail without skiing the same run twice,
and you have your choice of everything:
groomers, powder runs, moguls, trees.
There really isn’t anything you can’t do.
“Whenever Iam trainingatVailwith
the U.S. Ski Team, I manage to sneak
off for a few laps in the back bowls
and Blue Sky Basin. The bowls are
enormous and are perfectly pitched so
you can charge on a powder day. From
the basin, you can see nearby 14ers
[mountains that measure 14,000 feet
or higher].
“Vail Village is an ideal vacation spot
because you don’t need a car and there
is fabulous nightlife. I don’t haveone fa-
vorite bar, but you can dance late into
the night seven nights aweek. Vail Vil-
lage looks like it came right out of Aus-
tria. There are excellent restaurants;
one of my favorites is the contempo-
rary, gourmet Larkspur Restaurant.”
Info:www.vail.com
Expert:
LindseyVonn
Claim to fame:
Vonn is the first
Americanwoman towin back-to-back
WorldCup championships (in2008
and2009), holds 22WorldCupwins
in four disciplines (downhill, super G,
slalom, and super combined), and is
considered themost successful Ameri-
canwoman skier inWorldCup history.
ParkCityMountainResort,DeerValleyResort,
and theCanyonsResort,ParkCity, Utah
“The town of Park City is the hub to the area’s threemajor
resorts, which are all amongmy favorites. Deer Valley has
impeccable service and grooming and the best turkey chili
anywhere. The Canyons has major variety: 3,700 skiable
acres. There’s no way you could ski the entire resort in a
week. ParkCityMountainResorthasoneof thebest terrain
parks inNorthAmerica; it’swhere skiersand snowboarders come to train for the
big comps. Park CityMountain Resort also has a signature grooming program,
where they use winch cats to groom extremely steep slopes, andwhen you ski
them, it’s like you’re racing.
“Park City is only a half-hour drive from Salt Lake City and is a wonderful
mountain escape. Think of a picturesque mining town turned mountain town
with pumping dance clubs (red velvet ropes and bouncers included), authentic
regional food (I love Chimayo), and, of course, shopping. During the Sundance
FilmFestival, Hollywood takes over, but ingeneral, it’s reallydown to earth. Even
though some people have one, you don’t need a private jet to fit in here.”
Info:
LakeTahoe, California
“Lake Tahoe has every type of snowboarding and skiing condition, record-breaking snow-
fall, and sevenmajor resorts. It’s enormous and varied, and I’ve ridden the best powder of
my life one day and then had ideal park andpipe conditions the next.
“NorthStar is popular for families because themajorityof the runs are intermediate—
you jumpoutof thegondolaandnothing is toosteep. You’ll find thebig-mountain freeskiers
atSquawValley, andSierra-at-Tahoe’s theGates is foradvanced ridersandskiers. You’ll get
fresh tracks on every run on powder days. Every run. That’s impossible atmost resorts, but here, there aren’t the crowds.
“When you drive into Tahoe and see the casinos first thing, you pop intoVegas for a second. But then, you’re right on
thedeep- blue lake, and themountainsareenormous. It’sbeautiful. YoucanfindanythingyouwantatLakeTahoe: casinos,
cute hotels, excellent shopping, vegan restaurants, andgourmet steak houses.”
Info:www.skilaketahoe.com
Expert:
ChrisWaddell
Claim to fame:
The most
decorated male skier in
Paralympic history, Wad-
dell haswon 12medals over
four Games and has spent
11yearson theU.S. Disabled
Ski Team.
Expert:
HannahTeter
Claim to fame:
Teter
is a2006Olympic gold
medalist inwomen’s half-
pipe snowboarding.
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