Jay Silveira
New member
I had planned to ski right at Breckenridge on Friday, especially since Gerry was going to get out on the slopes for the first time in 3 or 4 years. I contacted Matt, and he would be able to use a free ticket that he had. Matt hadn’t really heard anything great about Breckenridge, but he thought this was a good time to check it out. It had starting snowing the previous night (that was great to see) and about an inch or so had accumulated at the Beaver Run Resort where we were staying. Breckenridge was reporting 3 inches of new snow, so I really hoped it would soften things up. Temperatures were quite wintry, so at least it wouldn’t turn to mush. <BR> <BR>Gerry and I were in contact with Matt via radio, and we met up at the top of the Beaver Run SuperChair. Since Gerry was on skis for the first time in years, we took a run below the lift on some mellow terrain. Conditions were a little softer with the new snow, but on this area of the mountain, the untracked was still basically dust on crust. Matt and I had a few forays into the mellow trees alongside the trail, and the conditions were similar. <BR> <BR>I had heard from coworkers that the best lift-served terrain and snow was off the T-Bar on Peak 8. Knowing that Jon, Byron, Bruce etc. would all be over there, we jumped on the Peak 8 Super Connecting Chair. It whisked us along OVER the Beaver Run chair, and quickly to the Peak 8 area. Not knowing the snow conditions in the steep terrain above, we suggested Gerry take a run below on the Independence SuperChair while we checked it out. The T-Bar was interesting; about midway up the slope, it took a sharp left, just before going up a steep pitch. There were a lot of signs in this area warning those that had fallen to get out of the track. <BR> <BR>Matt and I decided to ski Horseshoe bowl first, and then saw untracked snow over to skier’s left (Cucumber Bowl). Although this was the aspect that would have been baked by the sun, the untracked snow looked too good to resist. We certainly did hit bottom in the powder, but it was a refreshing feeling compared to anything we’d skied so far. The most difficult conditions were in areas with refrozen, chopped up snow underneath the powder (much of the first pitch). I did hit a small area in the lower section that had a smooth base below, and those turns were sweet, even though I was only on my midfats. We then crossed to below the return line of the T-Bar (another crazy aspect of the lift, the return line is nowhere near the upward tow line) to check out the mellow slope along the edge of the lift. The turns here were excellent. The few inches of new snow were enough to provide good float on the rolling terrain. Back at the bottom of the lift, we met up with Gerry, and at the top, we ran into the rest of the group we’d been seeking. <BR> <BR>Now we headed into the best snow of the day, in the chutes and bowls to the skier’s left of the T-Bar. This area had some sun protection, and also seemed to collect snow. There was still icy snow below, but the new snow was enough to cover it for good turns even though the terrain was steep (~30 degrees or so). Everyone enjoyed ripping up the chutes, and Gerry had no trouble with the terrain. I found great snow in the tress below this area, on fun rolling terrain with a variety of trees. We did laps there until they shut the T-Bar down on us; it didn’t seem like anywhere else on the mountain could compare for terrain or snow quality. We finished off the day by riding the Colorado SuperChair and heading back to the Beaver Run Resort. <BR> <BR>Any advanced skiers that are bored with Breckenridge should definitely head to Peak 8 (and Peak 7), there’s even hikeable terrain up to the top of Peak 8 at 12,998’. For someone willing to hike, you could have freshies all the time based on what I saw. Even though it looks like Breckenridge has a LOT of skiers, many seem to spend there time on the blue and green trails, saving the trees and steeps for others. <BR> <BR>J.Spin