Spending a week in Breckinridge. Suggestions on what to do?
January 30, 2019 2:58 AM Subscribe
My fiancé and I will be spending the next week in Breckinridge, or more precisely, Blue River. She's never seen snow so we are very excited. Any suggestions on what we should do would be awesome as we're not familiar with the area.
We love eating, drinking, coffee, and out door activities.
We know we'd like to try snowboarding, so any suggestion for where we should go (we've never done it) would be great. We also are going snow tubing, but other than that we are open.
So if you've visited the area, or live in it, we would love to hear any and all suggestions for our trip. Thank you so much!
We love eating, drinking, coffee, and out door activities.
We know we'd like to try snowboarding, so any suggestion for where we should go (we've never done it) would be great. We also are going snow tubing, but other than that we are open.
So if you've visited the area, or live in it, we would love to hear any and all suggestions for our trip. Thank you so much!
Well, first & obviously, Breck is home to the Breckinridge Ski Resort, which is huge and welcoming to skiers and snowboarders of all abilities. Ski & snowboarding schools are onsite. It's lovely, and is probably my favorite place to ski -- there's a wide range of terrain available, lots of space, plenty of rest points on the mountain itself, etc.
Less obvious is that, in that area, there are several OTHER ski resorts you can easily hit, too. Most are smaller and maybe more serious-focussed than Breck, but Arapahoe Basin is really lovely & can be less crowded than Breck itself. OTOH, this is less of a problem in January than it is for later in the season.
A couple years back, my wife twisted her ankle snowboarding and wanted to take a day off, so she found something ELSE fun to do: DOGSLEDDING. She had a BLAST doing it, and frankly we were all a little jealous. I don't remember the vendor, but I'm sure this is still a thing. Check it out!
Downtown Breck is pretty touristy, but also fun to walk through.
It's not cheap, but believe it or not Mountain Flying Fish (500 S Main) is one of the better sushi joints I've ever been to. Apparently, it's all flown in fresh.
posted by uberchet at 6:46 AM on January 30, 2019
Less obvious is that, in that area, there are several OTHER ski resorts you can easily hit, too. Most are smaller and maybe more serious-focussed than Breck, but Arapahoe Basin is really lovely & can be less crowded than Breck itself. OTOH, this is less of a problem in January than it is for later in the season.
A couple years back, my wife twisted her ankle snowboarding and wanted to take a day off, so she found something ELSE fun to do: DOGSLEDDING. She had a BLAST doing it, and frankly we were all a little jealous. I don't remember the vendor, but I'm sure this is still a thing. Check it out!
Downtown Breck is pretty touristy, but also fun to walk through.
It's not cheap, but believe it or not Mountain Flying Fish (500 S Main) is one of the better sushi joints I've ever been to. Apparently, it's all flown in fresh.
posted by uberchet at 6:46 AM on January 30, 2019
Since you say you love drinking: Breckenridge (the town) is at 9,600 feet. Chancels are you're coming from somewhere significantly lower in elevation from that. The ski resort only takes you higher. Give yourself time and TONS OF FLUIDS to help acclimate to the elevation before you hit the sauce. Your heads will thank you.
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:28 AM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by allkindsoftime at 11:28 AM on January 30, 2019 [3 favorites]
Head over to Dillon and go see the ice castles -- they're gorgeous. Ridden does fat bike brewery tours that are a blast (they'll take you to Broken Compass, which is good, and I think Breckenridge Distillery which makes my favorite gin.). Cross Country skiing or snowshoeing at the Nordic Center is always a good time.
I like snowboarding at A-Basin -- until you get your legs under you, you can ride the magic carpet for free with no lift ticket. (Keystone usually scans your pass; I'm not sure about Breck or Copper.) Breckenridge is fun (and massive) but I actually prefer Copper for beginner runs.
If you can find a way to rent gear in Denver on your way out (like at any one of the million Epic Mountain Gear or Christy Sports stores), you'll save a ton of money.
posted by ThatSomething at 4:05 PM on January 31, 2019
I like snowboarding at A-Basin -- until you get your legs under you, you can ride the magic carpet for free with no lift ticket. (Keystone usually scans your pass; I'm not sure about Breck or Copper.) Breckenridge is fun (and massive) but I actually prefer Copper for beginner runs.
If you can find a way to rent gear in Denver on your way out (like at any one of the million Epic Mountain Gear or Christy Sports stores), you'll save a ton of money.
posted by ThatSomething at 4:05 PM on January 31, 2019
In addition to the added altitude, Colorado is a semi-arid environment. Bring chapstick and moisturizer. Drink a lot of water, seriously - especially right before bed and when you wake up. Alcohol will hit harder up here. Broken Compass, Outer Range and Angry James are all worthwhile breweries that are close to or in Breckenridge.
Absolutely check out the ice castles in Dillon if you will be in town before they're done. But get tickets for it right now, they're selling out.
For the snowboarding: Breckenridge ski resort is indeed huge and has plenty of beginner and intermediate (green and blue) runs for you to enjoy, but it can get a bit windy. I prefer Keystone for the weather and terrain, it's not far from Breckenridge and comparably priced. I'd check the weather report and if there's supposed to be any amount of wind, head to Keystone instead. If you think you'll go multiple days, check into buying multi-packs, it's much more affordable than paying the day rate each day. I'd absolutely recommend taking at least a half-day course the first day out, they're pretty fun and it will really help you enjoy the experience more. I agree that if you rent your gear in Denver it will be significantly cheaper - the Breeze shop off 6th Ave and the Christy Sports shop of I-70 are both decent options, and one or the other will be on the way for you. If you have the option, it will definitely be less crowded on a weekday than a weekend. The weekend crowds are no joke (and are a big reason why I'm only skiing the backcountry this season). A-Basin is fun and more of a low-key experience, less of a built-up resort, and it's the highest in elevation of the ones near you - but it's also further away than Keystone or Copper.
If you like hiking, you'll like snowshoeing - it's just hiking on snow. And it's a great, low-commitment way to enjoy the outdoors in the winter. You can rent snowshoes in a number of places, but again, it will be a bit cheaper to do that in Denver on the way. Make sure you take snacks and water with you for any snowshoe outing longer than a half-hour.
posted by hootenatty at 7:44 AM on February 1, 2019
Absolutely check out the ice castles in Dillon if you will be in town before they're done. But get tickets for it right now, they're selling out.
For the snowboarding: Breckenridge ski resort is indeed huge and has plenty of beginner and intermediate (green and blue) runs for you to enjoy, but it can get a bit windy. I prefer Keystone for the weather and terrain, it's not far from Breckenridge and comparably priced. I'd check the weather report and if there's supposed to be any amount of wind, head to Keystone instead. If you think you'll go multiple days, check into buying multi-packs, it's much more affordable than paying the day rate each day. I'd absolutely recommend taking at least a half-day course the first day out, they're pretty fun and it will really help you enjoy the experience more. I agree that if you rent your gear in Denver it will be significantly cheaper - the Breeze shop off 6th Ave and the Christy Sports shop of I-70 are both decent options, and one or the other will be on the way for you. If you have the option, it will definitely be less crowded on a weekday than a weekend. The weekend crowds are no joke (and are a big reason why I'm only skiing the backcountry this season). A-Basin is fun and more of a low-key experience, less of a built-up resort, and it's the highest in elevation of the ones near you - but it's also further away than Keystone or Copper.
If you like hiking, you'll like snowshoeing - it's just hiking on snow. And it's a great, low-commitment way to enjoy the outdoors in the winter. You can rent snowshoes in a number of places, but again, it will be a bit cheaper to do that in Denver on the way. Make sure you take snacks and water with you for any snowshoe outing longer than a half-hour.
posted by hootenatty at 7:44 AM on February 1, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
As for snowboarding, there are essentially 4 ski resorts nearby. Breckenridge is the closest to where you are staying. The next closest is Keystone. Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain are further afield. A-Basin is to the east of Keystone and Copper is to the west.
I am a skier and haven't taken lessons at any of these resorts so take my advice with a grain of salt. The cost of tickets, equipment and an intro lesson would be roughly the same at Copper, Keystone and Breckenridge. Things likely would be somewhat cheaper at Arapahoe Basin. I don't have a lot of experience with the beginner terrain at any of these places so I can't comment which is best although Copper gets a lot of love for terrain being separated by difficulty (which means you won't likely come across a lot of intermediates and experts on your beginner's runs). Keystone, Breck and A-Basin are all part of the same season pass so you will see the highest crowds with people day-tripping from Denver.
Whatever you do, you should definitely do your snowboarding in the middle of the week to lessen the crowds.
posted by mmascolino at 6:39 AM on January 30, 2019