Editing Vail, Colorado (section)

==History==
[[File:Lionshead Vail Colorado.JPG|thumb|upright|left|The Lionshead district of Vail]]
[[File:Lost Lake Panoramic facing north (Eagle, County, CO) - panoramio.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Lost Lake north of Vail]]
Vail was incorporated in 1966, four years after the opening of [[Vail Ski Resort]]. The [[Ski resort|ski area]] was founded by [[Pete Seibert]] and local rancher Earl Eaton in 1962, at the base of [[Vail Pass]]. The pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed [[U.S. Route 6 in Colorado|U.S. Highway 6]] through the Eagle Valley in 1940, which eventually became [[Interstate 70 in Colorado|Interstate 70]]. Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's [[10th Mountain Division (United States)|10th Mountain Division]] during [[World War II]], which trained at [[Camp Hale]], 14 miles south of Vail between [[Red Cliff, Colorado|Red Cliff]] and [[Leadville, Colorado|Leadville]]. He was wounded in Italy at the [[Battle of Riva Ridge]] but went on to become a professional skier after he recovered.<ref name ="VA"/>

Seibert, with other former members of the 10th Mountain Division, returned to Colorado after World War II with the intention of opening a ski resort. During training for ski troopers at Camp Hale, he bivouacked on Vail Mountain and identified it as an ideal ski mountain. In the early 1960s, Seibert got funds from a group of Colorado investors, including Jack Tweedy, and with Earl Eaton bought a ranch at the base of the mountain and eventually incorporated as Vail Associates. As plans continued for a new ski resort, Seibert hired Morrie Shepard as Vail's first ski school director. Shortly after, Shepard recruited Rod Slifer from Aspen to be the assistant ski school director. Slifer also became the only real estate broker in the early years of Vail and would later be the broker in the transaction that allowed Vail to buy a ranch, now known as the world-famous [[Beaver Creek Resort|Beaver Creek]].

In December 1962, Vail officially opened for its first season. It operated a [[gondola lift]] and two ski lifts on the mountain owned by the [[United States Forest Service]]. The village was established at the base of the mountain for local residents and offered lodging for visitors. It quickly grew throughout the valley, with housing added first in East Vail and then West Vail, and additional lodging added in Lionshead in the late 1960s.<ref name ="VA">[http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Vail-Associates-Inc-company-History.html Vail Associates]. Retrieved November 3, 2011</ref><ref name="hov">{{cite web | title=History of Vail | url=http://www.coloradoskihistory.com/areahistory/vail.html | publisher=Colorado Ski History | access-date= November 3, 2011}}</ref>

Within the first year, the village had a ski shop operated by Dick Hauserman and Joe Langmaid, a ski boutique operated by Blanche Hauserman and Bunny Langmaid, a hotel and restaurant operated by Pepi Gramshammer, and the mountain had a manager.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wlgEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27&dq ''Skiing Heritage Journal''], March 2002.</ref> By 1969, Vail was the most popular ski resort in the state. In 1988 Vail opened China Bowl, making Vail the third largest ski area in North America.

In 2023, the village paid $17 million to Vail Resorts to prevent Vail Resorts from building housing for 165 workers. This was preceded by a lengthy conflict where the village sought to block the construction of housing.<ref name="Blevins-2023">{{Cite web |last=Blevins |first=Jason |date=September 21, 2023 |title=Town of Vail must pay $17.5 million for parcel where Vail Resorts planned housing but town wants for wildlife |url=http://coloradosun.com/2023/09/21/vail-condemnation-bighorn-housing-land/ |website=The Colorado Sun |language=en-US}}</ref>