Vail's Back Bowls are not one difficulty level. Strong intermediates can ski them, starting with the groomed Poppyfields runs in China Bowl, while other runs in the same bowls have cornices, cliff bands and long traverses. Vail counts seven bowls covering 2,785 acres and 47 trails, so the useful question is which bowl to pick for a first lap, and what the snow has done to it that morning.
The seven bowls at a glance
| Bowl | Acres | Chairs | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Down Bowl | 625 | #3 and #17 | Some of the more complicated and hidden terrain in the bowls. Windows has a hidden entrance and tight turns before it opens up, and Never involves a long traverse and cliff bands |
| Sun Up Bowl | 475.2 | #5 and #9 | The first bowl the founders hiked and skied. The Slot is a groomed bowl run; Après Vous has steady pitch up top and trees lower down |
| Tea Cup Bowl | 277 | #36 | Between Sun Up and China Bowls and among the most overlooked terrain on the mountain. Tea Cup Glade is tight aspens with small cliffs; Morning Thunder has small and medium features |
| China Bowl | 601.0 | #21 and #36 | Wide-open groomed intermediate skiing beside steep terrain. Poppyfields East and West are mellow intermediate; Genghis Khan is steep with a natural cornice |
| Siberia Bowl | 336 | #21 and #22 | Low-angle glades next to large cliffs and sustained steeps. Rasputin's Revenge is one of the most complicated runs on the mountain; Bolshoi Ballroom is wide-open low-angle glades |
| Inner and Outer Mongolia Bowls | 470 | #21 and #22 | Secluded expert terrain with a backcountry feel, reached by the Orient Express and a traverse to the Mongolia Platter |
Blue Sky Basin and Game Creek Bowl are separate from the seven bowls and are covered below.
If you are a strong intermediate
Start in China Bowl. Vail calls Poppyfields East and West "mellow intermediate" runs with consistent grooming, a good way to introduce a less experienced skier or rider to bowl skiing, with views of Blue Sky Basin and the Mount of the Holy Cross. The Slot in Sun Up Bowl is also groomed and gives access to China, Sun Down and Tea Cup Bowls and to Blue Sky Basin. Vail does not present any of the seven bowls as beginner terrain. Across the whole mountain, 18 percent of the terrain is rated beginner, 29 percent intermediate and 53 percent advanced, so more than half of the mountain is advanced.
Game Creek Bowl, which is not one of the seven, makes a good warm-up: easy groomers on Lost Boy, moguls on Wild Card and south-facing open bowl skiing on Deuces Wild and Faro. Vail calls it a steppingstone to the larger bowls. Check each run's rating on the trail map before committing, and if you would like someone to choose the runs for you, Vail Ski and Snowboard School can tell you what terrain a given lesson covers.
If you ski advanced or expert terrain
- Steeps and cornices: Genghis Khan, on the west side of China Bowl, is steep and wide open and runs right under the Tea Cup Express lift, so the chair riders get a view of your turns.
- Terrain that changes by the hour: Rasputin's Revenge in Siberia Bowl faces directly south. Dry powder in the morning can turn to heavy spring snow within a couple of hours, so timing matters as much as the pitch.
- Hidden and traverse lines: Windows and Never in Sun Down Bowl reward knowing the terrain. Never involves a long traverse across the west face of the bowl, with views of all seven bowls, cliff bands and less-tracked terrain than most runs on the mountain.
- Far out: Inner and Outer Mongolia is low-angle powder terrain and, in Vail's words, the best place on the mountain to learn to ski powder, but getting there and back is a journey. Work out your return, and the time the lifts close, before you go.
Blue Sky Basin, which Vail describes as backcountry in bounds, with open meadows, groomed glades and 360-degree views, has its own access route, laid out in how to get to Blue Sky Basin from Vail Village.
The snow decides the day
Vail averages 354 inches of snow a year, and aspect changes what any of these runs feel like on a given day. Whether a bowl is open at all depends on snow depth; when the Back Bowls open and what triggers an opening explain how that works, and Vail's lift and terrain status page shows what is open on the day.
Getting there, getting back and crowds
The bowls sit on the back side of the mountain, and terrain far from the base takes time to leave. Read how to get to the Back Bowls before you head out. Lift-line and crowd patterns are in how long lift lines are at Vail and how many skiers Vail sees per day.
