Breckenridge Ski Resort
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| Breckenridge | |
|---|---|
 The ridge seen from Peak 8 (12,998'). A skier (seen as a small dot) is pausing above one of the cornices of the Lake Chutes while a snowboarder clips into his board to prepare for the descent |
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| Location | White River National Forest Summit County, Colorado, USA |
| Nearest city | Breckenridge, Colorado |
| Coordinates | 39°28′30″N 106°3′36″W / 39.475°N 106.06°W |
| Vertical | 3,398 feet (1,036 m) |
| Top elevation | 12,998 feet (3,962 m) |
| Base elevation | 9,600 feet (2,926 m) |
| Skiable area | 2,358 acres (954 ha) |
| Runs | 155 total 14% beginner 31% intermediate 19% advanced 36% expert |
| Longest run | "Four O'Clock" - 3.5 miles (5.6 km) |
| Lift system | 30 total (1 gondola, 2 high-speed 6-passenger Superchairs, 7 high-speed quad chairs, 1 triple chair, 6 double chairs, 13 surface) |
| Terrain parks | 25 acres (10 ha) |
| Snowfall | 300 in/year (760 cm/year) |
| Web site | breckenridge.com |
Breckenridge Ski Resort, or just Breck, is perenially one of North America's top 2 most visited ski resorts, and is located in Summit County, Colorado in the town of Breckenridge. The resort is owned and operated by Vail Resorts, Inc., which also operates three other resorts in the state (Vail, Beaver Creek, and Keystone), and also in California Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar at Tahoe at Lake Tahoe.
The 2011-12 ski season will be Breck's 50th Anniversary Season, with the resort implementing a year-long celebration in honor of a half-century since the resort was founded on Dec. 16, 1961.
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[edit] Ski area information
Breck has been one of the 2 most visited ski resorts in North America for the past few years. In the 2010-11 ski season, they boasted over 1.6 million skier visits, making Breck one of the most popular ski areas in the world. In addition to its legions of fans in Colorado, Breckenridge is also highly favored among out-of-state and international travelers. Breckenridge has been named one of the top five ski locations in the world by the BBC, and is perenially ranked in the Top 10 best resorts in the U.S. by SKI Magazine.[1]
Breck comprises four adjacent peaks of the Ten Mile mountain range. Peak 10 is the southernmost part of Breckenridge, servicing mainly difficult and a substantial amount of intermediate terrain. Formerly classified as blue-black runs, the intermediate terrain of Crystal, Centennial, and Doublejack has been reclassified as black diamond runs because Breckenridge quit using the blue-black run classification before the 2010-2011 season. Peak 9 services mostly intermediate terrain, with a significant number of beginner runs on the lower part of the mountain, though it can also access expert runs such as Devil's Crotch and the Windows hike-to terrain that leads down to E-chair on the north side of Peak 9. Peak 8 is accessed from the Colorado SuperChair, Rocky Mountain SuperChair and the Peak 8 SuperConnect. The lower part of Peak 8 accesses mostly intermediate runs with some advanced runs. The back bowl on Peak 8 can be accessed via 6 Chair or the T-Bar, both can be used to access the Imperial Express lift and the northernmost (Peak 7) and westernmost bowls (Lake Chutes), which include some very difficult terrain with slopes up to 55 degrees. The lower part of Peak 7 can also be accessed from the Independence SuperChair which accesses intermediate terrain.
[edit] Imperial Lift
On August 2, 2005, construction began on the Imperial Express Superchair, which opened in time for the 2005-2006 ski season. It is the highest lift in North America, reaching a peak elevation of 12,840 feet (3,910 m).[2] It can be accessed from 6 Chair and the T-Bar.
Hiking from the top of the Imperial lift allows access to the peak of Breckenridge (Peak 8) and some of the best terrain on the mountain, including some cornices with very nice, soft landings. It could get very windy and cold at the top, and in poor visibility conditions the peak will usually be closed.
The Lake Chutes, a series of small chutes with an incline of up to 55 degrees is reachable from the top of Peak 8. The chutes are some of the steepest terrain in the region, running vertically for about 400 feet (122 m).
[edit] Gondola
Construction of a new 8-person gondola was announced on March 12, 2006 and the grand opening was January 18, 2007. The eight passenger gondola runs from the downtown Breckenridge transportation center to a mid-station at Shock Hill, through the Cucumber Gulch Preserve, to a mid-station at the Peak 7 base area and ends at the Peak 8 base area. It serves as a base transportation system designed to reduce dependence on buses to get between the town and the northern two peaks. The lift has a maximum hourly capacity of 3,000 people and takes 7 and a half minutes to reach the Peak 7 base area from the transportation center and another 2 and a half minutes to reach the Peak 8 base area.[3]
On September 13, 2006, the town and ski resort announced the name and logo of the new gondola as the BreckConnect Gondola.
The Breckenridge lift system has broken new ground over the years by implementing several new state-of-the-art engineering marvels, and the system today includes several renowned lifts such as the sole double-loading lift in North America and the highest lift in North America.
- First High Speed Quad in the World (Quicksilver Quad, 1981, now runs at Owl's Head in Quebec)
- First (and only) double loading lift in North America (Quicksilver Six, 1999)
- Highest Lift in North America (Imperial Express SuperChair, 2005)
[edit] Lifts
- 30 total[4]
- 2 high-speed 6-passenger SuperChairs
- Quicksilver Super 6 - Peak 9
- Independence Superchair - Peak 7
- 7 high-speed quad lifts
- Falcon Superchair - Peak 10
- Mercury Superchair - Peak 9
- Beaver Run Superchair - Peak 9
- Peak 8 Superconnect - Peaks 9 and 8
- Colorado Superchair - Peak 8
- Rocky Mountain Superchair - Peak 8
- Imperial Express Superchair - Peak 8
- 1 triple lift
- A-chair - Peak 9
- 6 double lifts
- C-Chair - Peak 9
- E-Chair - Peak 9
- Snowflake - Town and Peak 8
- Rip's Ride/7-Chair - Peak 8
- 5-Chair - Peak 8
- 6-Chair - Peak 8
- 4 surface lifts
- T-Bar - Peak 8 (Public)
- Trygve's Platter - Peak 8 (Ski School)
- Eldorado Platter - Peak 9 (Ski School)
- Camelback Platter - Peak 9 (Ski School)
- 9 carpet lifts (All ski school)
- Ski and Ride Carpets A-D - Peak 9
- Ski and Ride Carpets 1-4 - Peak 8
- (Unknown)
- 1 Gondola (finished January 2007 and operational)
- Breckconnect Gondola - Town, Shock Hill, Peak 7, Peak 8
- 2 high-speed 6-passenger SuperChairs
[edit] Winter Dew Tour
In December 2008, Breckenridge hosted the first Winter Dew Tour. It was the first action sports tour for winter sports and is owned and operated by Alli, the Alliance of Action Sports.
Many of the top athletes in action sports from around the world participated in the Winter Dew Tour. Athletes such as Shaun White, Hannah Teter, Tanner Hall, Andreas Wiig, Gretchen Bleiler, Simon Dumont, Sarah Burke, Tom Wallisch, and Travis Rice participated.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Vail Resorts Management Company | Breckenridge
- ^ Breckenridge - Mountain Information
- ^ http://breckenridge.snow.com/breckAssets/files/winter/gondola-bsr-tofb.pdf
- ^ The Denver Post's Colorado Ski Guide (published 23 October 2009)
- ^ [1] WORLD'S TOP ATHLETES SHAUN WHITE, HANNAH TETER, TRAVIS RICE, TANNER HALL, TOM WALLISCH AND SARAH BURKE LEAD IMPRESSIVE LIST OF ATHLETES COMPETING ON WINTER DEW TOUR
