Vail, Colorado was the recent host to the World Alpine Ski Championships. It is the largest ski mountain in North America. Vail offers a new "Birds of Prey" course, Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, concerts and ballets at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater, and the Colorado Museum's Colorado Ski Hall of Fame.
Vail was born as a European-style ski village in the '60s. This town contributes tremendously to Colorado's colorful reputation. Although Vail provides some of the best skiing in the world, it also offers a unique blend of Colorado history, culture, festivals, sports, restaurants and music, which makes this famous Colorado town a very special world-class resort. Famous celebrities flock to Vail to ski in the winter and to vacation in the summer.
Other sports include white water rafting, mountain biking, jeep rentals and tours, horseback riding, paragliding and ballooning. Some of the best trout fishing in Colorado can found in Vail's Colorado River.
Even before the snow melts on North America's largest ski mountain, Vail is blooming with color -- mainly from the town's many hanging flower baskets. One of the most colorful places in Vail is the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, which contains more than 1,500 native and mountains species of plants. Vail's Colorado Ski Museum, which contains the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame, details the history of skiing in Colorado. Those who have helped Colorado make great advances in the sport of skiing have been inducted into its prestigious gallery. Vail Visitors can see many skiing innovations, such as leather lace-up boots of yesteryear which didn't offer much comfort or protection against the wet, frigid weather of the high country.
