moving to breckenridge....suggestions?

MountainManny wrote:If you are a trustafarian you will be right at home...aside from that the town sucks nuts...Without question my least favorite resort town in all Colorado....I even like Aspen more, but that isn't saying much.

Agreed. Skiing is pretty much terrible and the trails are so wide that all the powder blows out as soon as it hits the ground. I never go to Breck unless my visiting friends pretty much force me to go. It has some sort of cultural allure that pulls all the families and gapers in from around the country to shop and ride wide blue trails.

That being said I'm a East Coast transplant as well and you WILL love it in CO and Breck for that matter, regardless of what we say here. Later on you'll figure out where you really want to live, so I wouldn't be discouraged by any of our negative comments. Just people letting you know what you can really expect. And hell who knows you might love it and never leave...we all have our own experiences in life. People love to trash talk Boulder, and I love it here. To each their own.

Have a blast and be safe in the BC!

Brek is one of the nicest resorts because it is a ski resort town. A lot of the resorts are arguably just that. A resort.

I do also agree with the consensus that the skiing sucks. However, being that you're on this site makes me confident that you'll be planning backcountry days more than you'll be watching base and midbase reports.

I'm with Glenn, all this negativity is nonsense. Are there better mountains than Breck? Of course. Does Breck have enough solid terrain to keep the OP busy for a season? Of course. Given that he'll be living in Breck or close (and assuming we get some snow this year), he should have a fair share of good days skiing 6 Chair, E Chair, and the Lake Chutes. And when there isn't snow, being from the east, at least he'll be able to rail some turns unlike most "western" skiers.

Here is a link for avy classes:

alpineworldascents.com/scre…

Dude, Dont listen to the 'aters. Breck and summit are cool places and you will meet cool people. If you get sick of breck... drive to vail or beaver creek. If you find breck to be annoying, move over the pass to fairplay. Real mountain experience there and in Alma. Have fun, the only girl action in from tourists, so figure out a way to get around as many female tourists as possible, and make them laugh and drink and you'll do great!

Edit: look into Colorado Mountain College for fun classes and a way to meet other people in your position. You don't have to be a college kid to take some of the Rec. classes they offer, and you'll meet like minded folks (with good herb).

Some other climbing options:
- Black Wall / Tan Buttress on Mt Evans (not sure the current conditions and/or if the season is over given the high elevation), ~1:45 from Breck
- South Platte, ~1:45 from Breck
- Mt Royal, Frisco
- E Ridge of Mt Bancroft (fun winter route), ~1:40 from Breck
- The crappy bouldering at Swan Mt Rd isn't really worth visiting unless you're desperate.
- The Gore Range is worth exploring and doesn't get much traffic compared to the 14ers (e.g. mountainproject.com/v/partn…).

The Dawson guides are focused on the 14ers but cover backcountry ski descents and snow climbs. Latitude 40 puts out some good topo maps of the area.

Other Notes
- E bound I-70 traffic is heinous on Sun afternoons/evenings.
- There's a not too expensive natural grocery store (Natural Grocers) in Dillon.

A few more Avy options. Colorado Mountain School totalclimbing.com/page.php?… in the Front Range/Estes Park, or San Juan Mountain Guides in Avy Central aka The San Juans ourayclimbing.com/pages/sho…. Crested Butte Mountain Guides crestedbutteguides.com/page… All great operators.

Randy W. wrote:Dude, Dont listen to the 'aters. Breck and summit are cool places and you will meet cool people. If you get sick of breck... drive to vail or beaver creek. If you find breck to be annoying, move over the pass to fairplay. Real mountain experience there and in Alma. Have fun, the only girl action in from tourists, so figure out a way to get around as many female tourists as possible, and make them laugh and drink and you'll do great! Edit: look into Colorado Mountain College for fun classes and a way to meet other people in your position. You don't have to be a college kid to take some of the Rec. classes they offer, and you'll meet like minded folks (with good herb).

Word...I have lived in Alma, Fairplay, and Shawnee....can't say enough about that area.

I lived and worked in Breckenridge for ten years (ski instructor). It is a great mtn with lots of fun steep terrain. Yes there are flats too but that's what you need for teaching. There is a huge backcountry skiing crowd and loads of fun terrain.
As for clumbing, well you are pretty close to Buena Vista snd South Platte and Shelf Road.
There are plenty of women, especially working on the mtn. I'm sure you will have fun!!!

I've lived in Summit for 4 years (2 in silverthorne, and 2 in breck)and moved here from Wisconsin. My opinions are as follows and well supported by many people that I know.

Summit County is a place of averages for outdoor recreation. The climbing is average, the ice is average, trail running is average, the skiing is average. What makes it ABOVE average is the fact that you can do ALL of those things right out of your back door. The ability to drive an hour or so and get amazing levels of all of those things makes it even better.

Summit county is easily accessible. It is a multifaceted issue. Its easy to get to Denver to pick up anything you need (theres no USPS post service up here to the house so some things can get tricky) or go to a show, or party somewhere. Its also easily and realtively cheap to grab a flight at DIA anywhere in the world without too much hassle. The bad part is that you have a lot of people from Denver coming up to ski and LOTS of skiier traffic. Breck is the most popular ski resort by skier visits on the continent and its still growing. So there will be a lot of people in town at certain points. Don't worry about it. Remember that you only have a job because those people are here.

I 100% agree that you need back country avy lessons. I would also say do a Wilderness First Aid class. Its only a weekend and will give you at least a little bit of knowledge, just in case. As far as back country skiing is concerned there is plenty here to entertain you for a season, especially where you're coming from, and plenty that will scare the shit out of you.

There is a decent amount of climbing in the county and there is being more work put into more routes. If you want to have some real fun get a trad rack and prepare for some alpine epics in the Gore. There is much more in there than you would think. Just because it isn't published or talked about widely doesn't mean its not there.

There are girls here. I thought there weren't when I moved here, but they're here. Most of the girls worth any time just don't go to the bars often or to parties because they're over it.

Get your ski setup dialed, get ice climbing gear, do your avy and WFA classes, prepare to be poor, but most of all enjoy colorado :)

Also, don't live in the employee housing or you'll just sit around and smoke weed all day.

I lived in summit for 5 years, but never skied breck. It's an ok town, and the outdoor options are good. As far as climbing goes, you could definitely stop in the front range and climb in boulder canyon, clear creek canyon, or shelf road, they'd all be on the way.

As far as local climbing, there's not much that's enjoyable in the winter, but in fall and spring, check out montezuma aka keyston, and swan mountain road has some nice bouldering.

I was told when I first moved to summit county, "she's not your girlfriend, it's just your turn" but it never bothered me, I was there to ski, hike and climb. There's plenty of girls on the front range, and they frequently find mountain boys interesting. Good luck, have fun, and bring on the SNOW!

As a woman who's lived in Breckenridge for a long time, I can't help but chuckle a bit.

Yes the quantity of men is high, but not so the quality. Perhaps the above statement about taking your turn truly only applies to the low quality man.

If you are looking for a girl and you are quality then no need to take a turn. Girls are just really picky, and they should be!

:-)

Hey Mia,

When were you there? I was there from 88-90ish and my sister and brother in law were there until 96.

Prod.

I love these threads of mountain town lore. Keep posting up the details, Prod and Mia. What are some tales that stick out in memory from your Breck days?

Haha Stitch,

I was 18 when I moved there, which was on the younger side to be sure. One night Meech from the Famous Meeches Mogul came to me in a pannic because he didn't have a door man. I said sure I'll watch the door, free drinks and $100 cash. I kept my cool as the cops did a walk through looking for minors. Good thing they didn't ask for my ID....

When I did turn 21 I was no longer living there but my sister was so I went for a visit. I had to make sure she didn't tell any of the bar owners that we were celebrating my 21st.

E chair and 6 chair was where it was at when I was there. Plus the Windows.

Prod.

I remember in grade school my mom and I picking my dad up at
Shamus O'Tooles or from the county jail, usually after Ullr Fest!

The original Ullr Fest!!! The bonfire downtown was huge and old skis had to be sacrificed. Yeah that was fun. I used to go to "The Mogul" every week. Great Banda and loads of fun.
Ahhhh. The windows on a powder day!!!!

Ullr Fest looks like some sort of hommage to Odin.

Welcome to Colorado! I moved here 11 years ago from Queens. Summit as most everyone has said really doesn't have any climbing, but you're close to climbing.

Have fun!

Rowdy Wrangellian wrote:I remember in grade school my mom and I picking my dad up at Shamus O'Tooles or from the county jail, usually after Ullr Fest!

Seamus O'Tooles is long gone, there's a community theater there now. Ullr Fest is family friendly now, now more anatomically correct floats and nobody's frozen his face to the sidewalk at the bonfire in years. We've got a big, new modern jail now, and you have to pay room and board if you get sentenced there. The place just ain't what it used to be...

Stich, Ullr Fest pays tribute to Ullr, the Norse god of snow and skiing.

T.L., As for backcountry skiing, I think the best is in the spring, if you get a good corn season. The avalanche danger is lower, so long as you're down before the afternoon wet slabs. Mount Guyot and Baldy, right outside Breck, have some sweet spring skiing.