Photographing Vail Mountain

If you have read any of my articles on ETG, you know that I am primarily a photographer, but I love snowboarding. I was invited to photograph the area around Vail Colorado by one of my collectors. So, I quickly accepted the invitation and began planning my trip. I am always up for shooting and shredding, which is what I call doing photography while snowboarding.

Photographing Vail Mountain

Vail is one of the most popular ski resorts in the U.S. It is well-known for its Legendary Back Bowls, and it attracts avid skiers and snowboarders from all over the world. A great powder day on Vail Mountain will provide a lifetime of memorable runs. Due to its popularity, it tends to be crowded. However, since it is so large, it can accommodate many visitors without feeling congested at all, once you get away from the base area.

The mountain terrain is skewed towards the more advanced skiers and snowboarders, but there are plenty of runs for all levels. If you are looking for an easier mountain, with more family-friendly runs, Beaver Creek may be the mountain for you. CLICK HERE to read my article about Beaver Creek runs and my photography there.

Access to Two Villages

Another great thing about Vail Mountain is that it gives you access to both Lionshead village and Vail village. From the high points on the mountain, you can go down the front side to reach either village. There are beginner and intermediate routes as well as lots of black diamond runs.

Studying the map is important at Vail to make sure you don’t have difficulty getting around. The expansive terrain can put you in a difficult position if you stray too far.

Vail Mountain Runs

At Vail Mountain, I started on gondola one up from Vail village. Then I went straight to Mountaintop Express. That lift brought me to the “Legendary Back Bowls,” a massive area with seemingly limitless terrain. I did not want to head off into the bowls for the distant lifts, because it can take too long to get back. You need to pay close attention to the time, while also knowing the routes out, if you head into those bowls. If there was powder, I would have gone, but on this day I prioritized access to my camera.

I found small crowds, amazing views and a few different routes I loved, off Northwoods Express lift. The views were fantastic as well. I ended up taking numerous runs there, and I also took lots of photographs. The conditions were just right for shooting and shredding on this section of Vail Mountain. I enjoyed getting increasingly familiar with the various routes. This allowed me to ride my best, get a ton of runs and still have time for photos. Lighting conditions kept changing rapidly and drastically, but I was able to create some very nice images.

*Vail Mountain view shot on my Sony A7Riv camera with a Zeiss Otus 55mm lens*

If you are a photographer or just want to take advantage of snowboarding or skiing Vail mountain, be sure to study the map. Vail is one of the 3 largest ski and snowboard resorts in the United States. It’s huge!

ETG recommends visiting these sites: https://www.vail.com as well as https://discovervail.com/, and https://www.colorado.com/

CLICK HERE to read more articles about Colorado.