Vail is Colorado's largest ski resort at 5,317 acres, and its Back Bowls hold nearly 3,000 acres of bowl skiing. Pass access for 2026/27: Epic Pass, unlimited, unrestricted.
Key takeaways
- Vail has 234 km of marked pistes, 2,152 hectares of skiable terrain, 1,052 m of vertical and 32 lifts.
- Epic Pass 2026/27: Unlimited, unrestricted.
- Our estimate: about 7 days to ski every marked run; plan 5 to 7 ski days.
Vail at a glance
- Marked pistes
- 234km[1]
- Skiable area
- 2,152ha[2]
- Vertical drop
- 1,052m[2]
- Top elevation
- 3,527m[2]
- Base elevation
- 2,475m[2]
- Runs
- 278[2]
- Lifts
- 32[2]
- Season: November 13, 2026 to April 18, 2027[1],[3]
- Nearest major airport: Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE), about 43 minutes by road[4],[5]
Our take
- Time to ski every marked run: about 7 days, at the 35 km of piste a confident intermediate covers in a full day.
- How long to stay: 5 to 7 ski days, enough to cover most of the mountain without repeating yourself.
- Data for the trip: a United States eSIM covering about 9 days, the ski days plus a travel day either side. Lift apps, trail maps and avalanche bulletins all need it.
More resorts near Vail
- Every Ikon and Epic resort in Colorado, ranked by size
- Steamboat
- Snowmass
- Keystone
- Winter Park Resort
- Breckenridge
- Copper Mountain
- Ikon Pass vs Epic Pass 2026/27: every resort compared
Frequently asked questions
Is Vail on the Ikon Pass or the Epic Pass?+
How big is Vail?+
How many days do you need to ski Vail?+
When is the 2026/27 season at Vail?+
What is the nearest airport to Vail?+
Will my phone work at Vail?+
Methodology
How we did this comparison
Mountain statistics come from each resort's own facts page where it publishes one, otherwise from Skiresort.info's trail-map data, and every figure links to its source. Pass access for the 2026/27 season comes only from ikonpass.com and epicpass.com, read on 26 October 2026; check the operator's page before you buy, because access and blackout dates can change.
Days to ski every marked run, how long to stay and how many days of data to buy are our own estimates, not resort figures. We assume a confident intermediate covers 35 km of marked piste in a full day, lifts included, and add a travel day either side for the eSIM. North American resorts publish skiable acreage rather than piste length, so where we rank them we rank by skiable area.
Sources & references
We verify carrier and regulator pricing directly from primary sources before publishing. Pricing is current as of the article's last update — always confirm rates on the carrier's site before you travel.
- Ski resort Vail (skiresort.info) — Skiresort.info
- Vail Resort Mountain Info | Vail Mountain — Vail Resorts
- Hours of Operation | Vail Mountain — Vail Resorts
- Getting Here & Vail Parking | Vail Mountain — Vail Resorts
- Ski resort Vail: arrival by plane (skiresort.info) — Skiresort.info
- Vail Ski Resort (Wikidata, coordinate location P625) — Wikidata
- Epic Pass 2026/27: Vail — Epic Pass
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About the author
Lotsotravel Team
The Lotsotravel editorial team writes hands-on guides for international travelers. We test eSIMs on real devices in real destinations, monitor Canadian and U.S. carrier pricing weekly, and compare coverage across local network partners before we recommend a plan. Every comparison post is updated when carriers change their rates so the numbers you read here match what you would pay today.
Last updated: October 26, 2026