Pay Parking at Breckenridge,$10

Copper?

Interesting, because, as I mentioned in another thread, the free bus to Breckenridge will no longer stop on Main Street in Frisco. Anyone on Main who wants to go to Breck by bus will need to take the Copper bus back to the transfer center and switch to the Breck bus.

Does someone have it in for Breck?

That sucks for Breck, cause I know I ain't going there now...

Gold Rush and Postal lots will still be free. Not as many spaces as Miners and Tailings though, and some of it probably taken up by us employees now that we can't always part in Miners and Tailings lots anymore. We've got a new system for employees that has "flag days" for where we can go.

I'm not thrilled with it either, but as our SSD said at returning instructor orientation: "How many of you can change the weather? Nobody raised their hands? Well that's me about the parking, sorry."

There's still free parking, there's just less of it. And at least the gondola will give a lot easier access up to Peak 8 with less waiting around, and eventually direct to Peak 7 also. So there's definitely an upside to the project as a whole.

Parking at the Frisco transfer station and taking the Summit Stage Breckenridge bus is also an option - right off I-70, bus goes right to the gondola base/Breckenridge Station.

This is a shocker! Breck doesn't want the locals I guess... This will be the ticket. Of course, you can pick Copper or Breck from there, too... The Copper bus goes right to Passage Point (next to the Edge/near the Flyer).

Did anyone expect anything different? They wasted their money on the gondola (IMO, since standing on the bus for 3 minutes wasn't that big of a hassle, and I never waited in any lines there) so of course they were going to charge for parking.

someplace else?

When I was out in Colorado last march, I skied at Copper (stayed in Frisco) and parked in the close up lot in the main village that was supposed to be $20. I got there by 8 or so each day which I guess was too early for the lot attendant because it was always wide open. Never had to pay.

good technique too, use to do this at my home resort all the time.

parking at the ice rink = free.

Front Range skiers no longer coming to Breck? That's really terrible . I hate to break it to but if you're driving up from Denver for the day, and paying for parking is an issue, nobody really wants you here.

For locals there's still plenty of free parking (if they know where it is). I never parked in those lots in the past. There are also a number of different parking pass options that are very reasonable. For two people including ski passes, parking passes for all of Peaks 8, 9, and near the Gondola, the total cost is still very reasonable compared to many other colorado ski areas.

This news is making me regret getting a Colorado Pass. I won't be doing it next year, that's for sure...

Do the buses still run from the remaining free lots, or will I have to walk three blocks in ski boots to catch the "convenient" new gondola? This also means that I won't be able to ski back to the free parking like last year.

Also, what will they charge for the Peak 8 close-in lot (was $8 or $10 last few years, not that I've ever paid that).

I hate being "milked" by the big resorts. Screw them, I guess I'll stick to Loveland in the future.

the last several seasons i've visited Colo i've come with my pops, who is in his mid-70s. he usually pays for parking because he doesn't want to trek.

this is just now starting to creep into the Cali resorts. Most still have "preferred" and regular parking options, though. but a place like Heavenly really gets you because the only parking by the gondola is a lot that's like $2 an hour or something (they probably have a maximum daily limit). The lots that are still free at Heavenly are the Tram (but then you have to trek all across the mountain to get to the main runs) and the Nevada sides, which are small and usually filled by 9. Plus they don't have any street parking in SLT that's not limited to hourly and they have hardcore security patrols on all the supermarket and strip mall lots (I've seen people get towed for parking at Raley's and running over to the gondola).

i guess i would be more bummed about a gondola taking people up to Peak 8. I really loved riding the T-Bar between 7/8 and having it be virtually empty because of this.

Don't know if it's still true, it's been about 2½ years since I skied there, but the parking next to the Mountain Village gondola in Telluride used to be about $2.50 cash (in quarters) for the whole day - something nice about a resort that's not looking to make lots of money from the front range.

You guys been up to the base of peak 9 yet? What a mess. The facilities are in the middle of a renovation and it looks far from completion. The downstairs cafeteria and the little loft bar are gutted and the area fenced off. Could barely even find a place to sit to put the boots on. Didn't even have benches in the locker room. Wonder what they did all summer.

Buses will run between the free lots and drop off at the gondola. I'm not sure if you'll have to change buses if you want to go to the peak 9 base.

Yes, buses still run from Breckenridge Station, right by the Miner's lot and Tailings. It was doing a loop of Miners, Tailings, and Gold Rush lots today. You should still be able to get the bus from the free lots. Once Peak 8 opens, the Skiway return which ends at the underground passage to the Miners lot will still be there. We were told that after the gondola opens, buses will run from the free lots to Peak 9 (Beaver Run) pretty much the same as before. But the primary means to get skiers from the lots up to Peak 8 will be the gondola.

Like I said, there still is free parking. I waited 25 minutes for a bus from the free lots at Copper yesterday, so it's not like Copper/Intrawest/whatever they are now is so much better. You pay to park there too, if you don't want to be over in Kamchatka waiting forever.

So please do come to Breck!

The facilities at the base of the Beaver Run chair are owned by Beaver Run not Vail Resorts.

Interesting, at Breck they offer a parking pass that costs $99 for 40 visits which is also $2.50/day.

The parking lots are owned by Vail Resorts (VR) and their status is going to change significantly before it's all said and done. No one is sure exactly how it will all look eventually. But those lots are extremely valuable tracts and they won't remain gravel parking lots forever.

Breck also has an amazing amount of ski area expansion that they'll pursue in the coming years.

So expect lots of change at Breck. The good thing for us locals is that the Town of Breck has a lot of power over what VR does in the future.
Those that love to hate VR should realize that the Town of Breck wanted the Gondola and VR was basically forced to install it in order to pursue their base 7/8 developments the way they wanted.

If front rangers don't like the changes, it's a good thing that they have other options.

Hard for me to believe that people won't ski Breck because of these minor changes, but if so, big deal. That's more open terrain for me to ski on.

Beyond generating some revenue to pay for the Gondola and all the other planned expansions, I'm pretty sure VR expects this move to result in less front range skiers at Breck and more spreading to Keystone and A-Basin while they still have free parking. I think they also expect to lose some front rangers to the Copper/WP pass next year. I think they've done their analysis and believe they'll get a net increase in revenue and an increase in the overall experience for destination guests as they add terrain and amenities. In any case, less front range traffic at Breck is all good for Breck locals and Breck destination skiers.

If they want front-range skiers to stay away, they could just raise their season pass prices. But instead they do these chintzy little nickel-and-dime actions like the parking fee. Blah.

They have raised their season pass prices.

I think what really annoys me about this is that they did it AFTER I bought my pass. What's next, charging for the shuttle bus? Pay toilets?

I can understand that. Locally, it was well publicised and common knowledge that there would be pay parking at the gondola but I can certainly see how it wouldn't be so obvious to those out of the county.

Knowbody, even execs at VR, knew exactly what they were going to do at the time passes first went on sale last fall. I actually thought they'd start with some smaller pay parking lots for the close-in spaces, leaving much of the outlying parking free for this season.

Again I think it comes down to the fact that VR is confident that front rangers will still buy their pass and that some weekend traffic will move to Keystone/A-Basin which is good. Maybe they're wrong and everybody will buy the Copper Pass next year...

Further, I don't think VR or the Town of Breck cares too much about the destination skier that stays in Frisco/Dillon/Silverthorne and samples Breck for a day as they don't leave much $$$ here compared to those who rent a condo for a week in Breck and who are largely uneffected because of the town/ski area bus service.

As far as charging for toilets, if VR wants to shift weekend traffic other resorts in their pass, and the Town of Breck greatly prefers guests who don't care about paying a little extra for parking, then the decision was a no-brainer. Comparatively, I don't think forcing guests to soil themselves if they're out of cash is such a good idea.

Well, now that you mention it at Keystone VR has been trying to get the homeowners to pay a portion of the cost of the bus system for the last couple of years. They want $150/year/bedroom for bus service. The whole thing has been in the PUC for a while over various issues. You have to show a room key to ride the shuttle bus. I hope they don't think of the toilets.

They do still give those granola bars away free. Yum, lunch.

I'm sure there isn't anyone that WANTS to pay for parking. I am a big Breck fan as most of you know, but I think the Gondola was one of the dumbest ideas they ever had. I haven't seen it's actual path though I suspect it is designed to connect projected housing projects to the base of the Peak 8 projected expansion area and the town.

I wonder if you will need a ticket to actually ride it and also wonder if it will operate at night (eventually) to connect owners/guests with the town of Breckenridge. I'll all but bet a few years from now the talk will be about the new "base development" around the bottom of the gondola and the new shuttle system from considerably out of town on some piece of land that VR has already quietly purchased, or the new underground garage.

What I don't get is (aside from the obvious $ 100) why front rangers would get so upset. We all know open land is very scarce there, and there are plenty of times when ALL those lots fill, so there is a need. But what's the big deal with buying 40 days of parking for $ 100 on a pass that you can transfer from person to person/vehicle to vehicle. You (and the rest of us who are lucky enough) have the country's best bang for the buck with any Vail Resorts Pass.

There isn't any question that I'll be visiting BC, Keystone and Loveland more this season and Vail and Breck a bit less. My S/O bought the parking pass for Breck, so it isn't a matter of money, it's just time to explore those others a bit more.

As far as Copper. I would guess that Copper sees far more Front Range folks than Breck does and seems to attract a much younger audience. You can all but bet managment at Copper is watching this closely, and has to be thinking this could be a great source of revenue. (When I worked at Copper many years ago the lot I parked in was free......not anymore) Bet they are next on this deal.

As I understand it, you have to present a credit-card type of id and put a sticker on your car to park w/the $99 pass. I expect they'll be checking for people who may try to tape their sticker on so it's more easily "transferred" but I think the intent is "one buyer, one car."