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Terrain update: Earliest opening ever for Imperial chair at Breckenridge Ski Resort

Breckenridge Ski Resort's Imperial Express SuperChair opened on Thanksgiving, the earliest open since its construction in time for the 2005-06 season for North America's highest chairlift.
Alex Garcia/Breckenridge Ski Resort

The Thanksgiving opening for Breckenridge Ski Resort’s Imperial Express SuperChair — the highest chairlift in North America — was the earliest opening in the lift’s 14-year history.

“Opening the Imperial Express this early is yet another impressive indication of the incredible early season that Breckenridge is experiencing,” said John Buhler, Breckenridge’s vice president and chief operating officer. “This is one of the best starts to the season I’ve seen during my 25 years in Breckenridge.”

Breckenridge’s Imperial Express reaches 12,840 feet to the top of the resort’s Imperial Bowl terrain near the 12,998-foot summit of Peak 8. Via Imperial Express, skiers and riders can also access two other high-alpine bowl areas as well as hike-to access to the Lake Chutes, Snow White, Whale’s Tail and the Peak 7 Bowl areas.



In comparison, last year Breckenridge opened the Imperial Express on Jan. 16. Since 2005, the Imperial Express has only opened in November two other times, with seven December openings and two January openings.

In addition to the Imperial Express, Breckenridge also on Thursday opened E-Chair, which provides access to advanced and expert runs near tree line on Peak 9.



The opening of the Imperial SuperChair and E-Chair follows other milestones, including Breckenridge kicking off the season early on Nov. 7 with the earliest opening date in more than a decade, and opening the T-Bar and 6-Chair earlier than any other season in the last 10 years. In terms of snowfall the resort has already received more than 7 feet of snow since mid-October, with more snow in the forecast this weekend.

The resort will continue to open up new terrain as soon as it’s ready, and Peak 7 is the next major area of terrain that is anticipated to open at the resort. As of Friday afternoon, Breckenridge had nearly 1,300 skiable acres open across the Back Bowls, Peaks 8 and 9, and one trail on Peak 7: Lower Forget Me Not.

Epic Pass

Vail Resorts’ also announced this week that it has extended its deadline to purchase an Epic Pass to Sunday, Dec. 2.

Copper opens more beginner runs

Over at Copper Mountain Resort, just under 500 acres of terrain were open on Friday after the resort opened a handful of trails for the season.

Copper opened its lower mountain Kokomo Express and Lumberjack lifts in West Village, providing access to beginner terrain such as Roundabout, West Ten-Mile, Fairway and Prospector as well as the intermediate Clear Cut trail.


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