Breckenridge Ski Culture: The Early Days

This blog features a super video that shares Breckenridge Ski Culture: The Early Days. A group of soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division spread out around Colorado and helped start many of the ski areas that have blossomed into the mega resorts we enjoy today. Back then, it was a different time and many mountain people had a different way of living life. You can listen to a few of the stories in the following video from the Breckenridge Ski Resort.

The History

Surprisingly, there’s a connection between myself (Stacy, Dina’s husband) and Breck. Rounds and Porter, the company mentioned below is a Wichita, Kansas company. That’s where I grew up. I moved to Colorado in the summer of 1996 and Dina moved here in 1993. To me, it was funny that Wichita had played a role in the beginning of the ski area and town that I would later call home. The following excerpt is from the Breckenridge Tourism Office blog.

Late 1950s – The conception of building a ski resort in Breckenridge began when Bill Rounds of the Porter and Rounds Lumber Company became interested in bringing skiing to the valley. He created an organization called the Summit County Development Corporation led by Claude Martin and Bill Starks.

1961 – After some time, Trygve Berge convinces Bill Rounds that a ski area in Breckenridge could be a good business venture. Berge helps design the ski area and layed out the trail system. The Peak 8 Ski Area opened on Dec. 16, 1961, with one Heron double chair and a midway unloading station and one short learners T-bar. Ticket prices were $4 for an adult and $2.50 for children. Attendance ranged in the neighborhood of 17,000 skiers.

Opening Day

We are now in the middle of a snowy stretch of early November and many skiers are attending ski swaps, and pre-season screenings of ski and snowboard flicks. This is a great time to reconnect with other kindred mountain folk, hoot and holler at the screen, as scenes from our favorite places pop up. We are also exposed to new locations and far off locales that spur the adventurous to travel in search of new experiences and new mountains to explore.

We have our favorite lines on our backyard hill, and we’d be happy to show you around when you work with us. We are happy to share that the Breckenridge ski resort is opening on November 9, 2018, this Friday. Locals are treated to a seasonal coffee mug promotion at various coffee shops around town on Thursday, called Wake Up Breckenridge!

If you are able to ski more than 3 or 4 days it makes financial sense to purchase a ski pass. We add on 10 days at Vail and Beaver Creek for an additional $50 dollars. If you can go only one day to either of those resorts, it’s worth it. The back bowls of Vail are unreal, and the trees at “The Beav” are amazing. Blue Sky Basin at Vail is a lot of fun too.

But, in Breckenridge, we usually start off with at least one, maybe two or three top to bottom runs on Peak 8. That might differ this year, as we are getting an abundance of early season snow. Ski patrol will evaluate the runs and make sure it’s safe to open. As the season progresses, the snow makers will blow snow on the runs adjacent to what’s open and go left and right, expanding the terrain.

Ski Resorts Already Open

Loveland and Arapahoe Basin are already turning their chairlifts and happy skiers and snowboarders have been riding for a few weeks already. However, the winner this year was Wolf Creek Ski Area. It was the first to be able to open up. The diehards were there and can now be found in the resorts in Summit County. Thanks for reading and contact us with any questions about our awesome ski culture in Summit County.

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