Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Keystone Open in Colorado
Saturday, November 8th, 2008
Three of Colorado and North America’s leading ski resorts have opened today for winter 2008-9, joining Arapahoe Basin and Loveland in Colorado which opened last month.
The resorts have snow cover from top to bottom, thanks in part to natural snowfall but also to the efforts of snowmaking teams.
The ski areas are amongst the 20 highest in the world, so they have the altitude required to bring low temperatures for early season snow making.
Keystone opened its new gondola and Spring Dipper and Lower River Run trails with features of its A51 Terrain Park, the top-ranked park in Colorado by the US Transworld Magazine on Spring Dipper.
Breckenridge Ski Resort opened with top- to-bottom skiing on Springmeier off the Colorado SuperChair on Peak 8 – the first time in nearly 30 years the resort had opened so early on Peak 8.
Peak 8 was the traditional opening before Peak 9 opened in 1981, and the original ski resort in Breckenridge was called the Peak 8 Ski Resort.
The new, state-of-the-art, eight passenger River Run Gondola at Keystone replaces the previous six-passenger River Run Gondola and a new base station makes access easier.
A new mid-station is now located halfway up Dercum Mountain with loading and unloading in both directions, giving skiers and snowboarders an option to access Keystone’s upper trails from mid-mountain and to download at the end of their ski day.
“We are committed to providing exceptional experiences for our guests and we are thrilled to open the new River Run Gondola for the 2008-2009 ski season at Keystone this year,” said Pat Campbell, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Keystone Resort.
Keystone and Breckenridge are owned by Vail Resorts which also owns Beaver Creek and Heavenly as well as Vail itself. Vail and Beaver Creek Resorts are scheduled to open on November 21st and 26th respectively, giving Colorado skiers and riders access to all four Colorado Vail Resorts. Heavenly Resort in South Lake Tahoe, California will also open on November 21.
Skiers and riders can take advantage of having a full season of unlimited and unrestricted skiing at any of the five resorts and Arapahoe Basin for $579 (little more than the cost of a high season six-day pass) for adults and $279 for kids, but the Epic Pass must be purchased by November 15.
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