Thousands Hit The Slopes At Vail For Closing Day
VAIL, Colo. (CBS4) - Thousands of people in the high country celebrated a great ski season on Sunday, but it was closing day at a number of Colorado resorts, including Vail.
Even with snow still stacked on the slopes, closing day came once again this year and CBS4's Jeff Todd found many different types of celebrations.
Todd found a church service on a deck with simply a gorgeous view.
"We come and do a 20 or 30 minute service to be where people are and I can't think of a better chapel," Minister Greg Olsteen said.
The tallest peak is appropriately named for the service.
"It's a beautiful mountain and it's not bad that it's named Mount of The Holy Cross," Olsteen said.
While the group was celebrating life and the resurrection, all over the mountain people were there to celebrate.
"Vail is where a bunch of different cultures come together and share the mountain," said Nate Foot, a skier dressed in a patriotic panda suit.
It has been one of the better seasons in recent memory.
"This is my first closing day, so it may have to be my standard," Foot said.
Todd found some other guys battling the warm temperatures.
"We're on a swim team in Glenwood, so we thought, 'It's closing day in Vail, so we'll put our Speedo's on and have a good time,' " skier Jack Cassidy said.
For them it's just about skiing one last day, and impressing the ladies -- or at least trying to.
Deep into the afternoon the World Pond Skimming Championships got underway, and that was really where the costumes came out.
"It's definitely my day. I've been planning this day for about a month," said Ryan Bair, who was dressed as the Easter Bunny. "We'll probably see a few good crashes … crashes can win as well as making it across the pond."
It was a fond farewell to the ski season.
Skiers and boarders have a few more chances next weekend at Aspen, Copper Mountain, Winter Park, Breckenridge and Loveland. Arapahoe Basin is trying to stay open until the 4th of July.
