Breck's Peak 7 Project Begins

New base area development set to spring up next year, but work has already begun.

The following is a summary of an article in the Summit Daily News reported by Duffy Hayes Wednesday, March 22, 2006.

Last week Vail Resorts announced the gondola, and this week they announced that the project is finally under way. Vail and Grand Timber Development Company are partners in the new project slated for the base of Peak 7. Vail will develop 44 new whole-ownership condos, and GTDC will develop 114 fractional-ownership units.

Work began last week clearing trees so that County Road 3 can be rerouted around the base of Peak 8 and past the Peaks Trail trailhead. Along with the road shift, the developers will be moving the relatively new Peak 7 Independence Superchair about 100 yards down from where it starts today. Vail will add a couple of new towers, and the new base area will spring up around the new lift site.

The work begun last week kicks off the project and sets in motion the infrastructure phase of the developoment project. This work will continue throughout the spring and summer. A long bridge, spanning some wetlands, will also be built this coming summer.

The condo development will not begin until the spring of 2007. Although each developer has its own general contractor, they will work together so that the village appears as one village, with a consistent theme.

Sales of the properties will follow different schedules, however Vail plans to market their units later this year, about the same time as the gondola is completed. The fractional-ownership units won't go on sale until the buildings are up, hopefully around Christmas, 2007.

Included in the development will be some commercial space: a 4,000 square foot restaurant, and a 4,000 square foot skier services facility. Grand Timber's commercial plans are more geared toward amenities for their guests -- and include a pool, hot tub area, and a "family funcenter".

For more information about these developments, see Susan Gunnin's web site, or email her.

Colorado skier visits set record this season

State hosted 5.2 million skiers and snowboarders between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28

The Summit Daily News reported on Tuesday, March 14, 2006, that Colorado ski resorts are one step closer to achieving their goal of hosting more than 12 million skiers and snowboarders this season, which will make the 2005-2006 winter season the state's best ever, and an increase of over 5 percent over the same period last season.

"The snow is the best it's been in 20 years, and the resorts have done a phenomenal job delivering that message around the globe" said Rob Perlman, Colorad Ski Country USA's president.

Front Range Destination resorts, which include Breckenrige, continue to lead the charge for the year with an increase of nearly 7 percent, or 200,000 skiers over last year's second period results. As Colorado looks forward to what is typically the snowiest month of the year, all indications point to a bright future for the Colorado ski industry.

In a related article titled "Second quarter a strong one for Vail Resorts", it was pointed out that Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge, combined, saw an increase of 7.9 percent, or a record 2.9 million skiers.

As far as real estate values go, when you own real estate in a ski area that is prospering and expanding, you can expect you real estate holdings to do the same. For more information on the real estate market in Breckenridge and Summit County, go to Susan Gunnin's web site, or send her an email.

Breckenridge gondola is a go

Long-awaited project will eliminate bus lines

An article in the Summit Daily News, reported by Duffy Hays on March 14, 2006 is summarized below.

A modern, $17 million gondola to whisk skiers and riders to the Peak 7 and 8 base areas of Breckenridge ski resort has been on the town's wish list for more than 20 years, and is finally coming to fruition.

Resort operator Vail Resorts and the town of Breckenridge announced that construction of a four-stop gondola would begin this spring, with a completion date estimated for this coming Christmas [2006].

The gondola will be capable of carrying up to 3,000 passengers per hour from the free ski area parking lots downtown, with drop offs in Shock Hill and on to the Peak 7 and Peak 8 base areas. The ride from bottom to top will take about 7 1/2 minutes.

Today, skiers who want to park for free are compelled to park in town, well below the lifts, and hop shuttle busses for a winding trip up to the base areas. The idea of the gondola dates back over 20 years, and finally making its way to reality. The gondola project is one of the last major steps toward implementing a comprehensive development and transportation plan formalized by the town and Vail in May, 2002. The plan also outlined redevelopment of the Peak 8 base area, and expansion of the newer, Peak 7 base area.

The town of Breckenridge itself is in the midst of a sweeping transportation project that will re-route the majority of vehicular traffic way from the town's historic Main Street to Park Avenue where the free parking lots are located, and where the goldola's new terminal will be built.

The gondola will allow room for ski gear inside, rather than in carriers outside the cabin area. Vail resorts plans to operate the gondola both in winter and summer.

The ski area has guaranteed that it will provide 1,550 parking spaces "right around the gondola" said Roger McCarthy, co-president of the mountain division of Vail resorts.

Today, people park for free in the lots surrounding where the gondola terminal is to be erected. This may not be the case next ski season.

Changes at Vail Resorts

There has been a lot of activity in the Vail Resorts corporate offices. Vail Resorts is the owner of the Breckenridge ski area. First, in January, Adam Aron, the chief executive officer and chairman of the board of directors of the company, announced his retirement. His replacement is company insider, Rob Katz was formerly a senior partner with Apollo Partners who took control of Vail in 1992.

One of Katz's first announcements was that Vail was going to relocate its corporate offices from Avon, near Vail, to Denver. According to an article in the Summit Daily News on March 1, 2006, Katz said that moving to Denver "will facilitate lower occupancy rates, provide greater administrative efficiencies, enhance recruiting opportunities and allow more centralized access to all of the company's properties. It also better positions the company for future strategic growth."

As a result of the move, some 100 current Vail employees have been asked to relocate to Denver. It is unsure how many of these employees will give up their lifestyles in Vail to make the move.