Vail's Little White Secret

Vail opened late this week, with one run and one lift. But the dirty little white secret is that the mountain is primed to go off.

With a ton of snow up high, it"™s obvious that the powers that be are waiting for one more storm to pop the ropes on the entire front side.

When you look for snow, you"™re pretty sure to find it and that was the case during an exploratory mission in the Chair 11 area. While it remains thin for rock drops (yeah, two footers don"™t count), the snow is soft and the turns sweet.

Freeskier Photographer Jeff Cricco dragged along a doubtful editor at large, Tom Winter to prove that yes, even though this may be the driest November on record, the skiing is still damn good.

Don"™t believe us? Photos never lie.

Thanks to Jeff Cricco for all the shots!