Breckenridge Ski Resort execs signed on to a “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) with local governments Thursday intended to mitigate the social impacts of a ski area expansion to Peak 6. The resort is also backing off a proposal for a restaurant on the new mountain, executives announced Thursday.

“The MOU is the result of years of work among Breckenridge Ski Resort, the community, (Breckenridge) town council and the (Summit County) commissioners in reviewing our proposal to develop Peak 6,” stated Pat Campbell, chief operating officer of the resort in an email. “We are submitting the MOU with our signature to make clear that should our proposal for Peak 6 … be approved and built, all our commitments in the MOU will be binding on our company.”

Earlier this month, members of the Breckenridge council questioned the ski resort's intention to sign the hard-won MOU if the town did not support the full Peak 6 development proposal over other alternatives put forward in a recently released US Forest Service study of the development.

Council members said they were pleased to hear of a commitment to the MOU from the ski resort.

“After all the work we put into it, I expect no less,” Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron said. “This (MOU) will go some ways into mitigating some of the social issues.”

Multi-year process

Officials from the town, county and Forest Service, along with local residents and representatives of the ski area, spent several years leading up to the release of the Forest Service's draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) developing the memorandum of understanding in response to a public outcry over the expansion's potential impacts on social programs, quality of life, parking and housing issues.

A 150-seat guest building with a restaurant at the lift mid-point on Peak 6 has been an uncertain aspect of the proposal, but it was included as part of a second alternative described in the Forest Service DEIS. A third alternative would have allowed additional development on the resort's existing mountains, but no expansion while a first alternative in the DEIS would prohibit any action at all. Forest Service Supervisor will select one of the three options in a final record of decision that could be delivered by early next year.

But Breckenridge executives said they are no longer asking for a restaurant as part of the development, if the second alternative allowing expansion to Peak 6 is approved.

“Based on public feedback we have received to date, our comments to the Forest Service on the DEIS will include a request that the proposed Peak 6 restaurant be omitted from Alternative 2,” Campbell said in Thursday's statement. “We remain confident that Peak 6 will be a terrific addition to the Breckenridge experience, and we appreciate the depth of environmental analysis that the Forest Service and its experts have conducted as well as the feedback from the public we've received. We look forward to our continued partnership with the town and county.”

The alternative includes 550 new acres of lift-served and hike-to terrain on Peak 6 within the ski area boundaries, the installation of a six-person detachable lift based on Peak 7 with a mid-point station on Peak 6, as well as the construction of a warming hut at the top of the mountain and.

The expansion would allow Breckenridge to accommodate an additional 1,100 skiers per day.