Vail Snowboarding

Snowboarding was once a winter sport for rebellious teens in dress and action. Today the sport is very much mainstream and those teens that were snowboarding it up in that late 80s and 90s are now riding with their kids. Vail and Beaver Creek Mountains are known internationally for their world class snowboarding, and all ages are out there riding.

The sport of snowboarding is all about having fun, whether you are cruising down a groomed slope enjoying fresh corduroy, doing a corkscrew 540 in a pipe or sliding over a tabletop in a park. Resorts are tuning into the needs and wants of their clients and are creating new and/or renovating dated terrain parks and pipes to keep up with the booming standards of the industry. Snowboard classes for beginners who want to freeride or freestyle are now offered and competitions for amateurs and the world's top pro and Olympic riders are held at Colorado's ski resorts.

Beaver Creek introduced "Park-ology" in recent years. This innovative park and pipe program features progressive learning terrain and instruction for aspiring freeskiers and riders. Included in the program are three terrain parks: an entry level park located on Upper Sheephorn called Park 101, a progressive entry level to more difficult level park called Zoom Room, and a more difficult to expert level park and half-pipe called Moonshine. In addition to new terrain features the resort provides park instruction for skiers and riders through its Children's Ski and Snowboard School. Beaver Creek also introduced beginner and intermediate level learning competitions to help aspiring jibbers hone their skills, learn park etiquette and become more comfortable in a competitive setting.

Vail is also stepping their terrain park and pipe to higher standards. The nationally recognized Golden Peak Terrain Park and Pipe utilizes park-only designated snowcats and equipment to build and maintain the Superpipe and park throughout the winter season. In addition, Vail has two new smaller parks: Mule Skinner accessed from the Riva Bahn Express, one trail over from the Gold Peak Park and Bwana under the Eagle Bahn Gondla in Lionshead. Both contain a series of hits and rails that are smaller than those in the Golden Peak Park. The Vail Ski & Snowboard School uses this terrain for new specialty programs.