The long-awaited upgrades to Breckenridge Ski Resort’s Peak 8 base area are ready to go for the start of the ski season Friday, Nov. 8. Those who visited the resort last year were greeted by construction and temporary structures when they pulled into the Peak 8 base. Now, five years after the land was bought by Breckenridge Grand Vacations, the third building of the Grand Colorado resort is almost complete.
Originally a parking lot, the Grand Colorado complex is just behind the Rocky Mountain SuperChair, one of the busiest chairs in North America, according to Breckenridge Grand Vacations CEO Mike Dudick.
“This is the epicenter of skiing, and to create this arrival experience is amazing,” Dudick said. “It’s unparalleled what we’re offering.”
The new building will house skier services, including an upgraded ski and ride school at the ground level, with escalators to move students to the ski slopes, along with a lift ticket office and rental shop facing the slope.
The ground level also will include a day care for Breckenridge Ski Resort guests, a town bus stop and a skier drop-off parking lot. The services, which previously were scattered around the base area, are now centralization into one building.
“I think it’s an arrival experience that’s commensurate with the ski experience,” Dudick said. “It’s what guests expect.”
By December, Dudick said the public services included in the building will be open. That includes a coffee shop, a heated slopeside plaza with seating and an ice rink overlooking the valley.
The coffee shop, Ullr Cafe, will feature grab-and-go food, coffee, wine, beer and liquor. In the summer, the ice rink will be converted to a sports court.
Next summer, a 25-foot statue of the unofficial Breckenridge mascot, Ullr, will be placed in the plaza near the Rocky Mountain SuperChair. The statue will feature Ullr shooting a snowflake arrow toward the top of the peak.
The statue is a way of paying tribute to the history of the mountain, which annually hosts Breckenridge Ullr Fest, Dudick said.
“I feel like it’s a way to give back to the community,” he said.
When searching for an artist to build the structure, Breckenridge Grand Vacations received 174 submissions from around the world. Representatives from the company chose Andy Scott, an artist from Scotland, to create the piece. To understand the background and importance of the Ullr mascot to Breckenridge, Scott attended last year’s Ullr Fest.
New slopeside condos
The Grand Colorado complex will include 253 condos when the project is complete. Of those, 71 are expected to be ready for sale by December, Dudick said, with 32 more ready by summer.
All of the condos are under fractional ownership and owners will have full-time access to Grand Colorado amenities, which include several indoor/outdoor pools, private movie theaters and a spa.
The new development is expected to add 150 year-round jobs for local employees, Dudick said. In order to meet employee housing needs, the company recently completed Moose Landing, a development for employees.
“It’s been a privilege for me to be the developer to build the base area out,” Dudick said. “For an aspiring ski bum that moved here 30 years ago with 400 bucks in his pocket, this is a pretty special thing.”
Courtesy Summit Daily.
