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Vail, Colorado
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The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality located in Eagle County, Colorado. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,589. The town was established in 1966 at the base of Vail Ski Resort, which opened in December 1962. The town is famous for having the largest single ski mountain in North America and other winter sports in addition to being a year round destination for outdoor activities.
town of Vail was incorporated in 1966, four years after the opening of Vail Ski Resort.
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Encyclopedia
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality located in Eagle County, Colorado. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,589. The town was established in 1966 at the base of Vail Ski Resort, which opened in December 1962. The town is famous for having the largest single ski mountain in North America and other winter sports in addition to being a year round destination for outdoor activities.
History
The town of Vail was incorporated in 1966, four years after the opening of Vail Ski Resort. The ski area was founded by Pete Seibert and Earl Eaton in 1962, between the town of Eagle and Vail Pass. The pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer that routed U.S. Highway 6 through the valley in 1940.
Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained at Camp Hale, just southeast of Vail. He was seriously wounded in Italy and was told he should become a professional skier when he recovered. He was noticed as the best skier in the world for a short time.
Geography
Vail is located at (39.635757, -106.362984). Its average elevation is 8150 feet (2484 m) above sea level.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 4.5 square miles (11.8 km²), with no lakes (there is, however, at least one pond). Gore Creek flows from east to west through the center of town.
Mount of the Holy Cross is visible from the top of Vail mountain near the top of the Eagle Bahn Gondola.
Vail is surrounded by the White River National Forest.
Vail Mountain
Vail Mountain has a maximum elevation of 12,250 feet (3526 m) and low of 8,120' (2475 m), a vertical drop of 3450' (1051 m). It has skiable, 33 lifts, 193 marked trails on three faces: the front side, the back bowls, and Blue Sky Basin. The seven back bowls are Sun Down Bowl, Sun Up Bowl, Teacup Bowl, China Bowl, Siberia Bowl, Inner Mongolia Bowl, and Outer Mongolia Bowl. Vail was ranked as the top ski resort in SKI Magazine's reader's poll for the 2006-07 season.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,531 people, 2,165 households, and 762 families residing in the town. The population density was 999.0 people per square mile (385.3/km²). There were 5,389 housing units at an average density of 1,188.1/sq mi (458.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.13% White, 0.29% African American, 0.49% Native American, 1.66% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races, and 1.92% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.20% of the population.
There were 2,165 households out of which 11.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.0% were married couples living together, 3.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 64.8% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.62.
In the town the population was spread out with 9.9% under the age of 18, 14.8% from 18 to 24, 47.9% from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 4.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 140.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 143.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $56,680, and the median income for a family was $66,389. Males had a median income of $33,534 versus $32,065 for females. The per capita income for the town was $42,390. About 1.8% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.9% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
The Vail economic community relies mostly upon tourism. Though the majority of the tourism industry revolves around seasonal winter activities like skiing and snowboarding, Vail has become increasingly popular as a summer vacation destination. Popular summer activities that take advantage of Vail's picturesque surroundings include guided hikes, mountain biking,horseback riding, carriage rides and fishing.Vail is also developing as a cultural center, with various art and music venues through out the summer. Vail also has a developed culinary center with a diverse variety of restaurants.
Arts and culture
Annual cultural events
- Vail Film Festival world-class annual film festival taking place in March or early April
- featuring the New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra & the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
Museums and other points of interest
Parks and recreation
Government
Vail has a council-manager form of government and is led by a 7-member town council elected-at-large.
Education
Vail's public schools are part of Eagle County School District RE-50 with high school students attending Battle Mountain High School. Eagle County Schools also offers the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, a joint program with area ski programs for students in grades 8-12 that are involved in competitive skiing and snowboarding.
Private schools in Vail include Vail Mountain School (K-12), Vail Christian High School (9-12), St. Clare of Assisi Catholic School (K-8) and The Vail Academy (PK-8).
Higher education is offered through the Vail Eagle Valley campus of Colorado Mountain College.
Transportation
Vail is served by Eagle County Airport, which is near Gypsum. Native Americans used to call the area near this airport the "hole in the sky" because storms seemed to avoid it.
Vail is modeled after European ski towns, many of which are car-free, and the town is partially car-free. Vail hosts the largest zero-fare shuttle bus system in the USA and has one hybrid-electric bus (For schedules see , for estimated arrival times visit ). At each of the several bus stops a sign tells you how long until the next two buses arrive.
Major Highways
Interstate 70 runs east-west through the middle of Vail and is the only road to Vail. East of Vail along the highway is Vail Pass and Denver, located 97 miles away. To the west, it passes through Avon, Eagle, Grand Junction and reaches the State of Utah, where it ends at the intersection with Interstate 15.
Media
The Vail Daily and weekly papers Vail Trail and Mountain Weekly are all published by Colorado Mountain News Media.
A broadcast translator for public radio station KUNC allows listeners in the Eagle Valley to listen at 99.7 FM.
Two specialty television networks have stations in Vail, Plum TV and Resort Sports Network. The latter, branded as TV-8, also broadcasts on the low-powered UHF station K45IE.
During the mid 70's Vail became known as the Western White House for President Gerald Ford, and he did a good bit of the nation’s business from The Lodge at Vail. Cabinet members and other high-ranking government officials were a common sight during this time. The national media followed Ford to Vail and almost daily they beamed television pictures of Vail’s slopes into living rooms all over the world. That media saturation, as much or more than anything else, put Vail on the map as an international destination ski resort.
Sister cities
See also
External links
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