... and a wipe-out
Seibert was brought back into the fold in 1990 as a consultant about the same time Vail was pursuing controversial expansions to new mountains.
One of those, the Blue Sky Basin area that Seibert and Eaton had seen miles in the distance during their first visit to the mountaintop, was opposed by environmental groups.
In the fall of 1998, ecoterrorists set fire to three buildings in the area and four chairlifts. Vail's mix of ski-loving locals and the affluent was shaken at the notion that there could be trouble in paradise.
But Vail Resorts, the public company that took control in 1996, rebuilt the damaged lifts and buildings for US$12 million.
By 2000, on the weekend when Blue Sky Basin officially opened, more than 6,000 skiers and snowboarders waited in line, each wanting to be the first to see the last secret of the back bowls.
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