Beaver Creek Resort Opens for the Season on Wednesday, Nov. 23 with Terrain on the Main Mountain and in Bachelor Gulch
Beaver Creek, Colo., Nov. 21, 2011 –Beaver Creek is set to open this Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m. with 231 acres of terrain, five lifts and a terrain park. Guests will be greeted in the morning with hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, setting the stage for the afternoon’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition which takes place in the village at 2 p.m.
Skiers and snowboarders will enjoy a variety of terrain on the main mountain and in Bachelor Gulch accessed by the following lifts.
- Centennial Express Lift (#6);
- Cinch Express Left (#8);
- Buckaroo Gondola;
- Bachelor Gulch Express (#16);
- Strawberry Park Express (#12) for access to Bachelor Gulch only; and,
- Six surface lifts.
The resort will have 11 trails open including Red Buffalo at the top of the mountain, Latigo, Gold Dust, Fool’s Gold and Haymeadow on the lower mountain, and Sawbuck in Bachelor Gulch. Primrose trail will be open from the top of Strawberry Park Express (#12) to Bachelor Gulch. Intertwine trail will offer skiing back to the main mountain from Bachelor Gulch. A terrain park in the Haymeadow area will provide a jib park consisting of 10 features including rails, boxes, log slides and stall features.
Spruce Saddle Restaurant at the top of Centennial Express Lift will provide hungry skiers and riders with a variety of healthy lunch options. The Ski and Snowboard School will be open providing group and private instruction for adults and kids. New this year, Max3 is an adult-only alpine lesson featuring afternoon coaching sessions for a maximum of three intermediate to advanced skiers who want to take their skiing up a notch. The Small World Playschool Nursery also will be open providing daycare for kids from two months to six years.
At promptly 2 p.m. on opening day, Beaver Creek’s eighth annual Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition gets underway in the village. Skiers and snowboarders will sample five different cookies and vote for the resort’s Official Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for the season. Five finalists will bake and serve 1,000 cookies each for opening day and the winner will be announced later in the afternoon. Cookie Time is Beaver Creek’s signature guest service program where at 3 p.m. each day, Cookie Time Chefs greet skiers and snowboarders at the foot of the slopes with warm chocolate chip cookies. Approximately 400,000 cookies are served each season.
Resort parking is available for free in the Bear and Elk parking lots along Highway 6 in Avon and includes a short shuttle ride to the Village. Beaver Creek Village paid parking will begin on Nov. 23.
Vail Resorts’ EpicMix Photo is the next generation of the popular EpicMix™ ski and snowboard application, which launched last season. This revolutionary new feature will be available on opening day for guests who request to have their photo taken by an EpicMix photographer. Images will be delivered to their EpicMix account by scanning their RF-enabled lift ticket or season pass. From there, guests can share this low-res image for free on Facebook or Twitter and have the option to purchase a high-res version later on. Visit www.epicmix.com for details.
An EpicMix Photo booth in the base area near Centennial Express Lift (# 6) will include fun props and photo opportunities to commemorate opening day and guests will be able to share their images through their activated EpicMix accounts.
The Epic Pass is available for purchase through Nov. 29 for $669 for adults. For details on all season pass products visit www.epicpass.com.
For complete details on all of Beaver Creek’s events including the opening day Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition, Holiday Tree Lighting and Gingerbread Competition, World Cup and weekly family programming, visit www.beavercreek.com or call (877) 204-7883.
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About Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is the leading mountain resort operator in the United States. The Company's subsidiaries operate the mountain resort properties of Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge and Keystone mountain resorts in Colorado, and the Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar-at-Tahoe 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 property and hotel company, manages casually elegant properties across the United States and in 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.