News Archive

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. – Winter 2008-2009 – Winter wonderland takes on new meaning for kids visiting Beaver Creek this season. With a variety of new family-friendly and kid-specific programs in the spotlight, as well as a wealth of existing children’s activities and events taking place throughout the winter, Beaver Creek is a kid’s version of Cloud Nine.

 

Beaver Creek introduces The Ranch, a state-of-the-art children’s ski and snowboard school that will revolutionize the way kids learn to turn. The 4,000 square foot, on-mountain center is located at the top of the Buckaroo Express Gondola and is surrounded by premier beginner learning terrain. The center’s picture windows will allow parents to discreetly view their kids learning to ski and ride on customized slopes designed to facilitate the correct body movements. Parents can also rest easy knowing their kids will have healthy and fresh food options at lunchtime. All natural meat, Horizon organic dairy and a yogurt bar will be served as part of Vail Resorts’ Appetite for Life initiative. Wireless touch screen technology at each lunch table will allow instructors to stay seated with the kids while placing food orders. Instructors also are able to review video of the morning sessions on screens set up near the tables, providing feedback and tips for the afternoon. The Ranch is a key part of Beaver Creek’s commitment to offer a top family vacation experience. Last winter, the resort introduced the kid-friendly Buckaroo gondola, a customized learning area and a beginner terrain park, as well as complimentary family programs each evening.

 

Ski with a Ranger will return for a second season to offer environmental education tours on Beaver Creek Mountain. Join a Forest Service volunteer on the slopes and learn about the National Forest and local ecology while skiing. Tours meet each Saturday at the resort’s Environmental Learning Center and address different themes each week. Themes may include Winter Wildlife Adaptations, Local History, Predator and Prey Relationships, Forest Ecology, Wilderness Management, For the Kids: Become a Junior Snow Ranger, and more. Open to skiers and snowboarders of all ages, of beginner level and higher.  Participants must purchase a lift ticket. 

 

Beaver Creek is the recipient of the 2008 Best Overall Safety award from the National Ski Areas Association. Beaver Creek’s safety ambassadors Harry and Milli are ready to show kids just how much fun it is to ski and ride safely. This winter, the animated characters will team up with the Beaver Creek Children’s Ski and Snowboard School to offer the Harry and Milli Safety Scavenger Hunt. Following a safety talk from Beaver Creek Ski Patrol, safety clues will lead kids and their instructors to Harry and Milli’s secret hideaways on the mountain. Other kids’ ski school favorites include: Park-ology, an introduction to terrain parks; and the Talons Challenge, a quest to ski or ride 13 of Beaver Creek’s toughest runs in one day. After the lifts close, check out the new Western Family Dinner Theatre, glow stick ski down and fireworks display, kids tubing, ice skating, storytelling around the fire pits and more.

 

Expect to be pampered during a visit to Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek Resort has won the highly coveted Best Customer Service award from the National Ski Areas Association for the past three years. Embracing the resort’s “Not Exactly Roughing It” tagline, more than 150 mountain hosts are committed to providing the highest level of guest service in the ski industry. Look for hosts to maximize enjoyment on the mountain and in the village with a warm greeting, help in carrying equipment, providing grooming reports and local’s tips, and leading free mountain welcome tours each day. At the end of the day, Beaver Creek’s Cookie Time chefs meet guests coming off the mountain with hot, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies, and collector postcards – they’ll even take care of mailing addressed postcards anywhere in the world, free of charge.

 

Beaver Creek offers kids their own tech-savvy way to stay informed throughout the season with a kid-version of the resort website, located at www.beavercreek.snowmonsters.com. This interactive site includes information about the mountain, as well as games, cartoons, news, photos, quizzes, and lessons from Mother Nature.

 

Disco Skate Night – Kids can boogie the night away at the Black Family Ice Rink in Beaver Creek with a DJ and light show on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Dates: December 20, 2008 through March 28, 2009. Bring skates or rent (ice time is free).

 

Beaver Creek: New Family Snowshoe Tours
The Beaver Creek Nordic Sports Center is featuring family tours from ages 6 and up. Tours are free and include Atlas Snowshoes and headlamps. Dress warmly for outdoor activity. Tours are from 4-5:30 p.m. Call the Nordic Center to sign up at (970) 754- 5313. Tours are limited to 30 participants. Dates: December 23, 2008- March 31, 2009.

 

Kid's Tubing – Kids (Ages 5 - 12) can get their tube on Wednesday and Friday evenings in front of McCoy's, from 4:30 p.m. during the winter season. Dates: January 7, 2009 through April 1, 2009. Tubes are provided.

 

Rail Jam Series – Beaver Creek hosts a complimentary rail jam session each Thursday at 4 p.m. Interested participants should meet in front of kids' ski school. Skiers and snowboarders can practice sliding beginner rails on flat terrain; Beaver Creek Ski & Snowboard School instructors supervise and offer tips. Beaver Creek is the proud recipient of the 2006 Freestyle Terrain Park Safety award from the National Ski Area Association. Dates: December 18, 2008 through April 2, 2009

 

Thursday Night Lights – This complimentary guest ski-down is offered each Thursday throughout most of the season. Times vary by season: Dec. 18 to Feb. 19, 5:30 Registration/ 6pm Gondola;

Feb. 26 to March 5, 6pm Registration/ 6:30pm Gondola; March 12 to April 2, 7pm Registration/ 7:30pm Gondola. Guests board the Haymeadow Lift (#1) and ski down with their guides, carrying special "glow sticks." A fireworks display on the mountain follows. Guests register at the Beaver Creek Children's Ski and Snowboard Center and must be intermediate level skiers or snowboarders. Dates: Thursday nights, December 18, Jan 8 through April 2, 2009.

 

Kid's Tubing – Kids (Ages 5 - 12) can get their tube on Wednesday and Friday evenings in front of McCoy's, from 4:30 p.m. during the winter season. Dates: January 7, 2009 through April 1, 2009. Tubes are provided.

 

Disco Skate Night – Kids can boogie the night away at the Black Family Ice Rink in Beaver Creek with a DJ and light show on Saturday evenings from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Dates: December 20, 2008 through March 28, 2009. Bring skates or rent (ice time is free).

 

This fantastic family activity keeps active minds and bodies busy discovering the beauty of the outdoors. McCoy Park offers endless snowshoe trails, geared toward all ability levels, where kids of all ages can "get lost" in the spectacular scenery. The Beaver Creek Nordic Center rents pint-sized Atlas snowshoes, as well as the regular-sized version to outfit the entire family. Check out the guided snowshoe treks, too. Call (970) 845-5313 for more information.

 

The centerpiece of Beaver Creek Village, the Black Family Ice Rink has become wildly popular - more than 50,000 visitors took to the ice last season. The ice skating rink is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily during the winter season. Cost is $2 per person; rentals are available for adults ($10), children ($5, 12 years and under), which includes the ice time fee. Both hockey and figure skates are available for rental. A special Zamboni prepares the ice every three hours. Rink dimensions: 150 feet long by 65 feet wide. The rink is also open evenings during the summer season.

 

Kids can escape to the Game Garage Arcade, located in the St. James Place, next to the Dusty Boot Saloon, for a variety of virtual action, including foosball, big screen TV, and coin operated video games. The Game Garage Arcade is open from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m.

 

In its fourth year, the resort’s innovative Park-ology program is offered exclusively through Beaver Creek Children’s Ski and Snowboard School and features progressive learning terrain, weekly group instruction and monthly learning competitions for aspiring freeskiers and riders ages 3 – 17 years. The program is designed for beginner to intermediate skiers and riders who want to learn how to jib, jump, slide rails and perform in parks and pipes. Three specially-designed parks are an integral part of this program.

All ski and snowboard group classes experience the Park-ology program once a week during the Park-ology "theme day." Private lessons provide additional opportunities for Park-ology instruction. Monthly learning competitions are open to all abilities and feature prizes, a pizza party and video analysis.

 

The resort's famed Vilar Center for the Arts appeals to families through its special Children's Theater performances. Programs are scheduled at varying times throughout the winter season. Call (888) 920-ARTS for more information and schedules.

 

Conquer 13 black and double-black diamond runs and 23,722 vertical feet in one day during this marathon on skis. Normally offered exclusively through ski school, guests of all ages can conquer the Talons for free during The Talons Challenge, Jan. 24, 2009.  Beaver Creek Mountain shows off its best steeps, glades and bumps in the expert Talons area– and there’s plenty to crow about. Kids and adults tackle 13 of the resort’s toughest runs including Beaver Creek’s legendary World Cup Birds of Prey Downhill course. Earn bragging rights and prizes by completing the Challenge in one day. More than 1,000 skiers and riders participated in the free weekend festivities last winter. A post-event party on the mountain features a raffle prize drawing with a grand prize trip for two (including air, lodging and skiing) to Lech, Austria. Participants must buy a lift ticket. 

 

Need a lift this winter? Join the laughter in Beaver Creek as The New Yorker presents New Yorker on the Slopes. Enjoy a weekend of highly elevated comedy with daily events, appearances by The New Yorker cartoonists, performances by renowned comedians, a comedy-film sneak preview and more. Winners of a caption contest will be presented with the original art signed by the cartoonist and hand-lettered with their caption. Guests can also enjoy intimate dialogues with their favorite cartoonists and can take home custom-drawn cartoons. Children can get creative at daily Kid-tooning events. Most events are free of charge. Visit www.beavercreek.com.

 

Tune in for a children’s concert and much more during the new Cookie Kids Fest in Beaver Creek, March 13-15. The ultimate kids’ extravaganza from Beaver Creek Resort and Cookie Magazine includes scavenger hunts, an ice skating party, ski races, ski helmet decorating, and additional slope-side family fun. Events are free and open to the public. Visit www.coolcookie.com and www.beavercreek.com or call (970) 845-9090 for more information.

 

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Vail Resorts, Inc. is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties at the Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, the Heavenly Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe area of California and Nevada and the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Company's subsidiary, RockResorts, a luxury resort hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States and the Caribbean. Vail Resorts Development Company is the real estate planning, development and construction subsidiary of Vail Resorts, Inc. Vail Resorts is a publicly held company traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: MTN). The Vail Resorts company website is www.vailresorts.com and consumer website is www.snow.com.