Demming

Breckenridge Ski Resort is located in Breckenridge, Colorado, where there is no shortage of amazing snow. The ski season runs from early November to late April.

Twenty-eight lifts service 2208 acres and 147 trails. The mountain is 12,998 feet tall, which makes for long trails and more time on the slopes. The longest trail is 3.5 miles long and is a combination of intermediate and beginning levels. 15% of the trails are for beginners, 33% are intermediate level, 32% are advanced and 20% are expert level. Many of the advanced and expert level runs feature bumps, glades and are often almost deserted.

For 20 years people have snowboarded at Breckenridge. The resort offers four terrain parks, four halfpipes, and a Superpipe with 18.5 foot high walls. The Freeway Terrain Park was ranked one of the best by Snowboarder, Transworld Snowboarding, and Freeze magazines. For their 20th anniversary as a snowboarding pioneer, Breckenridge will update and revitalize their already amazing terrain parks. The resort also offers terrain park classes so you can take your skills to the next level.

If you are an intermediate or advanced skier, Breckenridge is a good place to take lessons. As well as offering highly skilled instruction, the ski school has free video analysis to help you discover subtle imperfections in your technique, so you can improve as quickly as possible.

Besides skiing and snowboarding, the resort also offers ski blading, dog sleding, snowshoe tours, snowmobile tours, Nordic skiing, ice-skating and hockey. Another feature you shouldn't miss is the free, guided mountain tours.After playing in the snow all day, check out the recreation center. It has free weights, cardio equipment, aerobic classes, basketball courts, two climbing walls, and separate pools for adults and children. Relax in one of the two hot tubs, the sauna or the steam room.

Close to the mountain is the 136-year-old town of Breckenridge. With over 100 restaurants, 6 spas, 39 bars and clubs, 258 boutiques and 501 hotels and inns, there is something for everyone. On the mountain, there are also a variety of restaurants, pubs, and grab and go options so you can always get fueled up quickly, even if you don't want to go into town.

Perhaps the most unique and refreshing thing about this resort is their environmental policies. The people at Breckenridge Resort consider themselves to be stewards of the land and the resort makes a concerted effort to promote renewable energy, resource conservation, recycling, wildlife habitat preservation, and environmental education. Part of the energy that runs the lifts is generated by wind turbines. They offer free bus service to reduce pollution and they close certain sections of the resort during elk calving season. The ultimate goal is to move the resort towards complete sustainability. To learn more about this project go to http://www,naturalstep.org/.