A group of friends, with a mix of couple and singles – no children, are planning our first ever ski trip, and we would like to rent a condo for 4 to 5 days. We are primarily interested in good skiing, even though this is our first time and many of us do not know how to ski. We are thinking of about of 8 people at the second week of February. Ideally, we would like to stay on the slope – but not sure which one has good option for ski-in-ski-out, and definitely no to expensive. Does one of the areas have a nice town/village to walk around with shops, food etc? Any suggestions would help.

Berri:
Vail is a great place to learn. Lot's of wide open spaces and great ski school. Vail is an excellent walking town: pretty much built just for that purpose. As far as condos go, there are plenty to choose from; too many to go into here.

Here are a few good websites I have used:

vail.net (Lots of catagorized listings)
vailonsale.com
hmtaxi.com (airport transfers)

Hope this info helps.

I too love Vail! for some lodging ideas look at http://www.econovail.com

try and stay in the Village or Lions Head and you will not need a car.

Vail has other activities like skating, tubing that can be fun if you are tired of skiing. the first timers should be sure to take a lesson

If you are all beginners, and you want ski in ski out, I would try and stay in the Lionshead area. The beginner area is better on that end of town, than at Golden Peak (which is on the other end). You also have the gondola to take you up and, more improtantly down the mountain if you don;t want to try and ski all teh way back at the end of the day. Staying in the village (which is kind of in the middle of Lionshead and Golden Peak) is fun, but not if you want ski in ski out for beginners. Better to stay in Lionshead and take the free in town shuttle to the village.

I'd suggest you try Lions Square Lodge. Some of the units are a little dated, but the location is great. The prices are reasonable (by Vail standards). The 4-5 days may be a problem as a lot of units rent by the week.

I would suggest either Lionshead or Golden Peak. Lionsquare Lodge, Lodge at Lionshead, Montaneros, Landmark in Lionshead are all walking distance to slopes and in town. Most of the condos will rent out for 5-7 night minimums. If Presidents weekend falls during your time frame - definitely a 7 night min.

Enjoy learning to ski! It's a wonderful sport! I will caution you that not all ski-in/ski-out properties are created equal. They range from condos at the bottom of the hill by the lifts (perfect for the absolute beginner) to properties scattered in the woods along the slopes (many not great choices because they require more turning, stopping and speed control skills than you'll likely have on day one).

You might want to check out www.vrbo.com (it stands for Vacation Rentals by Owner). They have lots of condos and houses in and around Vail.

If you want to keep the cost down, stay in West Vail and/or on the north side of I-70 as long as you are close to a bus stop. Vail operates a wonderful free bus service during ski season. Busses come every 15-30 minutes so it's not like you have to adhere to any strict time schedule. They also operate late into the night for your apres ski enjoyment! We usually drive to Vail but once there park the car and don't take it out again until time to go home, or maybe a trip to the grocery store, however we have been known to go to the grocery store on the bus too!

Store your skis and boots at the base of the Lionshead Gondola so you don't have to lug them back to the condo each evening. Vail is a wonderful place to ski and you might even want to try Beaver Creek for a day. The top of Beaver Creek has lots of beginner terrain. You can take bus from Vail to Beaver Creek. (If you are going to Beaver Creek for a day, then you'll need to take your skis home with you that night.)

I'll second the recommendation on VRBO.com and Vailnet. I've used both to rent properties in the area but you might find it more difficult to get the 4-5 night stay on those web sites. I've also used a rental agency, Prudential Gore Range Properties. There is a link to their website (as well as several other real estate companies) on the vailnet site.

The main reason I would suggest Lionshead over Golden Peak for beginners is that Golden Peak only has a small beginner learning area. Once you graduate from that area (which could be on Day one or two at the latest), you have to go way up the moutain and the return trip isn't the easiest route down (the run down to Northwoods Express lift can be a little hairy for beginners even though its marked green). By contrast the Gondola in Lionshead lets you off at a large amount of beginner terrain and makes the return trip back to the bottom much easier for beginners.

Of course, aesthetically, I'm not as enamoured with the Lionshead area as either Golden Peak or the Village.

I can not recommend strongly enough that you spend your first day in ski school if this is your first time skiing.

Make sure you have proper clothes including coat, bibs or ski pants, hat, gloves, goggles, scarf, sunglasses that will keep you warm and dry.

Nothing will make you hate skiing more than if you are wet and cold.

Go Travel - good advice. We forget what beginners may not know. Also, don't forget the sunscreen and to drink lots and lots of water. Don't know where your group is coming from, Berri, but suspect you will have an adjustment to the altitude. You might check out the Vail website to see if any beginner's packages are offered that include ski rentals, lift tickets and lessons.

Vail is a great place to learn to ski. You have had some great advice on places to stay, and some beginner skiing tips as well. As far as the altitude change goes, I will add drink PLENTY of water. Also, skiing uses muscles you don't always use in everyday life. It is important to stretch before skiing. Not just on the morning you go, but start stretching a few minutes a day now. Enjoy your trip!

Have a great trip. To clarify there are too main "town centers" at the base of the two main lifts, one is vail village and the other is lions head. Vail village is sort of the center of things. It's where most of the shops and restaurants are and as I said there is a major lift there. Lions Head is next to Vail Village, its not quite as active, there are less shops and restaurants, but its still a nice place to stay.

Lionshead, Village, Golden Peak, they are all GREAT!! But, LH has the Gondola up/down. Whatever you do, stay in Vail proper (either of the 3 areas I mentioned) so you can enjoy just walking to your Lifts, and hanging in vail itself, which is very nice and compact. I always go for a stroll at 6 AM and have the palce for myself, many lights still on! Enjoy!

If you have flexibility on your dates - do not come on president's day weekend. The crowds will be much larger than any other weekend in Feb...

Go to (www.vail.com). From there you can book and save from a wide variety of properties. While mid Feb. is an ideal ski time, be sure to avoid Presidents Day Weekend (extremely crowded). Enjoy! PS: I highly recommend lessons for beginners.

Go to www.snow.com, chose Vail then look at lesson packages. The very best deals at most resorts are "Learn to Ski" packages that include lift, equipment and lessons. They make the beginner packages very affordable to "hook" more skiers to the sport.

I've skiied most of my life but my husband learned at Aspen at 30 yrs old. We've been skiing the past 15 yrs and he still takes an occassional private lesson with my kids. One of the great aspects of lessons is that you get to cut to the front of the lift line when you are with an instructor as they don't expect you to pay to wait in line.

If you are flying to Denver and driving to Vail, there is a great Gart Brothers Sporting Goods at the Silverthorn Exit. They have a HUGE supply of skiwear at discounted prices. Resorts gouge you so it is better to try to get everything prior to arriving in Vail.

I use those little chemical packets that heat up when opened and shaken in both my boots and in my gloves to keep me warm.

My kids both get big time altitude sickness (headaches, near constant vomiting one time for about six hours)so we start everyone on vitamins and herbal remedies a week before we go and drink tons of water before the flight, during the flight and upon arrival. While doing my homework on altitude sickness I discovered that the insomnia I always have when on ski vacations is also related to altitude.

I rent condos around the world thru www.vrbo.com (vacation rentals by owner) which allows you to rent directly fron the owner with no management company fee. There are plenty listed for Vail.

what vitamins and herbal remedies do you use? We are going to Vail with my five year old and when we took him to Quito Ecuador - he vomited for about 6 hours and then was fine. I would like to avoid that this trip!

After the kids got sick I went to the local pharmacy in Aspen and found a little packet of vitamins and herbal remedies. Of course it was really too late at that point because they are more preventative than curative. but I bought it anyway for the list of ingredients on the back. We've taken them for the week leading up to our trip for the past several years and when we take them we have no altitude problems.

Last year my older son did not take the vitamins before he flew to CO (he was in Orlando on a school trip and neglected to take them before flying to CO) and he threw up all night the first night so I really do think they work.

I went to the local vitamin store and found as many of these items as possible. Vit. C 250mg, Calcium ascorbate 250 mg, Siberian Ginseng extract (25:1) 100mg, Schizandra extract (4:1) 100 mg, L-Tyrosine 100mg, Ginko Biloba extract (24%flavoglycosides) 50mg, Ginger Toot 50 mg, Reishi Mushroom extract (4:1) 25 mg.

We live at about 8000 feet... Most of our visitors are fine. The ones that get sick find overnighting in Denver is a big help before climbing higher.