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If an haute Colorado resort makes your wallet zip shut, check out a top-value condo that makes elite skiing affordable for families.

What is most surprising to a first-time visitor to Colorado' s legendary mountain town of Vail is its long and narrow shape. Nestled into a narrow valley between I-70 and the steep slopes of Vail Mountain, the town stretches out for several miles but is barely half-a-mile wide at its most open points. In this valley you'll find some very fine resort hotels, tony restaurants, upscale and not-so upscale shops, and the speedy lifts that will take you up, up, up onto one of the world's great ski mountains. It's a family ski vacation paradise.

Coming by car from Denver, the last of three Vail exits leads to the most relaxed and casual of the three base areas, Lionshead Village. You will have passed the quiet condo community at Golden Peak and the central Vail Village, whose pedestrian-only lanes are full of charm.

Vail Mountain, especially the Vail ski resort, provides a huge and well-organized ski experience, and it never feels crowded. It was originally designed to be a deluxe getaway by its founders, elite skiers from the celebrated 10th Mountain Division of WWII fame, most of whom went on to be titans of industry in a wide range of fields. Today, the seven-mile-wide Vail still stands high in the pantheon of ski mountains, and has just completed a $125 million-dollar, 10-year upgrade.

There are three distinct areas of the mountain, each with its own base village and its own features, including some of the three terrain parks, seven bowls and 5,289 acres of freeride terrain. Vail's many ski slopes are superbly and incessantly groomed and welcome all manner of snowsports lovers, with scenic beginner and intermediate terrain. The newer Blue Sky Basin is extremely popular with intermediate and expert skiers ready for off-piste bowls of fresh snow. And at other seasons, its slopes welcome mountain bikers, hikers and any active guests to enjoy the beautiful Colorado scenery.

Vail simply offers something for everyone. Add in the diverse clientele hailing from all parts of the globe, from Olympians to toddlers, and you get a sense of how welcoming it is.