If you're with a big group, set up a meeting place and make sure to give at least a 15-minute meeting window—this mountain is huge. A good meeting place is at the top of the Vista Bahn, or any of the Mid Vail restaurants because of their location at the middle of the mountain.

Let's make it easy: If you're going to ride Vail, we mean really ride the mountain, it's time to ignore trail names. If you tried to remember every little run at Vail, not only would you go mad, but you'd also probably drop a few I.Q. points. Besides, what you want to do here is focus on the kind of terrain you want to ride, then stick to the chair that accesses it. This way you avoid always traversing the mountain. By the way, riding the trees is the most direct way to avoid taking cat tracks and multiple lifts.

For the front side of the mountain, experts are going to want to ride the Northwoods lift a lot. On a powder day this is a great place to hit—it teems with rocks, steep lines and cliff gaps—but once it's tracked, get out of there. Head rider's right of the Vista Bahn (on a good snow day), or to The Riva Bahn and Vail's world-class terrain park and superpipe. Advanced riders who prefer trees enjoy Riva Glade and Hairbag Alley. Both have tight trees where snowboarders rule, but you'll see the occasional skier drop in. On LionsHead, you'll get a kick out of Cheetah Gully, a gladed run snowboarder's left of the gondola.

The back side of the mountain is where Vail really shines. A good place to start is at the top of Game Creek Express, where you can access the cornice through a short five-minute walk. Drop in off the cornice, then head down to the motocross jumps, which are exactly that—three giant windlips that form natural tabletops perfect for throwing down new tricks.

Make sure you check out Blue Sky Basin. It's not to be missed. You'll find an experience unlike anything else at Vail—from the rustic character of the buildings to the views, the snow, and the challenging glades and steeps. This area is different from the rest of Vail in terms of terrain—in layman's terms, if it's a powder day get back here as soon as you can! This is lift-accessed backcountry riding like nothing you've ever found at Vail. Blue Sky Basin is a rider's paradise—and since it's very remote, you won't have to ride a sequence of chairs once you get here.

For experienced backcountry riders only, find a local to guide you, get your Pieps and shovel and check out East Vail for some adrealine-pumping backcountry riding. There are five backcountry access gates at Vail. As we repeatedly warn throughout this website, do not go into the backcountry without a knowledgeable guide. Once you leave ski area boundaries, you are on your own.

This mountain was really designed for intermediates. Again, there are just too many runs to go into specifics. The Avanti Chair and the gondola will be equal to heaven for you. Everything can be found here: Long high-speed cruisers, woods runs, gaps, kickers and logs.

Golden Peak is it for beginners and first-timers. Not only do you get to learn on variable pitches and cruise on a high-speed quad, but Vail also was nice enough to put their immense terrain park right next to the beginner runs. Sometimes seeing the best riders in the world destroying the park right next to you can be humbling for first-timers, but it can also inspire a beginner to greatness. Vail makes sure that beginners absolutely know what they are getting involved with when they first start out. Vail has an excellent beginner instruction program. It's highly recommended that beginners take lessons, not only for the valuable skills they can pick up, but also for the guide service that the instructors provide on the mountain.

Parks and pipes
Vail puts a lot of effort and commitment into its parks and superpipe. Spread out among its four parks, you’ll find countless tabletops, rails and log rails. The superpipe is 425 feet long with 22-foot walls. The Golden Peak Terrain Park is sweetly set up, starting off with a nicely groomed superpipe so you can hit the massive pipe in succession with the tabletops in one run, rather than having to choose one or the other. Below the jumps is the rail park, with rails of varying sizes and shapes. There are lots of rails and jumps, mostly tabletops with two approaches, that let you decide if you want to go big or bigger. If you’re not an experienced jumper, you will probably end up landing flat on the tabletops, since most of them require major distance to make it to the landing. All the rails are for more advanced rail riders too. Also, tucked in some trees off Mule Skinner you’ll find hand-carved log rails. If you’re less experienced in the parks, try Mule Skinner Terrain Park, which is on an adjacent trail and includes smaller features that are less intimidating than the main lines in the advanced park.

Bwana Park in LionsHead and Hunky Dory Park off Chair 3 in Mid-Vail has a variety of smaller jumps and low-to-the-ground rails to provide a progressive learning experience for those who are developing their skills. Kids, or kids at heart, will enjoy Chaos Canyon, a kid’s adventure zone and terrain park. It’s under Mid-Vail Lodge, off Lion’s Way. There are some fun features here, starting out with a series of banked turns winding through the woods. There are groomer-width tracks, as well as kid-width tracks that might be a little harder to navigate on a board. Much better for the skiers. Boarders should stick to the wider paths. About three-quarters of the way down the banked turns is a very small beginners’ jump to practice getting air under your board.