Friday was a busy day for the Colorado ski industry. Between Vail Mountain, Loveland Ski Area and Breckenridge Ski Resort all hosting opening days, skiers and riders had several options when considering where to make their early season turns. 

Although crowds were dispersed between the three ski areas, Breckenridge still saw a line of several hundred people who killed time waiting until lifts officially started turning at around 9 a.m. by clipping into gear, chomping on complementary Belgian waffles and dancing to the pulsing music.

Breckenridge’s opening day was particularly special this season. For the first time ever, the inaugural first chair took place on the ski resort’s newly upgraded Five SuperChair, which replaced the 50-year-old 5-Chair. 

A few diehard skiers and snowboarders stood at the front of the line, eager to get on one of the first chairs of the season. Breckenridge residents Mason Presslein and Shawn Daws both had been in line since the early evening hours of Thursday night, claiming their spots near the front of the line and camping out on top of the freshly manicured snow until the sun rose. 

“This is the best mountain, hands down,” Daws said, while discussing his choice of opening day locations. “I am looking forward to powder. Powder, trees, lots of trees and a long season, man. We are going to cross our fingers that they make it all the way through Memorial Day.”

“It has the best sunrise too,” Presslein added. “It’s going to be a good season.”

Minutes before the Five SuperChair started slinging lifts around its bottom terminal, new vice president and chief operating officer of Breckenridge Jon Copeland spoke to the expanding crowd ahead of the official start of the resort’s season.

“This is the first time we have ever done first chair on 5-Chair, and for rightful reasons,” Copeland said. “Every chair out of this base area is now high-speed. I think what I am most proud about is how this helped support our community. When we tore the old 5-Chair down, we auctioned off all the chairs and we are proud today to present $50,000 to our partners at the Family & Intercultural Resource Center.  They can use it to help support their new Sol Center and help support our community.”

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With the Five SuperChair’s ribbon cut by Copeland and several other Breckenridge employees, skiers and riders bound their way to the front of the lift’s loading zone and were eventually flung through Breckenridge’s first chair banner. 

In a matter of a few minutes, skiers and riders were creating snow trails all the way down Breckenridge’s two opening day trails — 4 O’clock and Springmeier.

“It is always exciting for winter to arrive,” senior communications manager Sara Lococo said. “We got seven inches of snow this week. We got great temps for snowmaking. We are just excited to be back on snow again.”

Upon returning to the Peak 8 base area, guests quickly piled into the lines for the Five SuperChair and the Colorado SuperChair. The two high-speed lifts helped the lines to move along at a fairly steady pace. 

“I think the highlight of opening day and the kickoff of the season is the new Five SuperChair,” Lococo said. “That has been in motion for more than a year. I think it will be a really great upgrade for Peak 8. Peak 8 is our most popular base area, so to have all high-speed lifts here is a big deal. I think Five SuperChair will just be another option to get people up and out to other lifts.”

With Wake Up Breck stirring the excitement for the new ski and snowboard season on Thursday morning, Breckenridge was crowded with Summit County residents who treated opening day like an annual holiday and took off work or school in order to get in their first few turns of the season.

“It’s Breck opening day — this is what we do, this is how it goes,” Summit Middle School eighth grader Thomas Drummond said, admitting to ditching school to join his mom and sister on the mountain.

Outside of the excitement of skipping out on a day of school for a day of skiing, Thomas and his sister Elisabeth were also pumped to take a few laps in the mini terrain park Breckenridge had set up for the early season.

“They already have a park set up, so I am stoked,” Thomas Drummond said. “I am a big mountain skier, but the park doesn’t disappoint.”

Breckenridge began its opening day weekend with approximately 50 acres of terrain, but there are hopes that Mother Nature will help aid the snowmaking and mountain operation teams in expanding that terrain footprint by next weekend.

“We are hoping to get to Peak 9 next weekend,” Lococo said. “That is our goal. Obviously we need a little bit of support from weather and temperatures, but we are feeling pretty good about that. Then we will come back to Peak 8 to get the Rocky Mountain SuperChair going and then we will head towards Peak 7.”

The opening of Breckenridge and Vail on Friday — and Keystone last week — means that skiers and riders now have access to three resorts on Vail Resorts’ Epic Pass. To purchase an Epic Pass before prices increase, visit Breckenridge.com before Nov. 19.