Monday, June 10, 2019

Breckenridge Ski Resort caps memorable 206-day season with bluebird skies on closing day

#Breckenridge #Colorado
Summit Daily


Bluebird skies, top-to-bottom runs and scant wind gusts blessed local skiers and riders on Sunday morning for Breckenridge Ski Resort’s final day of the 2018-19 season. Skiing was crusty in spots up top and slushy with warm, full-on summer weather down below, but it was a classic day at Breckenridge on Sunday. Even one of the resort’s founders, Trygve Berge, made it out for end-of-season turns to culminate a 206-day season that began on Nov. 7, 2018.
Breckenridge’s crews manicured the remaining snow lower down on Peak 7 to provide top-to-bottom runs off the Independence SuperChair despite the surrounding mud-season-like conditions. In the high alpine, skiers and riders were able to access the T-Bar shortly after the ski resort opened at 9 a.m., the Imperial Express SuperChair — the continent’s highest chairlift at just under 13,000 feet — opening up shortly thereafter. 
 As of Sunday morning, Breckenridge reported spring conditions and a 53-inch base for a total amount of snowfall at 458 inches for the season. That mark registers as the resort’s second-most snowfall since records have been kept dating back 30 years, only behind 2010-11’s 519 inches. Granted, this was the first time Breckenridge extended its season into June and not only extended once, but twice, ultimately to just five days before the resort will reopen for summer operations on Friday. To put that in perspective, that’s 11 days before the summer solstice. With that it’s worth noting, before this year, Breckenridge’s snow total marks only ran through April 1. 
 
When the resort re-opens for summer operations on Friday, the BreckConnect Gondola will resume transporting guests from downtown to the Peak 8 base area after the gondola was closed in recent weeks. Free buses transported guests from Breckenridge Station to Peak 7. 
Courtesy Summit Daily