Mega sports events like the 1989, 1999 and 2015 World Alpine Ski Championships in Vail & Beaver Creek and the changing practice and promotion of skiing in general initiated waves of modernization for mountain operations and the tourism infrastructure. Vail's transformation from a small attractive ski area with an alpine inspired village to an upscale four season resort environment stretching over fifty miles (70 km) will be reconstructed.
Vail Valley, with two large ski areas, Vail and Beaver Creek, has become one of the most highly recognized tourist destination areas in the State of Colorado. The beginnings of the Vail Ski Area 1958 - 1963 were plagued by legal and logistical problems. In the mid/late 1960s and 1970s the uses of the ski area took off rapidly with the result of Vail becoming the leading ski area nationwide. Rapid resort development on the valley floor resulted in debates and conflicts over the expansion of Vail Associates/Vail Resorts' skiable terrain on the mountain including the Colorado voters' rejection of the 1976 Winter Olympics and the 1998 Earth Liberation Front's arson attack on Vail Mountain.
At last, Vail Resorts, the operator of the Vail and Beaver Creek ski areas, has embraced sustainability as a goal, and the resort company has taken steps (with 'green' policies and programs) toward a sustainable future for the Valley. In the final section, equity issues in the uses of the resort areas and the nearby public lands are discussed.