Vail Back Bowls in Vail, Colorado

Painted in 1988

If you’ve only ever skied the front side of Vail, that’s fine, it’s an incredible ski hill, but the back bowls are where the real magic happens. Vail’s back bowls stretch for more than 3000 acres, which means that just this side of the mountain has more skiable terrain than all of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. There are seven bowls, connected by six miles of ridgeline, with thousands of potentially unique runs. The back bowls are full of expert terrain full of untapped potential. The bowls stretch from West to East, spanning from “Sun Down” through “Sun Up,” “Teacup,” “China,” “Siberia,” “Inner Mongolia,” and finally “Outer Mongolia.” Too overwhelmed to try to ski them all in a day? Don’t worry, they’ll be there when you are.