EMSC
Well-known member
Two excellent winter ski days on the mtn.
Day 1: Blue sky day but a bit breezy (well, windy - though on the upper ridge lines only). Breck reported 17” new during the previous week and the skiing seemed divided by altitude alone and not so much by exposure. Upper mtn skied very soft and fun, the dividing line for mid-winter snow vs a few inches of soft over an icy surface seemed to be roughly the top of Rocky Mtn/Colorado chairs and base of the T-Bar (also roughly base of chair 6 and above being good snow). Below that line with the average joes, probably not too great a ski day. Above that, it was just great skiing. On the upper mtn the lines were very short to non-existent (maybe wait for 10-15 T’s or chairs at most).
Skied with a long time family friend today who ‘retired’ to Breck a few years ago, though he works quite a bit for the mtn and on spec houses in the summer. Started off with 5 laps in Horseshoe bowl/T-Bar area which was mostly smooth powdery snow. Then moving over to Imperial express for a few laps both in the bowl and in the Lake Chutes which are spectacularly filled in with snow this year – to the point that most of the ‘chutes’ are just a single almost unbroken face of snow. Eventually hitting Peak 7 for a lap before hitting the T-Bar for several more laps until it shut down.
We ended with watching the free concert (JoDee Messina – country music, but not really; it's more like pop/rock) put on by the resort for ‘spring massive’. A chilly evening, but a good show, and finally some Italian food at Michaels’ as flurries began.
Day 2: Unexpected powder day. Forecast was for T-2” overnight then just mostly cloudy on Sunday. Except that the morning report said 3” (today/Mon only says 3” too interestingly). But it snowed all day right up to ~3:45pm though it seemed to be heavily elevation influenced with flurries/light snow on the lower mtn and pretty close to white out on the upper mtn. By the end of the day, the upper T-Bar, Imperial/peak 7 areas had at least 10” and probably 12” with the base of peak 8 starting with 2” and ending with maybe 4” (supposedly the snow measuring at Breck takes place somewhere just below/near the Vista Haus restaurant).
So the lower mtn was a bit thicker/better than just dust on crust, but still had plenty of scrape to it by the end of the day, but the upper mtn was great powder. I skied with my wife most of the day though there was a stretch early where her ski brake broke. I jury rigged it to be ski-able down to the base where she ended up having to rent at exorbitant resort prices since they did not have the parts to fix it. Just a ton of laps on the T-Bar to start since the deeper snow was high (started off with ~4-6” up there first thing) and it is decently treed. Then to Horseshoe that had great snow as few were skiing it in the near white out. Lots of fun but very much had to know exactly where you were and what you were doing and then ski by feel.
After a late lunch at Vista Haus, we decided to give the legs a rest by hitting 6 Chair & Imperial. 6 chair was mostly fun, but also mostly skied out and even crunchy at the bottom of the pitch in a couple SW facing spots. Imperial was pure whiteout (you could see enough for 100+ feet for any real obstacles, but you would never have seen any drop offs or etc…). Knowing exactly what peak 7 looked like from the day prior (few rocks in usual places and no cliffs or sudden drop offs) and with my wife feeling game we decided to do a Peak 7 run. Epic would have to be the description. Just below knee depth powder snow, the section we hit was nearly completely untracked, and in near white out conditions to add to the epic-ness of the adventure. We skied it more like sections with Patrol following us down as they swept the bowl (I should mention that the Lake Chutes were closed all day due to the white out conditions).
Back to the T-bar for another run before it closed, and then 2 laps on the lower peak 7 chair which my wife wanted to do and I snuck into the trees for the 4 inches of powder or so (the low intermediates never go off trail it seems). A great, fun day. Good thing, as both work and life may intervene the next weekend or so – though I hope to get a couple A-Basin days in yet.
I know there are a number of folks who feel Breck is either not steep enough or has the wrong (mostly east) exposure, but I find that having local knowledge like anywhere else can make for some great ski days. The biggest detractor for Breck anymore is the oversized crowds on weekends and holiday/break weeks. Bad or costly parking, lift lines, etc… too many hassles starting to crop up at Breck these last couple years.
Some good shots from the first day. Only cell pics for the powder day (dead camera battery; plus it wouldn’t have mattered much in the whiteout anyway).
Day 1: Blue sky day but a bit breezy (well, windy - though on the upper ridge lines only). Breck reported 17” new during the previous week and the skiing seemed divided by altitude alone and not so much by exposure. Upper mtn skied very soft and fun, the dividing line for mid-winter snow vs a few inches of soft over an icy surface seemed to be roughly the top of Rocky Mtn/Colorado chairs and base of the T-Bar (also roughly base of chair 6 and above being good snow). Below that line with the average joes, probably not too great a ski day. Above that, it was just great skiing. On the upper mtn the lines were very short to non-existent (maybe wait for 10-15 T’s or chairs at most).
Skied with a long time family friend today who ‘retired’ to Breck a few years ago, though he works quite a bit for the mtn and on spec houses in the summer. Started off with 5 laps in Horseshoe bowl/T-Bar area which was mostly smooth powdery snow. Then moving over to Imperial express for a few laps both in the bowl and in the Lake Chutes which are spectacularly filled in with snow this year – to the point that most of the ‘chutes’ are just a single almost unbroken face of snow. Eventually hitting Peak 7 for a lap before hitting the T-Bar for several more laps until it shut down.
We ended with watching the free concert (JoDee Messina – country music, but not really; it's more like pop/rock) put on by the resort for ‘spring massive’. A chilly evening, but a good show, and finally some Italian food at Michaels’ as flurries began.
Day 2: Unexpected powder day. Forecast was for T-2” overnight then just mostly cloudy on Sunday. Except that the morning report said 3” (today/Mon only says 3” too interestingly). But it snowed all day right up to ~3:45pm though it seemed to be heavily elevation influenced with flurries/light snow on the lower mtn and pretty close to white out on the upper mtn. By the end of the day, the upper T-Bar, Imperial/peak 7 areas had at least 10” and probably 12” with the base of peak 8 starting with 2” and ending with maybe 4” (supposedly the snow measuring at Breck takes place somewhere just below/near the Vista Haus restaurant).
So the lower mtn was a bit thicker/better than just dust on crust, but still had plenty of scrape to it by the end of the day, but the upper mtn was great powder. I skied with my wife most of the day though there was a stretch early where her ski brake broke. I jury rigged it to be ski-able down to the base where she ended up having to rent at exorbitant resort prices since they did not have the parts to fix it. Just a ton of laps on the T-Bar to start since the deeper snow was high (started off with ~4-6” up there first thing) and it is decently treed. Then to Horseshoe that had great snow as few were skiing it in the near white out. Lots of fun but very much had to know exactly where you were and what you were doing and then ski by feel.
After a late lunch at Vista Haus, we decided to give the legs a rest by hitting 6 Chair & Imperial. 6 chair was mostly fun, but also mostly skied out and even crunchy at the bottom of the pitch in a couple SW facing spots. Imperial was pure whiteout (you could see enough for 100+ feet for any real obstacles, but you would never have seen any drop offs or etc…). Knowing exactly what peak 7 looked like from the day prior (few rocks in usual places and no cliffs or sudden drop offs) and with my wife feeling game we decided to do a Peak 7 run. Epic would have to be the description. Just below knee depth powder snow, the section we hit was nearly completely untracked, and in near white out conditions to add to the epic-ness of the adventure. We skied it more like sections with Patrol following us down as they swept the bowl (I should mention that the Lake Chutes were closed all day due to the white out conditions).
Back to the T-bar for another run before it closed, and then 2 laps on the lower peak 7 chair which my wife wanted to do and I snuck into the trees for the 4 inches of powder or so (the low intermediates never go off trail it seems). A great, fun day. Good thing, as both work and life may intervene the next weekend or so – though I hope to get a couple A-Basin days in yet.
I know there are a number of folks who feel Breck is either not steep enough or has the wrong (mostly east) exposure, but I find that having local knowledge like anywhere else can make for some great ski days. The biggest detractor for Breck anymore is the oversized crowds on weekends and holiday/break weeks. Bad or costly parking, lift lines, etc… too many hassles starting to crop up at Breck these last couple years.
Some good shots from the first day. Only cell pics for the powder day (dead camera battery; plus it wouldn’t have mattered much in the whiteout anyway).
