Before the sun rose over Colorado’s Gore Range on March 19, 1957, two men in an Army surplus Jeep pulled off a logging road “and prepared to climb a mountain that had no name.”

Pete Seibert went on to write about he and Earl Eaton breaking trail through deep snow and dense woods and over ridges that would become known by the skiing masses. Those masses would also behold the view atop the mountain to be called Vail Mountain ー “the most mind-blowing landscape of all,” Seibert remembered, “a series of bowls stretched to the horizon, a virtually treeless universe of boundless powder, open slopes and open sky.”

“My God,” he remarked to Eaton, “we’ve climbed all the way to heaven.”

Skiing heaven, as Vail Resort has become nearly 70 years after that fateful ascent.

Seibert and Eaton were, indeed, on a mission to scout a ski area. It would be Colorado’s largest ski area, sprawling 5,317 acres today. Seibert’s book would fittingly be titled “Triumph of a Dream.”

But it’s easy to think that the modern-day resort surpasses his wildest dream and that of Eaton, however lofty the ambitions they took to Vail Mountain that day, familiar as they were with European resorts and this state’s burgeoning industry.

Seibert and Eaton had met at Aspen following their military service. Later, in the 1950s, Seibert managed Loveland Basin Ski Area. He continued to follow his passion for the sport despite injury with the 10th Mountain Division, the legendary unit that trained for alpine combat at Camp Hale near Leadville and was essential to World War II victory. Skiing was also in Eaton’s blood; he had ventured all around this quiet valley beyond his family’s ranch.

The valley would be transformed after the first $5 lift tickets sold on Dec. 15, 1962.

Thanks initially to U.S. 6 reaching the valley ー followed by the Interstate 70 pass also named for highway engineer Charles Vail ー and thanks also to President Gerald Ford’s regular visits and promotion, the ski resort boomed. From Lionshead Village to East Vail and West Vail and all of the luxury hotels, condos, fine dining and designer shopping in between, Vail would set an industry standard.

It would set standards with high-speed lifts and with terrain, too. China Bowl opened in 1988 to make Vail the largest ski area in North America at the time. At the turn of the century, the resort’s acclaim soared to even greater heights with Blue Sky Basin.

By then, Vail was well on its way to being the biggest name in the business. Vail Resorts had acquired Breckenridge and Keystone in neighboring Summit County, among 42 destinations owned worldwide today.

Yes, much has changed since those early days of $5 lift tickets. But still today one might escape the lift line and bustling base for solitude, sparkling powder and the big blue sky above, enjoying “a moment of pure bliss,” as Seibert enjoyed all those years ago ー something like heaven.