Blue Sky Basin is the most recent expansion to

Vail Ski Resort Vail Ski Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located near the town of Vail in Eagle County, Colorado. At , it is the third-largest single-mountain ski resort in the U.S., behind Big Sky and Park City, featuring seven bowls and i ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in the United States. It is the most debated and controversial ski area expansion in Colorado history. It opened to skiers in 2000 despite conflict about whether the expansion would endanger the

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

, a mountain cat re-introduced into the Colorado wilds. In response, the largest

eco-terrorist Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence o ...

attack in the United States occurred at Vail in 1998 - a $12 million incident involving several Vail facilities, including the destruction of the Two Elk restaurant. Authorities believe it was planned by

William C. Rodgers William Courtney Rodgers (1965 – December 21, 2005), also known as Bill Rodgers and Avalon, was an environmental activist, animal rights activist and a co-proprietor of the Catalyst Infoshop in Prescott, Arizona, US. He was one of six environme ...

and other environmental activists. The FBI launched Operation Backfire, which eventually led to convictions of the arsonists. The incident created sympathy for the resort, if not necessarily for Blue Sky Basin or the corporate owner,

Vail Resorts Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in four countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality o ...

. The Basin opened on 6 January 2000 with three high-speed quad chairlifts, an extra added to Vail's already enormous size — over . Blue Sky Basin offers a more natural ski experience down its vertical drop, with mostly meadows and glades, rather than wide, clear-cut runs.

External links

Article on Blue Sky BasinVail.comVail Resorts corporate site
{{Coord, 39, 35, 47, N, 106, 19, 51, W, format=dms, display=title, type:mountain_region:US-CO Buildings and structures in Eagle County, Colorado Vail Resorts Ski areas and resorts in Colorado Tourist attractions in Eagle County, Colorado 2000 establishments in Colorado