F Vail

[MarzNC]

@ Breck... Is this for real? Even remotely possible?

Hard to know context from the video. What time of the season? Day of week? Time of day? Was the gondola shut down for a while? Certainly possible.

Looks like the line for the gondola from the main parking lot in town. There is no provision for a "maze" for many people waiting to load. The only access from town involves walking from a couple smaller lots to load a chairlift that gives access to Peak 9. From there, getting over to terrain on Peaks 6 and 7 would take a while. Also possible to take a bus from town to get to the Peak 8 base. I doubt many people do that.

Breck gondola base, March 2024

I have the impression that for many people, getting back to the parking lot in the late afternoon can mean waiting in line to download on the gondola. At least for people on a ski vacation who are tired by then. When we were checking out Breck for a day in late March, Bill opted to download from the base of Peak 8. I skied down the groomer from the base of the Imperial Chair--4 O'Clock--just to experience it. I'd talked to a couple guys in the parking lot who had done it the day before. So I knew I wouldn't get stuck walking due to low snow coverage or sticky snow. No problem skiing down. Stopped for good views. Then had to carry my skis down stairs, through a pedestrian tunnel, up stairs, and a couple blocks to where we parked in the surface lot (pay lot).

Entrance to pedestrian tunnel at the end of Four O'Clock, near the corner of the pay parking deck

Half way to the car

 

[MarzNC]

After checking out Breck and Keystone for a day each since I had an Epic pass for a stay at Crested Butte, I'm in no hurry to return. I also sampled Vail and Beaver Creek this season. Can understand why some people end up at these Epic resorts, but for a week of skiing the only one on the list for a return trip is Crested Butte. Partially because it doesn't feel like it's owned by Vail Resorts. Probably makes a difference that I've improved enough in the past decade to enjoy at least some of the double-black terrain at CB. The town of Crested Butte clearly has more character than the town of Breckenridge.

 

[Zykamps]

Just spent a week in Breck but my few ski days were at the basin. Breck was a nice town to visit, very walkable. This late I doubt crowds would have been an issue. A basin on the first day ran out of parking. Natural crowd control. A blessing and a curse.

 

[raisingarizona]

I've seen that video before, I think two years ago.

Breck has about the same skier visits as Vail with 55% of lift capacity and acreage. Breck is a worthy destination in April with the high altitude alpine and lesser crowds. But this February a friend of mine was mowed down at Breck by an errant snowboarder, resulting in shattered ribs requiring 7 copper plates, 80 screws and 250 stitches plus a hole in his lung that drained fluid for 3 days.

JFC man. That had to hurt like hell.

 

[raisingarizona]

I lived for a month in Breckenridge in 2008. The top gets wind scoured and the rest is flat. No plans to go back.

It looks like it takes a bit of an epic journey to get to where you actually want to ski. That’s not bad for a tourist skier on vacation but it kind of sucks if that’s your local hill and you want to get out for just a couple of hours here and there.

Less is often more.

The winter I was in telluride was not a great snow year. The lifts up in the more alpine terrain had the best skiing that year and the lower mountain was really thin. I don’t remember how long it took exactly but it was a damn good haul from town to get back up in there. I learned to appreciate smaller mountains with a good lift for hot lapping right out of the base area.

 

[raisingarizona]

After checking out Breck and Keystone for a day each since I had an Epic pass for a stay at Crested Butte, I'm in no hurry to return. I also sampled Vail and Beaver Creek this season. Can understand why some people end up at these Epic resorts, but for a week of skiing the only one on the list for a return trip is Crested Butte. Partially because it doesn't feel like it's owned by Vail Resorts. Probably makes a difference that I've improved enough in the past decade to enjoy at least some of the double-black terrain at CB. The town of Crested Butte clearly has more character than the town of Breckenridge.

CB is a classic ski town and far enough out of the way that it’s not ruined by weekend traffic. I’ve always said that if you aren’t there to ski the expert terrain the place isn’t all that. But if you like rocky, technical skiing it’s pretty darn hard to beat.

Skiing there in the 90’s was really fun.

 

[TonyC]

I’ve always said that if you aren’t there to ski the expert terrain the place isn’t all that. But if you like rocky, technical skiing it’s pretty darn hard to beat.

+1 Crested Butte has very distinctive skiing. We were there March 21 and March 22. As I commented at the time, we were lucky to have the clear spring weather. You do not want powder or bad visibility with the rocky, technical skiing.

 

[Peter Minde]

@ Breck... Is this for real? Even remotely possible?

One reason I like nordic... no lift lines.

 

[MarzNC]

One reason I like nordic... no lift lines.

Does that mean you would consider flying to Colorado or Tahoe to check out the nordic centers at an Epic resort? I know the alpine Indy Pass includes access to nordic trails if they exist, but not sure about Epic. I didn't know Epic resorts had nordic trails.

 

[Peter Minde]

Does that mean you would consider flying to Colorado or Tahoe to check out the nordic centers at an Epic resort? I know the alpine Indy Pass includes access to nordic trails if they exist, but not sure about Epic. I didn't know Epic resorts had nordic trails.

I bought a nordic Indy Pass this year and didn't take advantage of it. It includes a few nordic centers out west that I'd like to add to my life list. I'm unfamiliar with all the different Epic Pass resorts and what nordic they might offer.