BEAVER CREEK, Colorado – Beaver Creek opened on Dec. 15, 1980, with six lifts and a 45-minute ride time to the top.

Beaver Creek now has 25 lifts, three mountain villages and plenty of top professionals at its Ski and Snowboard School.

Beaver Creek recently won the top ranking for family programming in Ski Magazine’s annual reader’s poll, and the resort is proving why through its family programs this season.

From new kids’ adventure area to Family Fun Nights to family programs seven nights a week, Beaver Creek has distinguished itself as a place for families.

The family atmosphere isn’t the only atmosphere you’ll find at Beaver Creek, though. The resort has long been touted as a locals’ favorite. Dedicated terrain park skiers and snowboarders love to test out their tricks at Beaver Creek’s parks, which also have some changes in store this season.

Beaver Creek has continued to invest in new programs at its resort, which is why the resort is proud of the recognition it has received by Ski Magazine readers, said resort spokeswoman Jen Brown. Vail Resorts spent about $80 million this year on improvements at all of its resorts.

Some of this season’s highlights at Beaver Creek are:

Mamie’s Mountain Grill, Beaver Creek’s newest eatery located at the top of Bachelor Gulch, has an expanded deck with more seating overlooking McCoy Park this season, plus a yurt for dining indoors during inclement weather. Mamie’s same do-it-yourself grilling concept offers burgers, reserve steaks (must be ordered the day before), European-style hot dogs, soups and stews. The casual location is also a favorite for enjoying Glühwein and microbrew beers.

New retail and restaurants in Beaver Creek Village

Beaver Crepes will be opening in the village near the ice rink.

Patagonia is opening a new store in the old North Face location, and North Face is in old General Store location. The General Store moved to the north end of plaza, just beneath the Dusty Boot.

Foxnut Sushi has moved to the space next to the Beaver Creek Chop House, and owner Brian Nolan has put in a sandwich shop, Flying Pig Sandwiches, in its former location next to the Golden Eagle Inn.

Starbucks was also remodeled.

Talons Challenge, an event where skiers and snowboarders try to tackle 24,000 vertical feet in one day, will be held Feb. 26 this season. Ski or ride 13 of Beaver Creek’s steepest and bumpiest black diamond and double black diamond runs on the legendary World Cup Birds of Prey downhill course, Grouse Mountain, and on the flanks of Larkspur Bowl. Now in its eighth season, the event is limited to 1,500 and fills quickly.

Wedding deck

Mother Nature provides a stunning backdrop for Beaver Creek’s new outdoor wedding deck overlooking the Gore Range. Located in the hillside east of Spruce Saddle Restaurant and created from natural stone and materials, the wedding deck can accommodate parties of up to 200 people. Brides should contact the Beaver Creek Group Sales team at bcgroups@vailresorts.com, or 970-754-5762, for more information.

Beaver Creek delivers seven nights of free activities for families to get out and enjoy the winter outdoors after the lifts close, beginning in mid-December. From rail jams and disco skate night to family snowshoe tours followed by cocoa and cookies to Thursday Night Lights and the glowstick ski down and fireworks, each activity is intended to let kids experience a variety of activities and during a multi-day visit.

For more information about events like On-Hill Story Time, Disco Skate Night, Rail Jam, Thursday Night Lights and Ripperoo’s Parade, visit http://www.beavercreek.com.

Three new trails this season and one new feature.

• Via Vito: a gladed trail in Bachelor Gulch accessed off Primrose. New this season is the lower section of the trail, which adds additional vertical feet of skiing and exits on Stirrup just below Zach’s Cabin.

• Ripperoo’s Retreat: New gladed trails out of this area.

• Big Bark, a level 5 (intermediate) and above gladed trail that starts just below Ripperoo’s Retreat. This gladed run parallels the Rose Bowl boundary and takes skiers and riders through a mix of evergreen and aspen forest and exits onto Cinch just above Bridle.

• Little Bark, an advanced beginner trail that came about due to pine beetle mitigation that opened up some glade skiing for lower levels. This trail starts just below Big Bark and exists onto Cinch just past Gold Dust.

• Mystic Maze has a new ski-through log tunnel at the lower section.

Beaver Creek Resort plans to modify its terrain park system this season “in order to provide a product consistent with the majority of our park users,” Brown said.

She said the resort isn’t yet sure on what the final terrain park configuration will look like, but resort officials announced the following changes in September:

• Zoo Room’s 25-foot jump will be lowered, and the park’s features will be geared more to beginners and intermediates because of the surrounding beginner and intermediate terrain.

• The Lumber Yard terrain park will be moved to a new location, although resort officials haven’t yet determined where. The park’s features could be consolidated with the Rodeo terrain park.

• The 18-foot Half Barrel superpipe will be moved to the Rodeo terrain park and will decrease to a 13-foot pipe.

• Park 101 will have small features for beginners.

• Park 101 is being described as having small features, Zoom Room as having small to medium features and Rodeo as having medium to large features.

OK, so this event isn’t new, but it’s worth mentioning just because it’s such a big deal in the skiing world.

The men’s World Cup circuit comes back to Beaver Creek Dec. 3-5. See ski stars from all over the world live for the annual Birds of Prey World Cup, the only United States stop on the men’s tour. A jumbo-tron TV, spectator-friendly finish arena, variety of vendors and lively ski racing fans from around the globe add excitement to Beaver Creek in the early season.

Lunch for less at Spruce Saddle

Spruce Saddle will have a new “Lunch for Less” meal station with a daily special. Lunch for Less is a value meal available at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Heavenly for $9.95 that includes an entree, side dish and a beverage.

In August, Vail Resorts announced its new EpicMix program, a new online and digital application that will allow radio frequency scanners installed at all of the company’s 89 chairlifts to read the radio frequency chips already installed in season and Peak passes.

The scans will enter data to an online personal account that will track how many vertical feet traveled and which ski lifts were ridden. It includes capabilities to share the information with others via Facebook or Twitter.

The radio frequency chip has already been in season and Peak passes for three seasons, and now the company has found a way to enhance it in exactly the way it wants to use technology – without guests having to change a thing about the way they ski or ride.