Vail Ski Resort is one of more than 500 ski resorts in the US and one of more than 30 in Colorado. It is located in Eagle County in the north-central part of the state in the Gore Range and the Sawatch Range of the larger Southern Rocky Mountains at an altitude between 2,457 and 3,433 m (8,061 and 11,263 ft) with a difference of 976 m (3,202 ft). It is one of the nearest ski resorts to Denver, the largest city in the state. The main feature of Vail Ski Resort is its legendary vast powder fields, the seven Vail's Back Bowls of 11 km (7 mi) long, or 3,017 acres (12.2 sq km) of skiable terrain. It is also in the top 5 of the largest in the US with more than 180 km (mi) of slopes and more than 25 ski lifts in total. The resort is best suitable for advanced and intermediate skiers — most of its slopes are black and red in about equal proportions. However, for easy skiing as well, the resort has more than 50 km (31 mi) of blue slopes. The most common type of ski lift is a chairlift. The Vail Ski Resort season is from mid-November to mid-April in general.
