Exploring the Colorado Rockies!

Hi, I want to show you guys how gorgeous the Rocky Mountains actually are and it's skitowns/resorts. This might be interesting for people who are planning to go on vacation to one of these resorts.

I have the Colorado skipass. I have access to 5 different resorts. So it's likely that I'm going to visit those resorts and maybe towns to make some pictures.

- Breckenridge
- Arapahoe Basin
- Keystone
- Vail
- Beaver Creek

I'll start of with Breckenridge!

Breckenridge


Breckenridge celebrated it's 150th anniversary last summer (2009). It used to be an old little mining town. There are still some mineshafts and stuff left, fun to see when you're over in 'Breck' for the summer. In the summer about 3000 people live in Breckenridge. In the winter this is more like 30.000. Breckenridge is well known because of it's huge ski resort. As far as I know there are 4 main peaks: Peak 7, 8, 9 and 10. There is a Breckconnect gondola in town that will bring you up to the runs for free. Also lift tickets are available for purchase at the Gondola station in town. Enough about this, people who want to go to Breck will find out for themselves.

At the moment the snow is not very good. There is about 46'' and the biggest part of that snow is artificial. Because of the global warming it didn't snow for weeks which is quite sad. So let's all do the snowdance and hope for some good fresh powder snow! The gondola brings you straight to Peak 8 so that's the peak where I mostly go.

Let's start off with a map found on the internet of the Breckenridge ski resort. Click on thumbnail to enlarge:

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/5403/breckenridgeskiareamap.th.jpg (http://img194.imageshack.us/i/breckenridgeskiareamap.jpg/)
Courtesy of Breckvacationrentals.com

The Breckenridge ski resort has 26 lifts and about 140/150 runs.

From the left to the right: Peak 10, 9, 8, and 7. Peak 7 is the newest peak of the Breckenridge ski resort. It has only one lift. Where it says on top right under summit Peak 8 'foot access' definitely changed nowadays. This map is a bit outdated but that's fine. Just 3 weeks ago the Imperial Superchair lift opened. It's the highest ski lift of North America. It gives you access to the top of Peak 8 and it's expert terrain only. You can see the T-Bar too, it's also expert access only. You guys won't see pictures from the top of that for a while because there is just too little snow IMO. I don't want to destroy my board on the rocks and ice. It will come though, the views are breathtaking :)

Let's start off with the Colorado Superchair. I'll tell you where I am at every single picture so you can follow me on the map I've posted if you guys are interested :)

1. Peak 8 base area

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05178.jpg

2. Going to the Colorado Superchair. I wish it was like this every single day. The reason why there are so little people is because I arrived around 9 am in the morning. You'll see the amount of people increase on my pictures, the rows can be terribly long!

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05179.jpg

3. On the Colorado Superchair heading up the mountain

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05180.jpg

4. In the far distance you can see the T-Bar

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05181.jpg

5. On the right Sprouse's run. Famous because of the several skiers and boarders that die on this run every single season. It's not a hard run it's just that people are going so fast that they can't control their speed and lose their balance. They crash into a tree and die, sad stories :ohno:

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05182.jpg

6. On top at the Colorodo Superchair

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05185.jpg

7. Your guide ;)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05187.jpg

8. View from the top. Down in the valley is Breckenridge. I'm going to take the Springmeier run down to the base area

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05191.jpg

9. On my way and entering a slow zone. Don't go too fast in these or they will chase you and take away your lift ticket ( or your seasonal skipass which is even worse )

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05193.jpg

10. Back at the Peak 8 base area. You can see the brand new resort that will open in spring 2010.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05195.jpg

11. Time for something else. Let's go up the Rocky Mountain Superchair

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05197.jpg

12. Hmm that run looks exciting. It's called Little Johnny. As you can see a bunch of moguls (the little bumps) so not a great run for snowboarders..

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05199.jpg

13. On top at the Rocky Mountain Superchair

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05200.jpg

14. The weather was not great for taking pictures, but still quite a clear view

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05201.jpg

15. A picture of the area while putting on my bindings and getting ready

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05202.jpg

16. We are heading for Dukes. One of my favorite runs. It's expert terrain and you will see that in the next few pictures

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05209.jpg

17. Hmm that's why. Looks pretty steep hm? Wait until you get there in real life :cheers:

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05205.jpg

18. Ok, quite emberassing but I ate snow a few seconds later thanks to the little amount of snow. Yes I know, weak excuse but wait until you experience it :) Anyway, it was a good opportunity to show you guys something of the run and it's steepness.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05208.jpg

19. I took Dukes down safely and headed up the Rocky Mountain lift again. Now we're heading for Northstar. Not as hard as Dukes but interesting to see.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05210.jpg

20. Sitting down and getting ready. Here is also the T-Bar lift which takes you up to the expert terrain. Check the map if you're interested :)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05211.jpg

21. Ok, that's what Northstar looks like. The last run for today. I did some more runs inbetween but didn't take pictures of them all.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05212.jpg

22. This gives you an idea of the base Gondola station. It's pretty close to downtown and it gives you excellent access to the lifts. I took the four o'clock run down to the busstation. You can find it on the map, it's tight. You can basically ski/board down to the lot instead of taking the Gondola.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05217.jpg

23. The Gondola station

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05219.jpg

24. You can see the runs from here. The buses are free, they'll take you up to the Gondola station and downtown for free. There are a few parking lots in Breckenridge but it's definitely not recommended. Besides that it's awfully expensive to park, if you don't live in town and come from far you don't really have a choice I guess.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/DSC05221.jpg

Pictures from the other side of the valley. This is the area where our condo/townhome is.

These pictures are taken with my DSLR. I took the pictures of the ski resort with my compact camera. Obviously I'm not going to take my DSLR up there.

25. The end of the day. Not much snow, it's more ice. Disappointing season so far

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0896.jpg

26. It's supposed to be completely covered with snow...

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0898.jpg

27. Peaks with snow

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0900.jpg

28. This is exactly where I stood last summer. Watching the fireworks of Breck's 150th anniversary.


http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0901.jpg

29.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0902.jpg

30. The ski resort from far

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0903.jpg

31. From the other side of the valley. A closer look of the Breckenridge ski resort

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0905.jpg

32. Dirty icy roads

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0907.jpg

33.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0908.jpg

34. This is where I'm waiting for the bus every single morning when I'm up in Breck

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0912.jpg

35. And the street where our townhome/condo is

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0914.jpg


Thanks for watching and comments are very welcome! If you have any questions you can ask those too. The next pictures I will post here are probably from the top of Imperial Superchair and T-Bar. When the snow get's better I'll probably visit Vail, Keystone and Beaver Creek too. I also have some summer pictures of Breckenridge somewhere. I might post those too sometime.

- Niels

Great pics of the Rockies in Colorado Ni3lS keep on posting more it never gets old seeing a beautiful state like Colorado especially when it is covered in snow :)

nice vacation.

beautiful scenery.

i thought most people put down their snowboards and switched to skis after the age of 14 ;)

Thanks for the comments.

@ poptartscrunch: it's actually reverse. Skiing is what you learn when you're young. As soon as you get older it's harder to learn skiing and people rather start with snowboard lessons. Skiing people like to switch to snowboarding too.. I don't know anyone who did snowboarding and switched to skiing..

Time for me to think about a weekend ski trip to Korea!

Awesome photos. I've been skiing for only a few years, but only in Europe (which is actually weird since I live in Mexico and Colorado is about ten times closer, but it's sort worked out that way.. My better half has to family there and it's hard to coordinate vacations outside of the of the year-end holiday season) Anyway, I've only been to Whistler and a few of the comparatively tiny resorts around Montreal in Canada, and I've heard Europeans (and especially Brits, whose opinions I tend to trust more as unbiased, non-Alpine country nationals) say that once you've skied in the Alps, with its vast network of inter-linked areas, glaciers and huge verticals, most things in North America feel tame. If you had to pick one of these resorts are the largest and most varied, what would it be? I'm actually thinking about spending a long weekend in Colorado this coming Spring... I'm no expert but I do describe myself as a mileage-hungry piste basher :lol:

I know this thread is older but I just wanted to say very nice pictures. I will be riding at Breck and Keystone a lot this season.

Awesome photos. I've been skiing for only a few years, but only in Europe (which is actually weird since I live in Mexico and Colorado is about ten times closer, but it's sort worked out that way.. My better half has to family there and it's hard to coordinate vacations outside of the of the year-end holiday season) Anyway, I've only been to Whistler and a few of the comparatively tiny resorts around Montreal in Canada, and I've heard Europeans (and especially Brits, whose opinions I tend to trust more as unbiased, non-Alpine country nationals) say that once you've skied in the Alps, with its vast network of inter-linked areas, glaciers and huge verticals, most things in North America feel tame. If you had to pick one of these resorts are the largest and most varied, what would it be? I'm actually thinking about spending a long weekend in Colorado this coming Spring... I'm no expert but I do describe myself as a mileage-hungry piste basher :lol:

Haha. Um the best ski resort would probably be Vail IMO. It's very big (3 mountains) and a lot of variety. It's also the most expensive resort :tongue3: I went there in february this year and there was powder until my knees. It was awesome.

I know this thread is older but I just wanted to say very nice pictures. I will be riding at Breck and Keystone a lot this season.

Cool. I've actually never been to keystone although it's right on the other side of the valley. I always wanted to go night skiiing at keystone but never did. Now I'm back in Holland again so won't do much boarding this winter. Maybe italy in spring next year. Enjoy Colorado!

So what the heck. This thread got bumped and I got some more pictures to share with you guys.

Frisco:

36.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0962.jpg

37.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0964.jpg

38.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0968.jpg

39.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0970.jpg

40.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm283/Nielsiej13/IMG_0972.jpg

I'll post some Vail pics later.

The scenery around Colorado mountains is really awesome