Breckenridge Ski Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in Breckenridge, Colorado. Recognized for acres of skiable terrain across five mountain peaks, it welcomes thousands of skiers and snowboarders each season. Just west of the Continental Divide in Summit County, with a base elevation of 9,600 feet, and spanning 2,908 acres, it is perennially one of the most visited ski resorts in the Western Hemisphere. Breckenridge is owned and operated by Vail Resorts, Inc.
History
1960s The mountain first opened on December 16, 1961, consisting of trails on Peak 8 serviced currently by the Colorado SuperChair. The main lift was a Heron double chairlift, Lift 1, which had a midway unloading station. Lift 1 ran from the base area up to a point slightly west of the top of the current Colorado SuperChair. This small butte overlooks the Rocky Mountain SuperChair and is accessible by hiking from the Vista Haus along a short dirt road in the summer.
A year later, a Constam double chairlift was installed up the double-black trail Mach One. The lift, later numbered Lift 3, ran from near the present-day Peak 8 SuperConnect's midway load station up to near the top of Lift 5.
In 1965, Lift 1 was supplemented by Lift 2, a Heron double chairlift constructed to serve the south part of Peak 8. A base lodge was also opened on Peak 8, but it was destroyed in an explosion (suspected to be caused by a gas leak) shortly after completion. Breckenridge expanded into high alpine terrain with the construction of a platter lift from near the top of Lift 2 to near the top of the current Lift 6 in 1967.
1970s In 1970, Breckenridge was purchased by the Aspen Skiing Company. From 1970 to 1978, the resort expanded onto Peak 9, opening four Riblet double chairlifts (Lift 4 on Peak 8, Lifts B, C, and D on Peak 9) and one triple chairlift (Lift A). Lift A serviced beginner terrain, while Lift C services trails on the north part of the main Peak 9 face. Lift D ran from near the bottom of the Beaver Run SuperChair to near the top of the EpicMix course on Sundown. Lift B ran alongside Cashier, running from the top of the Quicksilver Quad and offloading at the top of the Mercury SuperChair. In 1979, Lift 6 replaced the Peak 8 platter lift. Also in 1979, an alpine slide was constructed on Peak 8 under Lift 5. The slide is composed of three fiberglass tubes - Lanes "A", "B", and "C". "A" and "B" are for slower and inexperienced riders and run parallel to each other. Lane "C" is for solo, more experienced riders, and follows a significantly different alignment from the other two lanes, with a different arrangement of turns, including the presence of a triple-down drop and one more steep straightaway drop. The Alpine slide has mostly been unchanged since construction, the only alteration being a redesign of the lower section of the layout for both tracks as part of One Ski Hill Place construction in 2009.
1980s Breckenridge and other ski resorts faced a severe drought in the winter of 1980-1981 and installed snowmaking systems the following year. In 1981, Breckenridge installed the world's first high speed detachable quad chairlift, the Quicksilver Quad running from the Village base area to near the bottom of Lift B. The lift was constructed by Doppelmayr.
In 1983, Riblet constructed Lift E, a double chairlift servicing the north-facing chutes on Peak 9.
In 1984, Doppelmayr constructed the T-Bar, providing access to most of Peak 8's bowl terrain.
In 1985, Breckenridge expanded south on to Peak 10, with the opening of Lift F, a Poma fixed grip quad. A year later, it was upgraded to a high speed quad and renamed the Falcon SuperChair. Runs on Peak 10 were named by mountain manager Jim Gill after World War II planes, like Crystal, Cimarron, Doublejack and Mustang. Also in 1986, another high speed quad named the Colorado SuperChair was built by Poma on Peak 8, replacing Lift 1. The replacement lift ran a different alignment from its predecessor, running up the south side of Spruce and ending at the Vista Haus. With the addition of both the Colorado SuperChair and the Falcon SuperChair, each open peak had one high speed quad on it. All chairlifts built at Breckenridge since these two lifts have been built by Poma and its successor Leitner-Poma.
In the 1987-1988 ski season, Breckenridge topped one million skier visits, as it was sold to Victoria Ltd of Tokyo. Local residents supported the change in ownership, as some believed that the Aspen Skiing Company was exploiting revenue from Breckenridge to support its own four ski areas. Despite Aspen's withdrawal of ownership, some trail signs from this era remained scattered around Peaks 9 and 10 well into the 2010s.
1990s In 1990, Peak 9 received its second high speed quad when Poma built the Beaver Run SuperChair, which replaced Lift D and provided top-to-bottom lift service on Peak 9. It is the longest operating lift on the mountain (1.7 miles), and also has the largest vertical drop of any chairlift on the mountain (1,600 feet). A few of Lift D's towers were repurposed as a lift evacuation training area, located just uphill from where the Beaver Run SuperChair crosses under the Peak 8 SuperConnect.
In 1993, Breckenridge was purchased by Ralston-Purina, which already owned Keystone Resort and Arapahoe Basin. The three ski resorts logged a combined 2.6 million skier visits.
Breckenridge and Keystone were purchased by Vail Resorts in 1996, joining the company's other ski areas of Beaver Creek and Vail Ski Resort. Also in 1996, Poma constructed the Snowflake double chairlift, providing mountain access for a number of condominium developments off of Four O'Clock Road. The lift has a midway load partway up that provides access from Peak 9 to Peak 8 as an alternative route to the Peak 8 SuperConnect. The highlight of the lift is a complex 45 degree turn just above the midway load station. As the lift runs clockwise, uphill chairs make a simple 45 degree turn, while downhill chairs must make two separate turns and a 315 degree clockwise turn, plus cross over themselves.
In 1997, two aging double chairlifts were removed and two new high speed quads were built. On Peak 9, Lift B was removed and replaced with the Mercury SuperChair. The replacement lift, while ending at the same place as Lift B, was built parallel to the Beaver Run SuperChair, originating just uphill from the bottom of Lift A to make it accessible from Peak 10, Ten Mile Station, and the north Peak 9 trails. The Mercury SuperChair is not the first lift on Peak 9 to use this name, as the name was previously used on the Beaver Run SuperChair before 1993.Breckenridge Trail Map: 1990-1995 Retrieved June 16, 2018. On Peak 8, the Rocky Mountain SuperChair was built in anticipation of further expansion north onto Peaks 7 and 6. For the first five years of operations, it served to provide easier access from Peak 8 base to the T-Bar and north Peak 8 trails without a lengthy traverse from the Colorado SuperChair. After the Peak 7 and Peak 6 expansions opened, the Rocky Mountain SuperChair became the primary way to travel from Peak 8 base area to both peaks. At the same time as the Rocky Mountain SuperChair's construction, Lift 2, which supplemented the Colorado SuperChair, was removed.
In 1998, Ten Mile Station opened at the bottom of the Falcon SuperChair, replacing the Falcon's Aerie restaurant at the top of Peak 10. The following year, Breckenridge installed their first high speed six pack to replace the original Quicksilver SuperChair. The original quad was relocated to Owl's Head resort in Quebec, where it operated until 2019. Quicksilver Super6 runs from the Village base area up the Silverthorne trail (to the south of Lift A) and ends at Ten Mile Station. Until the opening of the Disney Skyliner at Walt Disney World in 2019, it was the only double loading aerial lift in North America. The bottom terminal of the lift has two separate loading areas, with an automated switch piece of railing being utilized to direct every other chair to the second loading station. Coinciding with this was the addition of a midway unload station on Lift A near where it passes the top of Quicksilver Super6, allowing skier traffic to bail out early for access to Ten Mile Station.
2000s Breckenridge carried out a massive expansion and lift upgrade in 2002, the largest terrain expansion in Colorado that year. The project also entailed the construction of two new chairlifts. The main addition was the opening of a new pod of intermediate trails on Peak 7, to the north of Claimjumper. The terrain was serviced by the resort's second high speed six pack, named the Independence SuperChair. At a time when high speed six packs were still very rare, Breckenridge became the first ski resort in Colorado with more than one high speed six pack.
In addition to Peak 7, a new high speed quad was built to connect Peak 9 to Peak 8. The Peak 8 SuperConnect replaced Lift 4 and improved navigation between the two peaks. Prior to 2002, transitioning from Peak 9 to Peak 8 required going to the top of Peak 9 and taking a black trail called Shock or a blue run called Union to the bottom of Lift 4, or traveling to the Snowflake lift's midway load after 1996. It originates on Peak 9 at the junction of the trails Red Rover and Sundown (just down a hill from Lift A), crosses over the Beaver Run SuperChair and Lift C, runs to a midway load and turn station at Lift 4's loading station, then runs up Lift 4's line to end near the Vista Haus. To guarantee that chairs are available for people using the mid-station, a system of automatic loading gates was introduced. These gates open when the chairs are turning into the loading area and activate a sensor. During busy periods, the gates are programmed to send select chairs through the bottom terminal empty, to be filled by people loading at the midstation.
A big drawback of the Peak 8 alpine bowls from the beginning was that much of the terrain required taking a lengthy 45 minute hike from the top of the T-Bar up the ridge, rendering them inaccessible for the most part, as this meant people had to endure a hike in cold temperatures and strong winds in excess of 35 mph. In 2005, this problem was alleviated when Leitner-Poma constructed a new high speed quad, which outdid Loveland Ski Area's Chair 9 to become the highest operating chairlift in North America. Originating at the top of Lift 6 and topping out just below the summit of Peak 8 at , the Imperial Express SuperChair services the Imperial Bowl and cut the 45 minute hike to a 3-minute lift ride. The T-Bar was retained, as it provides round-trip access to trails in the Contest Bowl and the area immediately north of it.
Construction of a new eight-person gondola was announced on March 12, 2006, meant to serve as a replacement to the ski area buses on Ski Hill Road, and in anticipation of future development at Peak 8 Base. In early 2007, the BreckConnect Gondola opened to the public, improving access from the town to Peak 8 base area. It originates at the transit center off of Park Avenue and Ski Hill Road, and runs up to a first midway turn station at Shock Hill, servicing a condominium development. From here, the gondola travels across the Cucumber Gulch preserve, to just below Peak 7, where it has a second turn terminal and station, servicing Peak 7 base area, the Independence SuperChair, Crystal Peak Lodge, and the Grand Lodge on Peak 7. The gondola then takes a final hop to reach Peak 8 base. The BreckConnect has an hourly capacity of 3,000 pph, and runs every day of winter operations, as well as every day of fun park operations in the summer. For the gondola's first two years of operation, the Peak 7 base area had not yet been developed, and the Peak 7 station merely functioned as a turn terminal.