Breckenridge, Keystone and Summit County Places, Events and Things | SnowHome

A look at Summit County paved bike trails, all 50 miles of them

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:39:55 -0400

The paved trail system leads from Breckenridge to Frisco to Keystone around senic Lake Dillon or it rises up 10 Mile Canyon through Copper Ski Resort to Vail Pass and beyond.

Summit County is a bicycling hot spot. Where else can you bike on paved trails above 9,000 ft? Roll from Breckenridge to Keystone or to Copper Mountain.

Sure, Summit has mountain bike trails, lift-serviced dowhill on the ski areas, Diggler rentals, mellow family off-road stuff but for the city and path rider, roadie, and families on vacation, we have the paved bike path system, check out the map. When I say paved, I don't mean concrete slabs with jarring cracks every 10 ft. that causes a mind-numbing ticking rythum un-endingly, I mean asphalt that snakes it's way through aspen grooves and alpine terrain. The trails run along mountain streams and high country lakes which have birds and beaver and scenic mountain tops all around you. The trail runs along the highest freshwater sailing lake in the county, Lake Dillon. Best of all, you can rent a bike at one of the local shops and they will, for free, shuttle you to the top of Vail Pass where you can ride the 14 mile paved, downhill, bike trail back into town. My understanding is that the USA Pro Cycling Challenge-- Tour of Colorado will have a individual time trial, on the Vail side, to the top in August; this is an event no cycling fan will want to miss. Looking for a good bike rental shop? Check out Pioneer Sports- there have great rates, a good program and a great location next to Wal-mart.

500" season at Breckenridge Colorado breaks snowfall record

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:09:52 -0400

Video clips and numbers of some better days of the season that saw more than 500" of snowfall

The 2010-11 season at Breckenridge Ski Area in Summit County Colorado became one for the history books this week by surpassing the 17-year record of 504" of snowfall in a ski season. It's been snowing every night this week and they have two more days before closing. This season, the conditions hit early , often and evenly throughout most of the season. There we many instances of double-digit nightly snowfall, a few of which were consecutive days in a row. The video in January shows a snowy morning where the sun came out as we were riding the first lift; we had bluebird skies and a blanket of deep fresh snow. The other video is of a day when the snow just kept coming down.

The Summit Daily News did a great article on the breaking the snowfall record. Most seasons, Summit County can expect 300 inches or so. A 500" season is a big deal and maybe a once or twice in a lifetime experience most for Colorado skiers. I believe I have lived within a 30 minute drive of a lift service ski area 14 of the last 16 years and this is my first 500+" season. By my count, a full month and a half of this season had fresh snow. I remember Breckenridge reporting a 26" day after a 15" day. Colorado is known for its light, breezy snowfall and this year didn't disappoint. Storms tend to drop their moisture before they get to Colorado from the west coast and after going over two other sets of mountain ranges, the snow is dry. Trying to make a snowman in Summit County is an old Indian joke, much like making fire in the petrified forest. But the snow days this season were no joke, take a look.

Annual Snowfall record for Breckenridge ski are was broken this morning

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:08:38 -0400

The 2010-11 snow season just passed the 504" mark to best any Breckenridge ski seasonThe video shows the beginning of the snowfall in November of 2010 and it seemed to snow more days than not since then. Breckenridge ski area reported another 5" this morning to ecplise the all-time ski season snowfall record for the area. Breckenridge usually averages about 300" a year, if we hit 400" that's a good year, but this year hit the 500" mark (currently 506") and we have four more days until the slopes close. The powder this year was epic. We had back-to-back days of 15" or more and we had that more than a few times. Over 42 feet of snow fell. The numbers for skier visits, lodging and ticket sales are all up over last year. The season will be one to remember.

Breckenridge, Keystone and Summit County Places, Events and Things | SnowHome

A look at Summit County paved bike trails, all 50 miles of them

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500" season at Breckenridge Colorado breaks snowfall record

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Annual Snowfall record for Breckenridge ski are was broken this morning