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Breckenridge

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In Aspen, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Jackson Hole, Park City, Steamboat Springs, Telluride, resources, Vail and Beaver Creek

Ski Resorts Are For Non-skiers, Too

Ski resorts are for non-skiers, too.

If you mention the word ‘vacation’ to most people, the chances are they will immediately think of sun-soaked resorts in various parts of the globe. They will conjure up images of long, unspoilt beaches, crystal clear oceans, luxurious hotels and a variety of exciting restaurants offering the very best examples of local and international cuisine.

However, not every holiday has to be about swimming, sunbathing and snorkelling. Although most people look to spend their annual vacation doing nothing more strenuous than topping up their tans, it should be borne in mind that there are plenty of alternatives which don’t involve burning to a crisp on a lounger.

All over the world, from the iconic beauty of the Swiss Alps to the millionaire’s playground of Aspen in Colorado, there are hundreds of ski resorts which are just waiting to be enjoyed. One of the sad things about them, however, is that they remain undiscovered by people who have no intention of taking up skiing.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

 

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In Aspen Ski Resort, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, Crested Butte Ski Resorts, Steamboat Springs Ski Resorts, Telluride Ski Resort, resources, Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts

Colorado Ski Areas Likely to Start Making Snow This Week

In what sounds like good news for ski resorts eager to start making snow, the National Weather Service is forecasting a strong cold front to drop out of Canada mid-week, with overnight lows dropping into the teens and 20s starting Wednesday night.

That’s plenty cold to fire up the snow guns, which have already been moved into position at Arapahoe Basin and Loveland, the two resorts that traditionally compete for opening day honors. Starting Wednesday, nighttime lows should stay well below freezing, especially at the higher elevations.

A similar weather pattern prevailed last year, with a significant snowfall dusting the higher terrain around the Continental Divide Oct. 8. Arapahoe Basin opened a few days later, on Oct. 12.

Tuesday looks to be the nicest day of the week if you like sunny and warm weather, with highs climbing into to 60s. By Wednesday, highs will only reach the mid 50s as cooler air rushes down from central Canada. At this point, there looks to be just enough moisture with the system to trigger a few showers that could change over to snow down to valley levels Wednesday night and into Thursday.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, resources

Breckenridge Tries To Stop Illegal Ski Lessons

The Breckenridge Ski Area has a problem on its hands heading into ski season as people are giving ski lessons illegally. Now the town may step in to help.

The police department said it’s about safety, but one thing that’s unique with Breckenridge is that the base areas are within the town limits, so while it’s a federal violation right now, the town also wants to make it illegal.

“It’s amazing how many people do advertise, especially on sites like Craigslist, and the ski areas monitor that,” Assistant Police Chief Greg Morrison said.

Breckenridge Ski Area and the town want to crack down even harder on the dangerous niche industry. Illegal ski lessons are a federal crime because it happens on Forest Service property. But with few law enforcement officers around the ski resorts in the winter, it’s also a hard crime to catch.

Click here to read the entire article.

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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, resources, Vail and Beaver Creek, Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts

Vail Resorts Purchases Two Midwest Ski Areas

To reach the large Midwestern market of skiers and snowboarders, Vail Resorts announced Thursday the addition of two Midwest ski areas: Afton Alps and Mount Brighton. What’s more, Summit locals with the Epic Pass, Epic Local, Summit Value and Epic-7-day have instant access at the newest ski areas.  As part of the acquisition, Vail Resorts plans to enhance both the on-mountain and base area experience at each ski area. “We plan to bring state-of-the-art racing, terrain parks, coaching and technology to the guest experience. We also will connect these urban ski areas to our world-class resorts in Colorado, California and Nevada with new season pass offerings, providing the chance to experience the best skiing and riding locally and in the West,” said Rob Katz, chairman and chief executive officer of Vail Resorts.
Vail Resorts has entered into agreements to purchase the two ski areas for $20 million, said Kelly Ladyga, spokeswoman for VR.  Both Afton and Brighton serve major snowsports markets in the Midwest with more than 468,000 active skiers and snowboarders in the nearby Minneapolis, St. Paul and Detroit metropolitan areas, according to a press release.  “We are thrilled to welcome Afton Alps and Mount Brighton to the Vail Resorts family,” Katz said. “These acquisitions are part of a new strategy for Vail Resorts to drive season pass sales and build broader guest loyalty by looking at premier smaller ski areas located near major urban markets.”
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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Market, resources

Breckenridge Finds Bright Future After 2010 Lodging Tax

In 2010, Breckenridge Town Councilman Mike Dudick led a charge for a lodging tax increase to generate marketing money for the town of Breckenridge.  Some residents worried the funding wasn’t needed or the added cost might deter potential visitors, but in the throes of the recession, voters approved the tax hike.  Two years later, Breckenridge’s marketing pocketbook is approximately $1.2 million fatter, but is the town better off economically?While it is difficult to determine the return on investment of money spent to promote an entire town, rather than a single business, those who monitor the pulse of the local market say yes.

“I think the clearest indicator of the success of the increased marketing dollars is that lodging revenue in the town of Breckenridge has grown,” Dudick said. “All indicators are that we’re doing better than what we have in the past.”

As of October, short-term lodging sales tax revenue was up 6.2 percent year-to-date over 2011. Bookings for rooms in Breckenridge were tracking up 2 percent from last year for the month of December, even though occupancy at 16 other mountain resort destinations was down more than 12 percent for the same month, according to data released by the Mountain Travel Research Program at the end of November.  Sales tax numbers for the retail and restaurant industries also trended well this year.

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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Recreation, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, resources

Breckenridge More Than a Great Ski Town

There was a time in the not-too-distant past, longtime Breckenridge residents say, when a dog could lie in Main Street all day and not be bothered by a car. The population was 393 in 1960, on the verge of becoming a ghost town after the collapse of mining.

Today, it’s the postcard of a Colorado ski town, drawing visitors from around the world for skiing, shopping and mountain splendor. In winter, you’re almost as likely to share the chairlift with someone from Europe as from Colorado. Just more than two hours’ drive from Colorado Springs, Breckenridge is a great weekend destination, even if you don’t ski or snowboard.

Click here to read about all the Winter Activities in Breckenridge.

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In Aspen, Aspen Recreation, Breckenridge, Breckenridge Recreation, Steamboat Springs, Steamboat Springs Recreation, resources, Vail and Beaver Creek, Vail and Beaver Creek Recreation

USA Pro Cycling Comes to Aspen, Breck, Steamboat, Vail in 2013

USA Pro Challenge officials unveiled the 2013 host cities. After a year off, Steamboat Springs will host the Stage 3 finish August 21 and the Stage 4 start August 22. Steamboat the finish of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge host in 2011.  USA Pro Cycling Challenge attracts some of the best cyclist in the world and it definitely puts Colorado on the map for pro cycling.

The 2013 host cities and stages are:

Aug. 19 — Stage 1: Aspen/Snowmass Circuit
Aug. 20 — Stage 2: Aspen/Snowmass to Breckenridge
Aug. 21 — Stage 3: Breckenridge to Steamboat Springs
Aug. 22 — Stage 4: Steamboat Springs to Beaver Creek
Aug. 23 — Stage 5: Vail Time Trial
Aug. 24 — Stage 6: Loveland to Fort Collins
Aug. 25 — Stage 7: Denver Circuit

When this caravan of cycling excitement came through in 2011, the city was electric and the races were quite a spectacle. Click here for more info on the USA Pro Challenge.

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In Aspen, Aspen Ski Resort, Breckenridge, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, Steamboat Springs, Steamboat Springs Ski Resorts, resources, Vail and Beaver Creek, Vail and Beaver Creek Ski Resorts

Nation’s Ski Areas and U.S. Forest Service Fight Over Water Rights

Ski-area operators and their federal landlord faced off in federal court Thursday, arguing over ownership of the resorts’ rights to water they use for snowmaking and other purposes.

Last year the Forest Service introduced a new rule in its ski-area permitting process that required ski areas to transfer some water rights to the federal government, arguing the water should stay connected to the publicly owned land. The Lakewood-based National Ski Areas Association — or NSAA — sued, calling the new permitting condition a federal takeover of private property that ski areas acquired legally through state water courts.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge William Martinez entertained oral arguments from both sides in a case that could decide the fate of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ski-area water rights.

Click here to read the entire article. 

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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Ski Resorts, resources

Breckenridge Receives Forest Service Approval For Peak 6 Expansion

One of the most popular U.S. ski resorts, Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado, could have more terrain to handle its visitors by the 2013-2014 ski season. Vail Resorts, the owner of Breckenridge Resort, announced Tuesday that it has received U.S. Forest Service (USFS) approval for including 543 acres on Peak 6 within the ski-area boundaries.

The Summit County resort generally records annual skier-visit numbers similar to nearby Vail Mountain. However, Breckenridge’s current terrain of 2,358 acres pales in comparison to Vail’s 5,289 acres. The Breckenridge terrain expansion would represent a 23-percent increase. A new high-speed, six-person chairlift and four-person, fixed-grip lift are planned to access 400 acres of the new terrain. The lift-served terrain would be 45 percent intermediate, 15 percent advanced-intermediate, and 40 percent expert. The other 143 acres would be expert-only, hike-to-terrain along the top of the ridge.

Much of the terrain lies above the treeline, so only about 68 acres would need clearing and grading to create seven below-treeline trails below the open bowl. Additional construction would include a 1,200 square-foot restroom facility and a 500 square-foot ski patrol station.

“Peak 6 will be a tremendous addition to Breckenridge, significantly improving the guest experience by adding both new terrain and lift capacity,” said Rob Katz, chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts. “In addition, the new terrain provides access to intermediate runs and high alpine bowl skiing that will be enjoyed by a wide variety of our guests.”

Click here to read the entire article.

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In Breckenridge, Breckenridge Market, resources

Commercial Real Estate Showing Signs of Life In Summit County

While the numbers aren’t always great, things might be looking up in some areas for commercial real estate in Summit County, according to local professionals.

Jack Wolfe of Wolfe & Company Commercial Real Estate in Breckenridge sees a few good signs that things are turning around, despite some increased vacancy rates in Breckenridge for July. Three large development parcels sold or went under contract last quarter in the resort town, which indicates to him the bottom of the current real estate recession has been reached.

Year-to-date sales for restaurants and bars and retail stores in Breckenridge have increased compared with last year — 15 percent for restaurants and bars, and 3.3 percent for retail — something that indicates commercial real estate could follow. Commercial space is a trailing indicator, and reflective of the overall market, Wolfe said.

“Restaurants are just off the chart right now,” Wolfe said. “I’ve got several restaurants who are looking for space in Breckenridge, and I can’t find them.” Click here to read the entire article.