Hi guys:
In response to numerous requests (okay, two folks), here is the saga of how Chair #2 at Breckenridge came to be built. If you have a Breck trail map (any year) you can follow along, otherwise you’ll still get the gist of the story.
Breck opened in 1961 with a Heron double chair which went from the Peak 8 base up 1400 ft to a spot below Contest Bowl. The path was between the Colorado and Rocky Mountain super chairs, and between the Spruce and Rounders trails. The old liftline is now called Boreas. The lift served all of the trails on the upper (and lower) mountain.
In 1962, a second (Constam) chair was added off to the left (all directions refer to trail maps). It eventually became chair #3 but was called the “Mach 1” (for the trail) chair or sometimes 7-Up. Now, from the top of chair #1, you could ski left to the top of Tiger and Southern Cross, ski those runs to the bottom of Mach 1, and then ride that lift back to the main trails. Everything worked fine. So?
Okay, timeout. Breckenridge ski area faces East. Ski areas are supposed to face North, not east, south, or west. The #1 chair rose above tree-line. No problem on a nice day but not so good on cold, windy days. On cold days the wind comes out of the north. At a normal ski area, the north wind would be at your back. At Breck it came from your right. As soon as your chair cleared tree-line the wind would start biting. You zipped up your parka, pulled up your collar, pulled down your earflaps, and hunkered down with your face buried in your ski pole grips. You looked up from time to time for the welcome arrival of the top terminal.
After complaints from skiers, Breck determined to solve the problem. In 1965 Breck shortened chair #1 to the tree line. I remembered it as just a few hundred feet shorter but the data show a reduction of 1130 feet in length and 360 ft in elevation. That solved the wind problem, however…..
With the new lower top terminal elevation, skiers could no longer ski to the top of Tiger. It would be like trying to get there from the Rocky Mtn Superchair. Can’t be done. Hence the need for chair 2. Chair 2 ran from the midway point of chair #1 (there was always a midway unloading and loading point) up to the left, uphill from the Crescendo trail, crossed over Callie’s Alley, and ended at a point near the top of chair 4 and the start of the Four O’clock run. From there you could ski to Tiger and Southern Cross. Problem solved, except it now took two chair rides instead of one.
Chair #1 was removed when the Colorado Superchair opened in 1986 while Chair #2 survived several more years. You can still find the paths of their lift lines.
And thus endeth the text. BTW, the "Mach 1" run was once billed as the steepest and toughest run in Colorado. It wasn’t. But that’s another story.
TCS (trivia are us)
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#2 Chair at Breckenridge
Started by tcs, Feb 11 2006 05:04 PM
9 replies to this topic
#3
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Posted 11 February 2006 - 07:09 PM
I think it was 1978 when Chair 4 was installed to replace the 7-up chair(#3).
-Bryan
Theres a place for all of God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes.
"You could say that a mountain is alot like a woman, once you think you know every inch of her and you're about to dip your skis into some soft, deep powder...Bam, you've got two broken legs, cracked ribs and you pay your $20 just to let her punch your lift ticket all over again"
Theres a place for all of God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes.
"You could say that a mountain is alot like a woman, once you think you know every inch of her and you're about to dip your skis into some soft, deep powder...Bam, you've got two broken legs, cracked ribs and you pay your $20 just to let her punch your lift ticket all over again"
#4
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Posted 11 February 2006 - 07:12 PM
one might argue that even the colorado super chair is windy most days!
#5
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Minnesota Skier!
Posted 12 February 2006 - 06:25 AM
The Colorado Superchair isn't very windy at all. Sometimes, it will cathch a small gust of wind at the last several towers. However, the Rocky Mountain Superchair does get a lot of wind exposure on the upper half of the line.
#7
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Posted 12 February 2006 - 10:21 AM
nathanvg, on Feb 12 2006, 08:52 AM, said:
If I'm undersanding you right, it sounds like lifts 3 and 4 were almost in the exact same place. Is that right? Were lifts 3 and 4 both up and running at the same time?
Chairs 3 and 4 did operate at the same time, but not on the same path. The bottom terminals were adjacent. Chair 3 was very short and went up parallel to the Mach 1 run. Chair 4 went much higher up to the top of Tiger, chair 2, Springmeier, etc.
The main pupose of chair 4 was to connect skiers traveling from Peak 9 to Peak 8. It also served the black runs like Tiger and Southern Cross. With the advent of chair 4, chair 3 became superfluous.
Chair 3 was removed in either 80 or 81.
Chair 4 was just recently replaced by the Peak 8 Superconnect.
TCS
The Colorado Skier
#8
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Posted 12 February 2006 - 10:48 AM
Quote
The Colorado Superchair isn't very windy at all. Sometimes, it will cathch a small gust of wind at the last several towers. However, the Rocky Mountain Superchair does get a lot of wind exposure on the upper half of the line.
Two of the three times I've been at breck this year, both the Colorado Super Chair and Rocky Mtn lifts were very windy. The Rocky Mtn is more exposed than Colorado, but it can still get very windy there too.
#10
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Posted 12 February 2006 - 05:53 PM
coskibum, on Feb 12 2006, 09:48 AM, said:
Two of the three times I've been at breck this year, both the Colorado Super Chair and Rocky Mtn lifts were very windy. The Rocky Mtn is more exposed than Colorado, but it can still get very windy there too.
Well "Breckenfridge" is almost always windy. The orientation of the ski area in the valley makes it extremely vulnerable to high winds.
-Bryan
Theres a place for all of God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes.
"You could say that a mountain is alot like a woman, once you think you know every inch of her and you're about to dip your skis into some soft, deep powder...Bam, you've got two broken legs, cracked ribs and you pay your $20 just to let her punch your lift ticket all over again"
Theres a place for all of God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes.
"You could say that a mountain is alot like a woman, once you think you know every inch of her and you're about to dip your skis into some soft, deep powder...Bam, you've got two broken legs, cracked ribs and you pay your $20 just to let her punch your lift ticket all over again"
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