To Be the Dallas Cowboys of something...

is anything but a compliment. It implies a sense of self-importance way beyond reality. Those who enjoy and identify with it do it for no reason of any substance, but because of the aura or cachet they falsely believe it gives them. Many who claim to identify with the object of worship have no real attachment to said object - they just hop onboard so they can wear the hat. Ask them to name their favorite players (beyond the household names) and you get "homina-homina-homina".

Vail, it turned out, is anything but this. Yes - many of the people who love it, do so for the wrong reasons - its cushiness, the catering to the upper class, the buffed intermediate runs, the nightlife or apres-ski - and worse, so they can tell their friends to spark envy and awe - just like Dallas fans think they do. But the heart of Vail lies beyond what you see from the interstate - it's another world back there. Unlike the Dallas Cowboys, there's an underlying beauty.