Hole
Up Happily in the Rockies
Though hardly humdrum, Beaver Creek is guarded,
geared toward privacy and pampering, and free of pretense.
By
David O. Williams
Beaver
Creek’s Beano’s Cabin restaurant.
Above: two skiers taking a powder run down Beaver Creek
mountain. Below: Beaver Creek Operation Cookie chefs
delivering complimentary homemade chocolate-chip cookies
to guests.
Breaking
ground for a new ski area in the late 1970s, then-Colorado
Governor Richard Lamm said, “Like Tiffany is
to jewelry, like Gucci is to luggage, like Cadillac is to
automobiles – that’s what Beaver Creek is going
to be to ski areas in this country.” Twenty-five years
after it opened, Vail’s less famous
but more refined sister resort delivers on that promise. Beaver
Creek’s Swiss-style village is traversed by people movers
and escalators; its performing arts center is topped by a
year-round, outdoor ice rink; its galleries, shops and restaurants
overflow with opulent offerings. And then there is the ski
mountain. Again Eurocentrically envisioned, 146 trails and
16 chairlifts – most of them high-speed – link
miles of magnificent Rocky Mountain scenery
and two more distinct ski villages: Arrowhead
and Bachelor Gulch, home to an acclaimed
Ritz-Carlton hotel and residence club. More
a retreat for those in need of recreation and relaxation,
Beaver Creek is gated, guarded and geared toward privacy and
pampering.
Which is not to say it is sedate. Certainly its nightlife
can’t compare to that of Aspen, St.
Moritz or even nearby Vail (just eight miles east as the raptor
flies), but Beaver Creek isn’t for those in need of
being seen. Quite the contrary. Consider the Saudi Prince
Alwaleed who, soon after his $10-million donation to the Twin
Towers Fund was spurned by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,
entrenched himself and his entourage – including a barber,
a doctor, ladies-in-waiting and three court jesters –
in 56 rooms and two floors of the resort’s Park
Hyatt, which houses the luxurious Allegria
Spa. Vice President Dick Cheney first had his tender
knees tended while attending the resort’s shuttered-to-the-public
confab for international power brokers, the World Forum, launched
in 1981 by Beaver Creek’s most notable resident, former
president Gerald R. Ford. Unlike in Aspen,
members of famous political families don’t cavort on
the slopes of Beaver Creek; rather, politicos and the politically
connected shun the shutterbugs. Indeed, a list of homeowners
past and present reads a bit like a post-dotcom court docket:
Bernie Ebbers, Dennis Kozlowski,Timothy
and John Rigas and Alberto Vilar
(for whom the aforementioned performing arts center is named).
Still, there are the odd celebrities – for instance
Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer,
whose 8,000-square-foot Bachelor Gulch home appeared in Architectural
Digest – who seem pleased paparazzi don’t
ski.
Others demand the on-the-slope spotlight. An oddity in the
ball-sport-obsessed consciousness of the greater American
sporting public, ski racing is a European obsession –
one that gave shape to Beaver Creek in its embryonic days.
Vail founder Peter Seibert forged the resort
in the mold of the great Austrian and Swiss ski areas, where
alpine exploits are the stuff of legend. So when Denver was
picked to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, Beaver Creek was
conceived as a ski-racing venue for the 12th Olympiad. Colorado
voters – with a shove from Governor Lamm – later
rejected the tax burden, and the state became the first modern
Olympic host to give back the Games. But Beaver Creek and
Vail would earn as consolation prizes the 1989 and 1999 World
Alpine Ski Championships. For 1999, Swiss gold-medal
downhill racer Bernard Russi designed North
America’s best and most daunting downhill race course,
Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey run, and
Arnold Schwarzenegger – then just an
actor – joined Austrian great Franz Klammer
in the stands to cheer on Hermann Maier,
a.k.a. the Hermannator. Last season, Americans Bode
Miller and Daron Rahlves finished
first and second on the Birds of Prey and seem poised for
greatness at the only event Americans tune in to – the
2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, to be held February
10 - 26. First, though, Miller, Rahlves, Maier and the rest
will make their only U.S. appearance in World Cup
races November 29 - December 4 on the Birds of Prey.
Beaver
Creek Lodge: Redefining Slope-Side Luxury
A dazzling addition to Beaver Creek this ski season
– especially for those who remember its
former faded façade – is the stylishly
remodeled Beaver Creek Lodge. The 72-room, all-suite
property actually unveiled its new-look, sumptuously
appointed rooms to rave reviews in time for the
holiday rush last season, but now phase II –
the completion of the resort’s most auspicious
new eatery, Rocks Modern Grill – is generating
even more buzz.
Rocks and its new chef John Trejo, formerly of
Elway’s and Kevin Taylor in Denver, has
injected a dimension of upscale modernity into
the Beaver Creek dining scene with a casually
classy lounge-like atmosphere punctuated by a
private wine room, booths and outdoor seating
around blazing fire pits. The menu is filling
(fresh seafood, steaks, prime rib), but mindful
of its athletically inclined clientele (light
on sauces and replete with best-of-both-world
dishes such as the elk-flank-steak salad). Perhaps
more importantly for Beaver Creek, Rocks has the
feel of instant gathering place, a watering hole
that eschews the lodge look in favor of skiing’s
new-millennium, “mountain-chic” mood.
Such styling is apropos in the resort’s
silver-anniversary season. Beaver Creek Lodge
first opened in 1984, just four short years after
the dramatically underfunded new ski area first
cranked up its lifts with visions of grandeur.
After 25 years, in every way Beaver Creek is a
world-class resort first and a wonderfully varied
ski area second, where sliding on snow need not
be synonymous with suffering. Richard C. Kessler
understood that when he purchased the Beaver Creek
Lodge in August of 2004, adding it to his impressive
quiver of mostly Florida-based boutique hotels
known as The Kessler Collection.
Kessler’s first foray into the Rocky Mountain
ski scene is an unqualified success. Location
alone makes Beaver Creek Lodge the ideal ski-in/ski-out
luxury destination – a skier bridge depositing
spent snow riders at the property’s front
doors. Recuperative amenities such as a heated
outdoor pool, fitness center, steam room and sauna
await. And 500-square-foot suites, each with a
gas fireplace, LCD TV, leather sleeper sofa and
deluxe kitchenette in the living area, will coddle
even the most devoted alpinist, while separate
bedrooms with pillow-top mattresses, down comforters
and flat-screen TVs almost demand an après-ski
nap.
All the upscale shops, galleries and restaurants
surrounding Beaver Creek Plaza are mere steps
away, as is the state-of-the-art Vilar Center
for the Arts and its full slate of classical concerts,
Broadway musicals, contemporary dance, comedy
acts, rock and jazz shows. In the most civilized
of ski-resort settings, Beaver Creek Lodge stands
out, setting the stage for an era of urban-mountain-chic
ambience – altitude with attitude, if you
will – for the next 25 years.
Beaver Creek Lodge, 26 Avondale Lane
970.845.9800. $259 - $799 per night. www.beavercreeklodge.net
The lobby of Beaver Creek Lodge features unique pottery
and artwork by French artist Jean Claude Roy.
The year-round outdoor ice rink in the heart of Beaver
Creek Village.
The
Reinvention of Vail
By
investing $125 million in on-mountain
improvements over the past decade –
including a ski-terrain expansion (Blue
Sky Basin) in 2000 – Vail
has cemented its status among skiers and
snowboarders as a perennial favorite.
Vail is the largest single ski mountain
in North America – at 5,289 acres
– and its 34 lifts and 193 trails
rank it among sprawling European resorts
in terms of sheer grandeur.
But the two distinct villages (LionsHead
and Vail Village) at
the mountain’s base that rose from
a sheep pasture in 1962 had begun to feel
a bit dated in recent years. Guests complained
of disco-era A-frames with shag carpets
and tacky half-timber exteriors renting
out for quite contemporary prices. So
the ski company (Vail Resorts),
the town of Vail and several private investors
(including hotel giants Ritz-Carlton
and the Four Seasons)
collaborated on a billion-dollar renewal
of the base villages, known collectively
as Vail’s New Dawn.
Several projects (the Tivoli Lodge,Sonnenalp Resort at Vail, One
Willow Bridge Road, Vail Mountain Lodge,
Montaneros, Vail Marriott and
Antlers at Vail) have completed renovation
or new construction for this season, but
the big-ticket items, such as the Ritz
and the Four Seasons, will be built over
the next few years. Not to fret, though,
at least during the winter months. Vail’s
elevation of 8,150 feet (also the name
of one of its hottest nightclubs) and
nearly 30 feet of annual snowfall make
it the ideal locale for snow sports, much
less so for construction – all of
which will occur in the spring, summer
and fall.
Throughout its reinvention, Vail remains
the local hotspot for après-ski
festivities and late-night carousing.
8150 is by far the best venue for live
music, deejays and dancing with the beautiful
people on a bouncing wooden dance floor,
but other clubs (FuBar, Vendettas
and The Club) abound.
And like Beaver Creek – its more
modern and sophisticated sister resort
to the west – Vail has plenty of
fine dining options (Larkspur,
La Tour and Sweet Basil,
to name a few).
Those
preholiday weeks are devoid of crowds and typically awash
in wonderful snow. Rooms at the Ritz and the Hyatt and smaller
luxury boutique hotels – such as the newly redone Beaver
Creek Lodge and the Pines Lodge
– are easier to come by, and still there’s plenty
to do. By mid-December, take the Strawberry Park
lift up and over the Fords’ home (they’re in town
if a Secret Service agent is in the heated security booth
out back) to nearly 10,000 feet in elevation, where McCoy
Park is one of the highest and most scenic cross-country
ski and snowshoe tracks in the world. Sleigh rides, snowmobile
tours, balloon rides and tandem paragliding flights all comprise
a thrill-seeking smorgasbord for those bored by the snowboarding
or skiing (though with 1,625 acres of trails that hardly seems
possible). The Fords are usually on hand for the annual holiday
tree-lighting ceremony on November 25, shortly after
the mountain opens for skiing on November
23; then the festivities gradually ratchet up toward the holidays.
The highlights this season? Don’t miss Dom Pérignon’s
first vintage release (1998) in two years, December 18 at
Remington’s at the Ritz-Carlton. The
five-course dinner will feature three additional vintages.
December 31 is a Beaver Creek classic, with
a glow-stick ski-down, fireworks over the plaza, a winemakers’
dinner and parties at virtually every restaurant and bar to
ring in 2006. Then January 6 - 8, as part of the resort’s
25th-anniversary celebration, The New Yorker magazine
cartoonists debut Humor on the Slopes. Top
chefs (including Eric Ripert of New York’s
Le Bernardin, Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys
in Las Vegas, Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger in
Wellesley, MA, Elizabeth Falkner of San Francisco’s
Citizen Cake and Laurent Tourondel of New
York’s BLT Steak and BLT Fish) descend February 2 -
5 for the Beaver Creek Culinary Classic,
featuring a grand tasting, chef ski races, master-chef challenge,
cooking demos and wine seminars.
The local chefs aren’t too shabby, either. David
Walford holds court and draws raves at Splendido
at the Chateau, while chef/owner Daniel Joly
delights with fresh French cuisine at Mirabelle at
Beaver Creek in a quaint, converted farmhouse at
the base of the mountain. Grouse Mountain Grill
in the Pines Lodge also warrants an evening out. But the hottest
new spot for this season is Rocks Modern Grill
in the Beaver Creek Lodge. Mountain-urban supplants the lodge
look to great effect, with a private wine room, booths and
outdoor seating surrounding blazing fire pits and the massive
“Bowstringer” sculpture. Part
of The Kessler Collection, the lodge is an
all-suite boutique with its own art gallery and lusciously
appointed 500-square-foot rooms. A skier bridge, ski valet
and sporting-goods store make the lodge ideal for downhillers,
but it’s also just steps to the plaza and shopping options
that run the gamut from Vail classics (Gorsuch)
to funky boutiques (Roxy) to galleries offering
Rembrandts, Dalis and Chagalls (Beaver Creek Fine
Art and C. Anthony). A ten-foot-tall Dale
Chihuly chandelier, Electric Blue, dominates the
skyline above the ice rink plaza at Pismo Gallery.
Nightlife at Beaver Creek centers more on dining out than
clubbing, and the liveliest the bars such as Coyote
Café and the Dusty Boot tend
to get is in the après-ski hours immediately after
the lifts shut down. Nightclubs are more in the purview of
Vail Village, accessed quickly and easily
by cab, car service, free bus or shuttle van. Beaver Creek
specializes in unique dining experiences at cozy, comfortable
mountaintop cabins reached by sleigh or, in some cases, skis
or snowshoes. Allie’s Cabin is open
only to private parties, but Beano’s Cabin
and the far more intimate Zach’s Cabin
(named for the homesteader who built the log structure) are
open most nights of the week to the public. Trappers
Cabin between Beaver Creek and Bachelor Gulch is
the ultimate luxe lodge experience, offering an overnight
stay with private chefs, a hot tub and pool table (but no
TV) at nearly 10,000 feet (Matt Lauer and
friends rang in the millennium there). It all equates to a
deeply satisfying and enormously relaxing experience high
in the Rocky Mountains, largely free of pretense and paparazzi.
Beaver
Creek Address Book
Diversions Vail Resorts: lift tickets,
970.845.5200; ski school, 970.845.5300; or www.beavercreek.com
to book activities, cabin dining Vilar Center for the Arts,
68 Avondale Lane; 970.845.8497; www.vilarcenter.org
Shopping Beaver Creek Fine Art, 210
Offerson Road; 970.845.8500 C. Anthony Gallery, 101 Avondale
Lane; 970.845.8645 Gorsuch, 138 Beaver Creek Place;
970.949.7115 Pismo Gallery, 45 West Thomas
Place; 970.949.0908 Roxy, 124 Beaver Creek Place;
970.845.7774
David
O. Williams is a freelance writer and editor who lives in
Edwards, CO.
Photo credit:
Image 1: Stephen Wilkes; Image 2: Stephen Wilkes ; Image 3:
Jack Affleck/Vail Resorts; Image 4 and 5: Courtesy of The
Beaver Creek Lodge; Image 6: Jack Affleck/Vail Resorts.
