What a week! Opening Day 2011

It has been a wild and crazy week here at Vail.  We have graduated 84 lift operators through our training course.  We have learned how to run the lifts, maintain our ramps, met new friends, and enjoyed living in Vail.  The team has gotten a few lifts fully ready to open, and a few more lifts ready to go at a moments' notice.  The level of intensity leading up to Opening Day is very similar to the few last days of summer before starting school back when you were a kid.

It finally happened. We opened. The lifts ran, and people were able to enjoy the snow again. It is a great feeling when you load the first batch of guests onto a chairlift for the first time. Whether you are working or out for a few turns on a sunny Friday, the incredible build up is released into a happy greeting from a lift operator or a high-five as you're leaving the terminal on your way up for the first turns of the year.

Here is the TV star, Chair 8 crew just before that moment:

Thanks in advance for a great year guys!