Word: vail
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...chairlift lines at Vail, Colo., were longer than usual during the recent Christmas to New Year vacation week--a tribute to the drawing power of America's first skiing president. Thousands of people each day waited up to two hours for a gondola ride to the Mid-Vail ski bowl where Gerry Ford and a zillion Secret Service agents were learning the difference between a schuss and a wedel. Since Ford usually made his appearances between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.--in the height of the noonday sun--the sun decks outside the Mid-Vail ski lodge and the chairlift...
When Ford arrived, he and his entourage of protectors and instructors were always whisked to the front of the lift lines and up the mountain, so quickly that half of the crowd milling at Mid-Vail probably never even saw him on skis. But everyone talked about it and more than a few became temporary resort heroes when they boasted of riding the lift behind Ford or skiing ahead of him on the slopes...
Gerry Ford was out among the people. His people. While he attended meetings with advisers and tried to formulate the economic policy that he announced this week, they were spending more money dining in Vail's $20 plus restaurants, staying in the thousands of superchic condominiums, and skiing the crowded slopes than any crowd in any previous week at Vail. The president was all smiles each day as he looked over his people. This was such a heartwarming sight; just the sort of stimulation the nation's economy needed...
Ford's stay in Vail was not all ski and parley. His people beckoned, so each night the Ford entourage attended one or another of the extravaganzas hosted by the celebrities, tycoons and socialites who also were in town. One afternoon the Mid-Vail lodge was electric with rumors that even Jackie Kennedy was also in town...
...Life in Vail was indeed merry for those two weeks. Quite appropriately, the winter sun shone brightly for all but two days, bronzing beautiful faces...