Breckenridge Ski Resort Reports Record Year

Vail Resorts CEO Robert Katz announced the resort operator's record ski season this past year.

Katz called it "potentially the best ski season in history" at the company, and he called Breckenridge "our best performer" of the five resorts that Vail operates.

This past week, Vail Resorts reported record growth and raised expectations for next year. Skier visits were up 6 percent across all five of the resorts that Vail operates - Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Heavenly in Lake Tahoe - but it was Breckenridge that showed the biggest jump in skier numbers. Well over 1.6 million skier days were logged at Breck this past season, a jump of more than 10 percent over the previous year.

Katz, who reminded folks that he was part of a group that brought Breckenridge under the Vail Resorts umbrella in the early 90s, recalled that "it was crystal clear from day one that the town was a terrific asset for the resort."

He lauded town officials for their foresight and vision over the years, and said that he attributed a lot of the on-mountain success at Breckenridge to the relationship that the resort has with the town.

"The fruits of that are really paying off," Katz said.

This past season, Breckenridge added North America's highest chair lift - The Imperial Express Super Chair, and finished the Skyway Skiway project, a ski-back from the resort's base areas down to the parking lots near Main Street Breckenridge.

The biggest news at the resort, however, is the new gondola taking shape. That project was announced late last year, and is the central cog to the ambitious development plans laid out by Vail Resorts.

Co-president of the mountain division for Vail Resorts and chief operating officer of Breckenridge and Keystone Roger McCarthy particularly touted the new Imperial Express, saying the new lift "really put Breckenridge on the map."

He was equally impassioned about the new gondola, saying that the opportunities for a new in-town base area are promising for the entire business community. More than that, the new gondola guarantees at least some alleviation of the Ski Hill Road gridlock that Breck suffers from during peak season. McCarthy estimated that the 19 buses currently serving the more than 1 million-plus riders every season can only handle about 1,600 people every hour. The new gondola will be able to handle at least 3,000 people every hour.