On the Slopes

Since we have been in Breckenridge, we have only stared up at the ski slopes coming down the mountain. Most of the snow has melted, even on the mountain, so we decided to go up "On the Slopes" for a closer look at what the skiers see.

We found a two lane trail which was probably used by slope maintenance vehicles and took it up the mountain occasionally weaving around ski lifts, through uncut areas and across ski runs.
The trails branched out so that we were able to traverse much of the ski area. The view of the valley below was really great looking down on the town of Breckenridge.
















It was interesting to see the ski runs up close. The picture below on the left is a wide run all of the way down into town, which is why some of the resorts advertise their location as "Ski in, Ski out". The picture on the right is a run coming down the hill in the distance. This is obviously for more experienced skiers as it is a lot steeper than it appears in the picture.
















Some of the ski runs were in fairly wild looking areas. I'm not sure I would want to ski down slopes that were very narrow and wound around through the pines, but I'm sure all of the various slopes are quite busy in season. We were told that the Breckenridge ski area will accommodate 12,000 skiers. They certainly have a lot of area to spread them out. Also there must be 12-15 different ski lifts, chairs and gondolas.


It was fun being up "On the Slopes" on a pretty nice day. It was an opportunity to see the ski area up close.