Beaver Creek mountain opened in style today. Not only were 235 acres, five chairlifts and a terrain park available for skiers to enjoy, but bright blue skies, fresh snow, and warm cookies also helped usher in the 2011-2012 ski season.
Beaver Creek is last of the Vail Resorts to open, Vail, Heavenly, and Northstar opened last weekend and Breckenridge and Keystone were before that. Now EpicMix pins like the Calirado, the Epic Conqueror, and the Captain CO are all up for grabs.
EpicMix photographers captured the action across the entire resort, offering props like a giant cookie to use in photos. The EpicMix photo booth was placed at the base of the Centennial lift, giving every skier and rider the chance to get their opening day moment captured.
First chair at Beaver Creek was hotly contested on opening day, with a group of 13-year-old locals competing against two Colorado transplants for the honor.
"We cooked breakfast burritos in the lift line," Steven Slug of Avon, Colo. said. "We arrived at the hill at 7:45am before anyone else."
Slug and his friend Justin Marshall's favorite part about opening day was actually cooking breakfast in the lift line.
"We get 500 gnar points for cooking breakfast. We're so excited to rip up this mountain," Slug said. "Did you know I'm the best skier on the mountain?"
For those that didn't whip up their own chairlift grub, plenty of on and off hill dining options are available to Beaver Creek guests. Spruce Saddle Restaurant at the top of the Centennial Express is now feeding hungry skiers and the eighth annual Beaver Creek Chocolate Chip Cookie Competition will feed 5,000 people delicious treats. For those that miss the contest, Cookie Time takes place at 3:00pm, where 400,000 cookies are served daily.
Beaver Creek will host another kind of competition when the top ski racers take on the Birds of Prey downhill. Starting Dec. 2, the 2011 Audi Birds of Prey World Cup Race week will start with training, a downhill race, Super-G race, and giant slalom.
--Morgan Bast