Best Alpine Ski Touring Spots In Vail Colorado For Beginners

In this post, we cover the best beginner alpine ski touring spots in Vail Colorado.  These locations are a great place for touring beginners or intermediates that are looking for safe and easy places to learn or improve their skills. Emily just started ski-touring this season, and so we’ve been seeking out the best ski touring spots for beginners.

Alpine Ski Touring, or “skinning”, is a unique sport in which people hike uphill with skis attached to their feet and then ski down.  Alpine ski touring is much closer to snowshoeing or hiking than it is to typical resort skiing. In place of chairlift rides and crowds, you get solitude and an intense workout.

The uphill hiking is made possible by climbing skins, a grippy strip of carpet that is attached to the bottom of both skis.  And special touring-specific bindings allow your heel to lift up and make strides uphill.

WARNING: Alpine ski-touring can be a very dangerous sport when venturing into areas with avalanche danger.  It is not recommended that anyone go into areas with potential avalanche danger without the proper equipment or avalanche training.

However, the recommendations here have generally little to no avalanche danger thanks to being on ski resorts or low-angle backcountry. That’s why it’s recommended for beginners to start out touring on established ski resorts. That way you are on terrain that is managed for safety, and you can call the uphill hotline for guidance and information.

{Read: What To Do In Vail Besides Skiing}

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Vail Ski Resort: Uphill Access

You don’t have to look any farther than Vail Ski Resort itself to find the best alpine ski touring spots in Vail for beginners. The resort exists on US Forest Service land, which means that they cannot restrict people from using the land for alpine ski touring. There are however some restrictions in place for uphill access at Vail.  For example, uphill access is only allowed from 30 minutes after the lifts close until 15 minutes before first chair the next morning.

At Vail, you can alpine ski-tour up the resort on two different runs. On ‘Riva Ridge’ from Vail Village and Golden Peak, or on ‘Simba’ from Lionshead.  Both runs are rated as blue squares.  Unless there is recent snowfall, you can expect groomed or packed powder conditions.

Vail Uphill Hotline: 970-845-1023

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Beaver Creek Ski Resort (+Arrowhead): Uphill Access

Beaver Creek Ski Resort allows uphill ski touring in a few locations on the resort.  The easiest one to access is at Arrowhead where you can park for free in the Arrowhead Lot.  From there, it’s just a short walk to the base of the Arrow Bahn Lift.  For a more mellow ascent, go up ‘Little Brave’, or for a steeper ascent, go up ‘Cresta’.

Unless there is recent snowfall, you can expect groomed or packed powder conditions. Uphill access is only allowed from 30 minutes after the lifts close until 15 minutes before first chair the next morning.

Or other popular routes at Beaver Creek are:

-‘Gold Dust’ from Beaver Creek Village (Parking in Ford Hall Garage, 3hrs free after 3 pm)

-‘Leave The Beave’ from Beaver Creek Landing (Parking at Bear Lot, free after 1 pm)

More Info about Beaver Creek Uphill Access

Beaver Creek Uphill Hotline: 970-754-5907

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Meadow Mountain: Minturn Colorado

Meadow Mountain is a popular ski-touring area in Minturn Colorado.  There is free parking at the Holy Cross Ranger Station or Grouse Creek Trailhead.  Both places offer quick and easy access to mellow snowfields for ski touring.  There’s an old log building that makes a good target for beginners to turn around.

Since Meadow Mountain is not part of a ski resort, your chance of finding untouched powder is better.  And dogs are allowed if you want to share the workout with your four-legged friends.

But since it is not part of a resort, you need to be more cautious about avalanche conditions.  Meadow Mountain is generally not a high-risk area, but it’s still a good idea to always check current conditions with the ranger station and CAIC.

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Mayflower Gulch

Mayflower Gulch is another great alpine ski touring location near Vail.  It’s a bit more of a drive at about 30 minutes away from Vail, just south of Copper Ski Resort on Route 91.  But of everything on the list, it definitely has the best views! And it’s also at a higher elevation than the rest, so the area will keep snow later in the season.

Most of the trail is a narrow hallway through the trees with mellow inclines and occasional views of the mountain peaks. Eventually, you reach wide-open views of stunning mountain peaks on all sides.  There is a picturesque abandoned cabin that’s about 3.5 miles round-trip and is a good place for beginners to take a break and turn around.  The ski down is rather uneventful since it’s just retracing your steps down the mellow trail. Dogs are also allowed in Mayflower Gulch.

For the more experienced, there are some moderate to steep pitches on the right side of the gulch that you can add on for a decent run.  But again, do not venture onto steeper terrain in the backcountry without proper avalanche gear and training.

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