For the first time since its inception as an official event in 2017, Breckenridge’s Peak 10 Classic will not be happening this Independence Day. 

Typically, the classic draws hundreds of attendees to ski the Fourth of July Bowl — a high-Alpine basin near Peak 10 where snow usually lasts long into the summer season. But this year, with Colorado facing record-low snowpack, organizer Zach Ryan says the terrain could not sustain such an event. 

“The bowl would not support continuous skiing right now, it would not be a good experience for really anybody that’s up there,” Ryan said. “There are a few small patches of snow, it certainly is skiable, but by the Fourth of July, we don’t expect that it would be feasible to have 500 people up there skiing.”

Both Ryan and Bec Metras, a Peak 10 Classic volunteer who skied the Fourth of July Bowl on June 21, say that snowmelt seems to be around one month ahead of schedule.

“I’ve been eyeing the bowl for the past couple weeks, and it just looks like the end of July right now,” Metras said.

While weather conditions have impacted the event in the past, it’s usually due to too much snow, rather than too little. Organizers have postponed the event to August in previous years to allow snow more time to melt. Until now, the event has never, in its near-decade of being a formal event, not happened at all. 

“I think everybody who lives here in High Country is fully aware that this is one of the lowest snow years on record,” Ryan said. “It just wasn’t going to be feasible to have the event the way it has been this year.”

Still, aspects of the classic will live on, particularly through the Peak 10 Classic Beer, which is available beginning June 26 at four local breweries: Broken Compass Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery, Syndicate Brewing and Angry James Brewing. Proceeds from beer sales go, in part, to Friends of the Dillon Ranger District, a partner of the classic. 

“In the absence of a formal Peak 10 Classic this year, we are encouraging the community to support our community partners, like Friends of Dillon Ranger District,” Ryan said. “FDRD is a great organization that has a lot of the same values and mission that most of the folks who attend the Peak 10 Classic do — supporting our public lands, being good stewards of the land — so we’re certainly encouraging people to give back.” 

Beer profits will also go back to the Peak 10 Classic Foundation, which works to ensure that the event remains free to the public. 

“We’re really seeking to make sure that our public lands are free to access, and that this unique tradition that can really only happen in a couple places across the country, like Breckenridge, can continue to happen — skiing on the Fourth of July for free for anybody who wants to come,” Ryan said.

He says that costs associated with the event have increased — particularly insurance and shuttle costs — in recent years. Proceeds from alternate efforts this summer will help ensure that the event remains free when it returns in 2027, so long as snow conditions allow. 

“The beer sales help us put a little bit of money in the bank and make sure that, going into 2027, we’ll be able to continue to keep this event free for everyone to attend,” Ryan said.

Community members like Metras are already looking forward to it.

“It does stink for the community to lose this event. It’s iconic,” she said. “It sucks for the community, but I am totally just thinking that it’s a temporary thing, and we’ll see it again next year.”