Breckenridge Ski Resort

Infobox ski area
name= Breckenridge
logo=
picture= Imperial_ridge.jpg
caption= 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
location= Colorado, USA
nearest_city= Breckenridge, Colorado
lat_degrees= 39
lat_minutes= 28
lat_seconds= 30
lat_direction= N
long_degrees= 106
long_minutes= 3
long_seconds= 36
long_direction= W
top_elevation= ft to m|12998|round=0
base_elevation= ft to m|9600|round=0
skiable_area= 2,358 acres (8.94 km²)
number_trails= 155 total
14% beginner
31% intermediate
19% advanced
36% expert
longest_run= "Four O'Clock" - 3.5 miles (5.6 km)
liftsystem= 30 total (1 gondola, 2 high-speed 6-passenger Superchairs, 7 high-speed quad chairs, 1 triple chair, 6 double chairs, 13 surface)
terrainparks= 25 acres
snowfall= 300 in/year (7.62 m/year)
external_link= http://breckenridge.snow.com/|

Breckenridge Ski Resort, or just Breckenridge or Breck, is a ski resort located in Summit County, Colorado near the town of Breckenridge. The resort is owned and operated by Vail Resorts which also operates three other resorts in the state (Vail, Beaver Creek, and Keystone) and Heavenly Ski Resort at Lake Tahoe.

ki area information

Breckenridge has been the most popular ski resort in North America for the past few years. In the 2006-2007, it boasted an astounding 1.65 million skier visits. Breckenridge is also highly favored among out-of-state and international travelers. [ [http://www.vailresorts.com/Corp/info/breckenridge.aspx Vail Resorts Management Company | Breckenridge ] ]

Peak 10 is the southernmost part of Breckenridge, servicing mainly difficult and a substantial amount of intermediate terrain. 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 accessed from the Independence SuperChair which accesses intermediate terrain.

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 [ [http://breckenridge.snow.com/info/winter/mtn.info.asp Breckenridge - Mountain Information ] ] . It can be accessed from lift 6 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 gets 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 50 degrees is reachable from the top of Peak 8. The chutes are some of the steepest terrain in the region, however they only run for about 200 vertical feet.

Gondola

Construction of a new 8-person gondola was announced on March 12, 2006 and the grand opening was January 18, 2007. The gondola runs from the downtown Breckenridge transportation center to Peak 7 and 8 base areas. 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. There is a mid-way stop at the Shock Hill development [http://breckenridge.snow.com/breckAssets/files/winter/gondola-bsr-tofb.pdf] .

On September 13, 2006, the town and ski resort announced the name and logo of the new gondola as the BreckConnect [http://www.skinet.com/skinet/news/article/0,26908,1534591,00.html New Breckenridge Gondola Gets Name, Identity] .

Lifts

*30 total
**2 high-speed 6-passenger SuperChairs
**7 high-speed quad lifts
**1 triple lift
**6 double lifts
**4 surface lifts
**9 carpet lifts
**1 Gondola (finished January 2007 and operational)

2008-2009 ski season

Breckenridge will be open from November 7, 2008 - April 19, 2009 (Weather permitting).

References

External links

* [http://extremeskiphotos.com/pages/2007-03-21-0241.htm Epic Spring Skiing Photos at Breckenridge]
* [http://breckenridge.snow.com/winterhome.asp Breckenridge Ski Resort]
* [http://breckenridge.snow.com/info/winter/mtn.info.stats.asp Mountain Stats]
* [http://www.snowguide.org/ski_area/33/breckenridge.htm Breckenridge ski area Info on SnowGuide.org]
* [http://3dskimaps.com 3dSkiMap of Breckenridge Ski Resort]
* [http://www.hookedonwinter.com/wiki/index.php?title=Breckenridge Article on HookedOnWinter.com's WikiWinter]
* [http://www.skimap.org/skiarea.php?id=510 Historic and current ski maps of Breckenridge]