Breckenridge

Terrain:

Breckenridge, also known as Breck, is a very large resort. It is best known for its peaks and the great advanced terrain below these peaks. As you ascend up the mountain the terrain tends to get more and more advanced as you go. You can only get to the top of peak 6, 7 and 8 by hiking in bounds. A lot of Breck’s best advanced terrain is only accessible by hiking, which means a lot of skiers and boarders do a lot of hiking. This keeps the terrain less tracked out, so on good powder days you can still find fresh tracks. This hike to terrain is to get to tons and tons of huge open bowls and steep chutes. Every time I visit Breck, I constantly see people hiking no matter what the conditions are. This is unusual for other resorts, but not for Breck.

There is other advanced terrain that you do not have to hike to. These advanced runs are mogul runs that are surrounded by trees, so not as many bowls or chutes. A huge perk to this advanced terrain is that it is always open. The bowls and chutes near the peaks can be closed often due to bad weather and increased avalanche danger.

Apart from the advanced terrain, Breck has some awesome intermediate and beginner terrain. There are specific beginner areas off of peak 8 and 9 bases and great intermediate areas off of peak 6 and 7. It is nice to have areas dedicated to just green and just blues. This enables the skier or boarder to explore different runs in one area. They do not have to worry about accidentally going down a run they may not be comfortable with. These are also the areas open late in the spring season. Breck is one of the last resorts to close in the spring. For late April and early May ski days, Breck is an awesome place to go. The runs around peak 6 and 7 base lifts are usually open. The runs around these lifts are mainly blues and can be quite playful.

Breckenridge is also known for having award winning terrain parks. Because of this, they have entire runs dedicated to just park. Making Breck the perfect resort to do parks laps in. No other resorts in Colorado have this. Also, each terrain park Breck has is specifically for different features sizes and park levels. This creates a really good progression for skiers and boarders learning to do park. Thus there is an XS, S, M and L terrain park. The XS, M and L parks are all at the peak 8 base and can be easily accessed by 5-Chair. 

Highway 9 park with S features is weirdly off of peak 9 base and away from the rest of the parks. This park is great for beginners wanting to get into park and get used to hitting S features. Another park that is away from the others is a wooden feature park that is in the woods off of peak 7 base area. These features are not maintained and need a decent amount of snow to even hit. It is easier for boarders to hit these features, but what park skier doesn’t like a bit of a challenge.  You can also find hidden huts near these features as well. Breck is known for having a lot of hidden ski huts. Although Breck has been trying to tear them down every season, only for locals to build them back up.

The two larger park areas with M and L features are long runs for park, which when picking a park line can be very fun. These parks have great jump lines and tons and tons of various rail features. These are the parks that the park rats will frequent. You can also find various pros every now and then since Breck has such a well known amazing park. These parks are tucked into a beginner area, which means park rats and beginners can be intertwined. This is often not good, because the park rats are known to go very fast and the beginners do not. If you are not interested in riding in the park, I suggest staying away from the 5-Chair.

Another key thing to note about Breck is how big it is. When trying to get from peak to peak or one side of the resort to another, it can feel like you’re on the lift more than you are skiing. This can cut out a lot of time on the snow from your day. I would pick a certain area of the mountain and stick to it for the day if your goal is to get as many laps in as possible. Or simply spend multiple days exploring Breck to get the full experience.

Base Elevation – 9,600 ft

Peak Elevation – 12,998 ft

Number of Lifts – 34

Number of Trails – 187

Total Terrain – 2,908 acres

Easiest Terrain (Greens) – 13%

More Difficult Terrain (Blues) – 23%

Most Difficult Terrain (Blacks)  – 36%

Expert Terrain (Double Blacks) – 28%

Resort Hours – 8:30am-4pm Daily

Atmosphere and Locals:

Breckenridge sees a hodgepodge of locals. From local Summit County park rats to families and tourists, Breck is not known for having one kind of skier or boarder that likes to ride here.  A lot of locals flock to break on good powder days because of the peaks and abundant advanced terrain. Along with the locals, the employees are great. They are very friendly but take the safety of the mountain very seriously; maybe too seriously.

Breck also has one of my favorite mountain towns. Yes it can be touristy, but not as much as one would think. A lot of the employees in the surrounding mountain towns come to breck to let loose during the weekends. This makes Breck’s nightlife quite fun and you can meet people from all over who have come to the mountains. 

Accessibility and Parking:

There is a huge free parking lot as you are driving into Breckenridge. This lot has buses that will take you to the various peak bases. Later in the season, the parking lots closer to the bases will become free. Since Breckenridge is such a huge ski resort there are tons and tons of large parking areas. These areas can be hard to find if it is your first time at the resort. Follow the signs or use your GPS to find the specific parking lot you would like to go to.

Breckenridge is tucked away in Summit County. You do have to deal with the inevitable I-70 traffic. On weekends, Breck is a very popular resort destination and you will have traffic the entire drive, even after leaving I-70. Luckily these roads are usually well maintained during the winter. Breck is over an hour and a half away from Denver, but often longer on weekends.

Pricing: $$

Lift Tickets – 

Currently Unavailable due to COVID-19.

Associated Season Pass – Epic Pass

Lessons – 

Currently Unavailable due to COVID-19.

Rentals – 

Demo Skis: $68

Performance Skis: $60

Sport Skis: $52

Junior Skis: $36

Demo Board: $68

Performance Board: $60

Junior Board: $36

For more information visit https://www.breckenridge.com/