Town of Vail, Colorado
—  Town  —
Gore Creek Drive in Vail Village
Official logo of Town of Vail, Colorado Logo
Location in Eagle County and the state of Colorado
Coordinates: 39°38′9″N 106°21′47″W / 39.63583°N 106.36306°W / 39.63583; -106.36306Coordinates: 39°38′9″N 106°21′47″W / 39.63583°N 106.36306°W / 39.63583; -106.36306
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County[1]	Eagle County
Incorporated	1966[2]
Government
• Type	Home Rule Municipality[1]
• Mayor	Dick Cleveland[3]
• Town Manager	Stan Zemler
Area
• Total	4.5 sq mi (11.7 km2)
• Land	4.5 sq mi (11.7 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	8,022 ft (2,445 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	4,531
• Density	1,006.9/sq mi (387.3/km2)
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	81657
Area code(s)	970
FIPS code	08-80040
GNIS feature ID	0202339
Website	Town of Vail

The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005.^[4] The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived. Vail Ski Resort's first season was in December, 1962 and it is the second largest ski mountain in North America (after Whistler Blackcomb).

History[link]

10th Mountain Division in Vail

Vail was incorporated in 1966, four years after the opening of Vail Ski Resort. The ski area was founded by Pete Seibert and local rancher Earl Eaton in 1962, at the base of Vail Pass. The pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed U.S. Highway 6 through the Vail Valley in 1940, and eventually became Interstate 70. Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained at Camp Hale, 14 miles south of Vail between Red Cliff and Leadville. He was wounded in Italy at the Battle of Riva Ridge but went on to become a professional skier after he recovered.^[5]

Seibert, with other former members of the 10th Mountain Division, returned to Colorado after WWII with the intention of opening a ski resort. During training for ski troopers at Camp Hale, he bivouacked on Vail Mountain and identified it as an ideal ski mountain. In the early 1960s, Seibert raised funds from a group of Denver investors, including Jack Tweedy, and with Earl Eaton bought a ranch at the base of the mountain and eventually incorporated as Vail Associates. In 1962 the resort opened for its first season. It operated a gondola and two ski-lifts on the mountain owned by the United States Forest Service. The village was established at the base of the mountain for local residents and offered logding for visitors. It quickly grew throughout the valley with housing added first in East Vail and then West Vail, and additional lodging added in Lionshead in the late 1960s.^[6][5] Within the first years the village had a ski shop operated by John Houserman, a hotel and restaurant operated by Pepi Gramshammer, and the mountain had a manager.^[7]

Geography[link]

Vail's average elevation is 8,150 feet (2484 m) above sea level. The town has a total area of 4.5 square miles (12 km²), with no lakes (there is, however, at least one pond). Gore Creek flows from east to west through the center of town.

The town is surrounded by the White River National Forest and the Vail Ski Resort is leased from the United States Forest Service. Mount of the Holy Cross is visible from Vail Mountain.

Vail Mountain[link]

Vail Mountain rises from 8,120 feet (2,476 m) to 11,570 feet (3,527 m), giving a vertical height of 3,450 feet (1,052 m).^[8] It has a 5,289 acres (21 km²) skiable area, 33 ski lifts, 193 marked skiing trails on three faces: the front side, the back bowls, and Blue Sky Basin. The seven back bowls are Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Teacup Bowl, China Bowl, Siberia Bowl, Inner Mongolia Bowl, and Outer Mongolia Bowl. Blue Sky Basin includes Pete's Bowl and Earl's Bowl—to commemorate Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton.

Climate[link]

Vail has pleasantly warm summers and cold winters because of its elevation. Depending on the classification used, it is either an alpine or subarctic climate. Minimum temperatures rarely rises above freezing point from late September to late May. The town receives an average of 200 inches of snowfall per season, with even more in the surrounding mountains. Roads may close occasionally during heavy snowfall. Summer temperatures can reach the 80s Fahrenheit, but are more often in the low to mid 70s. Combined with mountain breezes, this makes summers refreshing and cool.

Transportation[link]

Teva Mountain Games in Vail

North side of Vail Mountain, and Vail Valley.

Vail is served by Eagle County Airport near Gypsum, 30 miles to the west. Native Americans used to call the area near the airport the "hole in the sky" because storms seemed to avoid it. Vail is modeled on European ski towns, many of which are car-free, and the town is partially pedestrianized. The town operates the largest free shuttle bus system in the United States and has one hybrid-electric bus. At each bus stop, a sign reports when the next two buses will arrive.

The In-Town Shuttle provides service every five minutes during peak winter times, and every 15 minutes off-peak, between Golden Peak, Vail Village, the business district, and Lionshead, with live schedule information provided at bus stops by Global Positioning System technology, which tracks buses. Other routes centering on the Transportation Center service the East and West Vail districts on a scheduled, but less frequent basis.^[10]

Eagle County provides bus service from the Transportation Center with service to Vail, Leadville, Minturn, Eagle-Vail, Avon, Beaver Creek, Edwards, Eagle, Gypsum and Dotsero.

Highways[link]

Interstate 70 runs east-west through the middle of Vail and is the only road to or from Vail, with exits at East Vail, at the base of Vail Pass, the town of Vail, and West Vail. From the east, the highway comes from Denver, 97 miles away, passes through Loveland Tunnel and over the Continental Divide, by-passing Loveland Pass, and over Vail Pass, dropping down into Vail Valley. To the west, it meets Highway 6 and Highway 24 at Dowd Junction, passes through Avon, Edwards, Colorado, and Eagle, through Glenwood Canyon traveling and on to Grand Junction, and reaches Utah, where it ends at the intersection with Interstate 15.

In West Vail, Highway 6 (which still exists as a service road between East Vail, Vail, and West Vail) merges with I-70 at Dowd Junction. I-70 roughly follows the original Highway 6 route until the two highways diverge again in Silverthorne, 31 miles to the east.

Demographics[link]

The 2000 census^[11] found 4,531 people, 2,165 households, and 762 families living in the town. The population density was 999.0 people per square mile (385.3/km²). There were 5,389 housing units at an average density of 1,188.1 per square mile (458.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.13% White, 0.29% African American, 0.49% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 6.20% of the population.

There were 2,165 households in which 11.8% had children under the age of 18, 30.0% were married couples, 3.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 64.8% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 people and the average family size was 2.62 people.

The population age distribution was 9.9% people under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 47.9% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. There were 140.1 males for every 100 females, and 143.0 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.

The median household income was $56,680, and the median family income was $66,389. Men had a median income of $33,534 versus $32,065 for women. The per capita income for the town was $42,390. About 1.8% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.9% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those aged 65 or over.

Economy[link]

The Vail economy relies on tourism. While much of the industry is based on winter sports, Vail is also a summer resort and golfing center. Summer activities include guided hikes, mountain biking, horseback riding, carriage rides and fishing. Vail is also developing as a cultural center, with various art and music venues active throughout the summer. The town has a developed culinary center, with a variety of restaurants.

Arts and culture[link]

Notable cultural events[link]

• Vail Film Festival — in March or early April, annually
• Vail International Dance Festival - summer dance festival featuring major ballet and contemporary dance companies. Notable companies include the New York City Ballet, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, and the San Francisco Ballet.
• Vail Lacrosse Shootout - Late June-Early July Ford Park.
• Vail Valley Music Festival - featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Museums and other points of interest[link]

• Betty Ford Alpine Gardens
• Colorado Ski Museum
• Steadman-Hawkins clinic — World renowned clinic for knee injuries
• Vail Ski Resort

Government[link]

Vail has a council-manager form of government and is led by a seven member town council elected at-large.

Education[link]

Vail's public schools are part of Eagle County School District RE-50, with high school students attending Battle Mountain High School. Eagle County Schools also offers the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, a joint program with area ski programs for students in grades 8-12 who are involved in competitive skiing and snowboarding. Private schools in Vail include Vail Mountain School (K-12), Vail Christian High School (9-12), St. Clare of Assisi Catholic School (K-8), and The Vail Academy (PK-8). Higher education is available at the Vail Eagle Valley campus of Colorado Mountain College.

Media[link]

The Vail Daily newspaper is published by Colorado Mountain News Media. Alternative news and information sources include Vail Mountaineer.

A broadcast translator for public radio station KUNC allows listeners in the Eagle Valley to listen at 99.7 FM.

Two specialty television networks have stations in Vail, Plum TV and Resort Sports Network. The latter, branded as TV-8, also broadcasts on the low-powered UHF station K45IE. The Ski Channel is available only on DirecTV on Channel 1860.

During the mid 1970s, Vail became known as the Western White House of President Gerald Ford, when he conducted much of the nation's business from The Lodge at Vail hotel. The national media followed Ford to Vail and often broadcast television pictures of Vail's mountain slopes.^[12]

Famous residents[link]

• Michael Bloomberg
• Toby Dawson
• Rob Eaton "Dark Star Orchestra"
• John Glenn part-time (also lives in Cleveland and Orlando)
• Brad Ludden
• Seth Morrison
• Sarah Schleper
• Richard Steadman
• Ryan Sutter
• Trista Sutter
• Lindsey Vonn part-time (also lives in Austria)

Sister cities[link]

• St. Moritz, Switzerland

See also[link]

• Outline of Colorado
  • Index of Colorado-related articles
• State of Colorado
  • Colorado cities and towns
    • Colorado municipalities
  • Colorado counties
    • Eagle County, Colorado
  • Colorado metropolitan areas
    • Edwards, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area
• Gore Range
• Vail Lacrosse Shootout
• Vail Pass
• Vail Ski Resort

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vail, Colorado

• Town of Vail website
• Vail Valley Partnership, The Chamber and Tourism Bureau
• Vail, Colorado at the Open Directory Project

v t e Municipalities and communities of Eagle County, Colorado, United States County seat: Eagle Towns Avon Basalt‡ Eagle Gypsum Minturn Red Cliff Vail CDPs Dotsero Edwards El Jebel Bulford McCoy Wolcott Unincorporated communities Beaver Creek Bond Burns Cordillera Eagle-Vail Gilman Sheephorn Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

v t e  State of Colorado Denver (capital) Topics Index Coloradans Economy Federal lands Geography Highways History Images Law and government Military Mountains Museums Rivers Symbols Visitor attractions Regions Central Colorado Colorado Piedmont Colorado Plateau Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area Eastern Plains Front Range Grand Valley High Rockies Mineral Belt Roaring Fork Valley Sangre de Cristo Mountains San Luis Valley South‑Central Colorado Southwest Colorado Uinta Mountains Western Slope Municipalities Akron Alamosa Arvada Aspen Aurora Boulder Breckenridge Brighton Broomfield Cañon City Castle Rock Centennial Colorado Springs Commerce City Cortez Craig Delta Denver Durango Englewood Erie Evans Fairplay Federal Heights Fort Collins Fort Morgan Fountain Golden Glenwood Springs Grand Junction Greeley Greenwood Village Gunnison Lafayette La Junta Lakewood Lamar Leadville Littleton Longmont Louisville Loveland Montrose Northglenn Parker Platteville Pueblo Salida Steamboat Springs Sterling Superior Thornton Trinidad Vail Westminster Wheat Ridge Windsor Counties Adams Alamosa Arapahoe Archuleta Baca Bent Boulder Broomfield Chaffee Cheyenne Clear Creek Conejos Costilla Crowley Custer Delta Denver Dolores Douglas Eagle El Paso Elbert Fremont Garfield Gilpin Grand Gunnison Hinsdale Huerfano Jackson Jefferson Kiowa Kit Carson La Plata Lake Larimer Las Animas Lincoln Logan Mesa Mineral Moffat Montezuma Montrose Morgan Otero Ouray Park Phillips Pitkin Prowers Pueblo Rio Blanco Rio Grande Routt Saguache San Juan San Miguel Sedgwick Summit Teller Washington Weld Yuma

The Holidays
The Holidays
Background information
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Genres	Indie rock, Pop rock, Soul
Years active	2006 - present
Labels	Liberation (Australia), Rallye Label (Japan)
Website	Official Website Myspace
Members
Simon Jones Will Magnus Alex Kortt Andrew Kerridge

The Holidays are an Australian indie pop/soul band. Formed in Sydney in 2006, the band consists of Simon Jones, Will Magnus, Alex Kortt and Andrew Kerridge. The band is most notably known for their Australian Music Prize nominated debut album Post Paradise.

Biography[link]

The Holidays formed in late 2006 and quickly established themselves in the Sydney music scene as an upbeat, energetic addition. Simon Jones & Will Magnus had attended high school together, previously playing in cover bands in their schools' band competition. They were often up against the band Roger Explosion in these competitions, who went on to become the Australian electro-pop band Art vs. Science.

Within their first year as a band together, The Holidays toured with Jamie T,^[1] with The View,^[2] with Ben Kweller,^[3] and recorded an EP of demos which quickly sold out at gigs and received regular airplay on radio stations both in Australia^[4] and in the USA. In November 2007 The Holidays were featured on the Next Crop segment of national youth radio station Triple J,^[5] soon followed by their signing with independent Australian record label Liberation Music, in early 2008.

The Holidays released their debut EP on 19 April 2008 to positive reviews^[6] which was followed by a substantial national tour to promote the release. They released their second EP "When The Ship Goes Down" in October 2008, which showed the band's natural progression with song-writing. Recorded with Wayne Connolly of The Vines and Josh Pyke fame, this EP was followed by a 20 date national tour, co-headlining with Brisbane band Yves Klein Blue.

The Holidays' debut album Post Paradise soon followed, after several months of writing and experimenting. Drawn away from the simplicity of their earlier indie guitar manifestation, Post Paradise showed the bands development with both the groove and layers of a song, combined with their recognizable pop hooks. This album differed from previous recordings by The Holidays' in that it was self-produced and recorded in various locations around Sydney and New South Wales.

"Moonlight Hours", the first single from their debut album was taken to radio in November 2009, and added to high rotation on national youth radio station Triple J. "Golden Sky" was the second single from The Holidays debut album, released in May 2010, which was followed by an east coast tour of Australia to promote the release. There is a music video for both these singles, made by Melbourne company Moop Jaw.

"Post Paradise" was released in Australia on 24 September 2010, in conjunction with third single, Broken Bones, which was added to radio nationally. The album has received very positive reviews since its release, which included amongst other reviews, being shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize and winning the Red Bull Award for Best Debut Album. Post Paradise also received "Album of the Week" in Drum Media, Beat Magazine, BMA Mag & The Brag,^[7] 4.5 stars in The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph & The Courier Mail, as well as positive reviews in The Age & The Sydney Morning Herald. Post Paradise won The Age Readers Choice Best Album of 2010,^[8] and was the Triple J Feature Album for the week commencing 26 December 2010.

The Holidays toured Post Paradise substantially in 2010 and 2011, including shows at SXSW in Austin, Texas, The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, UK, and Australian festivals including Groovin' the Moo, Laneway Festival and Splendour in the Grass. The Holidays' current live show incorporates a fifth touring member, David Zucker as percussionist, as well occasional backing vocalists.

Members[link]

• Simon Jones - Vocals, Guitar, Keys, Production
• Will Magnus - Lead Guitar, Keys
• Alex Kortt - Bass Guitar
• Andrew Kerridge - Drums, Percussion, Supreme Aficionado

Touring[link]

• Toured with Jamie T in May 2007
• Toured with The View in June 2007
• Toured with Ben Kweller in October 2007
• Played nationally at the 2008 St Jerome's Laneway Festival
• Toured with The Wombats in March 2008
• Toured with Lightspeed Champion in July 2008
• Played at Homebake 2008
• Played at Falls Festival 2008
• Toured with Bluejuice in April 2010
• Played at St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2011 across Australia
• Played at SXSW in Austin, Texas in March 2011
• Played at the Groovin' the Moo Festival across Australia in May 2011
• Toured with Cut Copy in Australia in May 2011
• Played at The Great Escape Festival in Brighton, and Dot to Dot Festival across the UK in May 2011
• Played at Splendour In The Grass in August 2011.
• Played at the inaugural Harvest Festival in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane in November 2011 along with The Flaming Lips, Portishead and Tv on the Radio.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Post Paradise (Australia - 24 September 2010, Japan - January 2011)

EPs[link]

• The Holidays (19 April 2008)
• When The Ship Goes Down (11 October 2008)
• Golden Sky (Australia - May 2010, UK - August 2010 )

Singles[link]

• Moonlight Hours (December 2009)
• Golden Sky (May 2010)
• Broken Bones (September 2010)
• 2 Days (February 2011)

Awards & Nominations[link]

• 2010 The Age EG Award - Readers Choice Best Album of 2010 - Won
• 2010 Australian Music Prize - Nominated
• 2010 Australian Music Prize - Red Bull Award for Best Debut Album - Won
• 2011 Jägermeister Independent Music Awards - Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year - Nominated

Further information[link]

• The Holidays song 'Telephone' was featured on an Australian television advertising campaign for Clearasil in late 2007.
• The Holidays song 'Golden Sky' was used in the Channel 7 summer 2010/2011 advertising campaign.
• Simon Jones collaborated & sung vocals with Australian dance duo Bag Raiders on the track 'Not Over' from their eponymous debut album.

References[link]