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Vail offers tips for safe, fun New Year’s Eve

Golden Peak will light up New Year's Eve with a torchlight parade by local skiers and Vail Resorts employees who will carry glowing lights down the mountain forming a lava trail of light. The event starts at 6:15 p.m.
Justin McCarty / jmccarty@vaildaily.com |

VAIL — New Year’s Eve in Vail will include adjustments in bus service and the presence of police and fire personnel to ensure that a safe and fun atmosphere is provided for residents and guests. For the third consecutive year, the town will rescind an overnight curfew and eliminating late-night checkpoints in Vail Village due to the long-term success of its public safety campaign. Police Chief Dwight Henninger says additional foot patrols in the pedestrian areas will be used to maintain a family-friendly environment during the holiday.

BUS SERVICE



Adjustments in bus service, as implemented in previous years, will be retained to reduce last-minute crowding and to allow for effective service for those returning home, according to Henninger. On New Year’s Eve, both Vail and ECO Transit will suspend service into Vail between midnight and 2 a.m. with outbound service running uninterrupted throughout the evening with the last ECO bus leaving the Vail Transportation Center at approximately 2 a.m. The late-night ECO Transit Service will be offered for free. Also, between 10:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. service on the in-town route will be reduced from seven-minute service to every 15-minutes between the Vail Village and Lionshead parking structures. Regular in-town service will resume at 6:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

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PUBLIC SAFETY MEASURES

The town of Vail first implemented its public safety measures during the 2001 Fourth of July and New Year’s Eve holidays to reduce crowding and underage drinking in Vail Village. Since then, the Vail Town Council has adopted legislation giving the town the option to relax or reinstate the public safety measures when circumstances warrant. Patrols by the Gore Range DUI Task Force will also take place on New Year’s Eve as part of a national campaign, Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over. Those who plan to consume alcohol are encouraged to plan ahead and take the bus or arrange for a designated driver or an alternative ride home.

For exceptional circumstances, vehicles may be left overnight in the parking structures, compliments of the town of Vail. Vehicles must be retrieved by 11 a.m. the next day by using an overnight parking authorization receipt available from the manned parking booths or from the Vail Village or Lionshead Welcome Centers.

The Town of Vail New Year’s Eve celebrations will be highlighted once again as Vail Holidaze continues Vail’s Torchlight Parade and Fireworks at Golden Peak. A Vail tradition, skiers form a glowing train as they ski down Golden Peak starting at 6:15 p.m. Viewing for this spectacle will take place at the base of Golden Peak. Fireworks will light up the sky directly after the parade. The event is free and open to the public.


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