BRECKENRIDGE — “We really love coming to Breckenridge,” an out-of-state couple told me one day on a chairlift ride.
Was it the alpine panorama from atop Peak 6 or the terrain-rolling intermediate trails down Peak 7, I wondered. Perhaps they liked the high, open bowls and black-diamond trails off Peak 8, or the wide-open cruisers descending Peak 9. Or maybe, like me, they relished the double-diamond plunges off Peak 10.
“No,” they confided. “We just love the town!”
I was somewhat taken aback. When my wife, Dianne, and I come up to ski, we drive to the parking lot and ride the gondola straight to the slopes. We rarely venture into town.
“We need to come up and explore Breck,” Dianne decided. “Let’s play tourist a hundred miles from home.”
Acquiescing to my wife’s wishes, I booked two nights at Mountain Thunder Lodge, a condo property at the foot of the Gondola Ski Back trail. Its location, a five-minute walk from Main Street, would allow us to hit both slopes and streets with equal aplomb.
On day trips to Breck, we always leave hours before last lift in the hope of reaching Denver before rush hour turns Interstate 70 into a linear parking lot. By bunking in Breck, we finally got to ski until day’s end and even stop at the T-Bar for après ski brews afterwards.
Breckenridge boasts a namesake brewery and a distillery, both of which feature dining. With the distillery offering free shuttle service, we opted to go there for dinner.
“You’re still limited to only one cocktail,” my spouse warned me.
The restaurant offers “new American cuisine” served small-plate, tapas-style. Yielding to temptation, we ordered too much food, and yes, when she went to the ladies’ room, I secretly ordered a second cocktail.
Residing on the Kansas side of Aurora, our skiing day trips typically begin with a predawn alarm. Slumbering slopeside, we got to sleep late and still reach the hills by first lift. My planned full-day of downhilling ended early, however, when my sore-muscled wife made a request.
“Let’s have lunch in town. Then we’ll go shopping.”
Every ski town boasts its own character. Steamboat displays its ranching roots, Telluride resembles a mining-town movie set and Vail and Aspen ooze with glitz and glamour. A Victorian-storefronted Main Street interspersed with modern lodging edifices give Breckenridge the aura of an affordable, middle-class resort town. It was easy to see why visitors find Breckenridge so appealing.
After devouring pizza and pilsners at the Blue Stag Saloon, we hit the shops. I’m not a shopper, but I found plenty to buy if my more-sensible wife had let me. At Marigolds Farmhouse Funk & Junk, I found barbed wire-strung guitars that I thought would look perfect next to our Jerry Garcia stuffed doll. Space Cowboy had X-Files-worthy, out-of-this-world T-shirts perfect for our next alien abduction, and Colorado Concept displayed flag-painted benches made from skis and snowboards that would have been the envy of our backyard neighbors.
It snowed overnight, and on our final morning we savored first-track conditions on fresh power. Even though the skiing was superb, our tourist-playing getaway was ending. Like out-of-towners heading for the airport, we surrendered to the need to leave early. Lingering longer would only hurl us deeper into the jaws of Denver’s ravenous rush hour.
Lodging can be booked through Breckenridge Tourism (888-251-2417, www.gobreck.com) or through the ski area (877-725-8168, www.breckenridge.com), where Thursday night guests staying in one of seven official ski-resort properties can access the mountain early on Friday mornings for first tracks.
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