Back from Breckenridge

Summit view from Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado. Snowboarder riding down in the mountains.
Summit view from Peak 8 at Breckenridge Ski Resort Asset id: 2135906083 by FashionStock.com

I just wanted to announce that I am back from our family trip to Breckenridge, Colorado. I am now ready to post again, reply to comments and visit other people’s blogs. I had to ignore all blogging for a week because I skied every day and the rest of the time I spent with my family. On the trip it was me, my wife Claudia, our oldest son Jacob and his wife, Ashley, our younger son and his girlfriend, and our daughter. That makes seven people. However, it was really eight of us because Ashley is pregnant. Claudia and I are going to be grandparents. Ashley did not ski. It is not safe when you are pregnant. However, Jacob and she did other things, such as dog sledding, sledding, and snowshoeing. Jacob also did some snowboarding. The rest of us did mostly skiing.

About Breckenridge

Breckenridge and Vail are the two most popular ski resorts in North America with 1.5 million annual visitors each. Keystone comes in third place with 1.4 million annual visitors. Keystone is located nearby Breckenridge, and you can easily see it from Breckenridge. All three ski resorts are located a little less than two hours west of Denver along interstate I-70. The Breckenridge Ski Resort boasts 187 trails spread across five huge peaks, totaling 2,908 acres of ski-able terrain. Breckenridge is also an old gold mining town known for the 13.5-pound gold piece found here in 1887. The piece of gold was named Tom’s baby, which is also the name of one of the ski slopes.

A bullion of gold isolated on white background
Piece of gold Asset id: 133307360 by macrowildlife

One thing that I think is great about Breckenridge is the variety of ski slopes. There are lots of green, lots of blue, lots of black, double black diamonds as well as extreme terrain. It is great for families as well as expert skiers. The town of Breckenridge is small and yet it features 100 restaurants and a brewery as well as a lot of interesting stores, a crepe place, and many great hotels. This was the fifth or sixth time we visited Breckenridge. The first time was twenty years ago (see the photo below).

The photo shows our five-year-old daughter in blue and our son in black as well as a wooden lodge. There is a large mountain in the background.
This photo from Breckenridge in 2004 shows our daughter in the foreground and our younger son in black to the right. The lodge in the background is called Ten Mile Station.

Imperial Express Superchair

Breckenridge is home to the highest chairlift in North America, in fact the highest ski lift in all of the western world, the Imperial Express Superchair, leading to the top of peak 8. It will take you 13,000 feet, or 4,000 meters above sea level. Just like last time we visited Breckenridge I took the Imperial Express Superchair and I skied the Imperial Bowl. The Imperial Bowl lies above the tree line and the view from up there is spectacular. The Imperial Bowl is wide, steep, quiet, peaceful and typically features powder snow. It is not easy skiing, and the air is thin, but the skiing experience is magical.

When it is clear you can see a very large area of Colorado from up there, including several dozen mountain tops, the town of Breckenridge far below, the town of Frisco in the distance, the Keystone ski resort, and around there is lots of bright white powdery snow stretching for several hundreds of yards in all directions. You are on top of the world. I did not take a photo this time because there was a snowstorm when I was there. The photo at the top of this post shows the view to the south-east of the Imperial Bowl taken from what must be the Imperial Bowl. The photo below is taken from another slope on another peak (Devil’s Crotch) and shows the Imperial Express Superchair. It is important to note that what looks like the base of the mountain is not. It is just a forested portion of the mountain.

Breckenridge, Colorado / USA January 27, 2020: Imperial Express Lift and the Devil's Crotch Bowl at the top of Breckenridge Ski Resort with snow and a blue sky day.
Imperial Express Lift in the distance Asset id: 1636898575 by Steve Boice

What About Rollo ?

Our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo is very difficult to leave. It was easier when our Leonberger Bronco and our Pug Daisy were still alive because in addition to a dog sitter, he had friendly dog company when we left. Rollo is not comfortable with people he does not know so it is more difficult nowadays. However, we found a good solution. A veterinary technician at the Royal Veterinary Clinic where we usually take him for veterinary visits does dog sitting on the side, and she is willing to stay overnight with the dog. Rollo knows her and he is comfortable with her, and her fee is reasonable. While we were gone, she sent photos of him every day and below I am sharing a few.

Rollo our black and white mini-Australian Shepherd is looking straight into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd at home with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).
Rollo our black and white mini-Australian Shepherd is looking straight into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd at home with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).
Rollo our black and white mini-Australian Shepherd is looking straight into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd in the living room with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).
Rollo our black and white mini-Australian Shepherd is looking straight into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd on the backyard patio with the Veterinary Technician (who took the photo).

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

71 thoughts on “Back from Breckenridge”

    1. Thank you so much The Introverted Bookworm. The view from the imperial express lift is indeed amazing. Unfortunately, it was snowing a lot and we had snow storms, so it was not as good as usual this time, but when it is clear it is incredible. You can see very far across the rockies.

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  8. How wonderful, Thomas! It’s been ages since I visited Breckenridge. My then high schoolers skied non-stop. Beautiful, beautiful area.

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  10. Lulu: “Snow, glorious snowwwww!”
    Java Bean: “Ayyy, Rollo, I am not comfortable with strange people either! I’m glad you have someone you can trust to look after you while your proper humans are away!”
    Charlee: “Many many people in our Dada’s family like to ski, but he has never done it. Something about being accident-prone and probably crashing into a tree …”

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    2. Charlee, crashing into a tree is very bad. You have to be very careful and your Dada with his history of an aneurysm may want to be carefully straining exercise as well. Skiing is fun but there’s so much else that is fun. Lulu I love the snow too, and our Leonberger Bronco also loved the snow. Java Bean, it is not easy being left with people you don’t know. It is so great that Rollo knows Jessica, the veterinary technician and they get along so well.

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  11. Yours is the second blog I have toured Breckenridge with so far this morning, if I didn’t already come from a snow state, I might take this as a sign to visit. I am so happy you have the right companion for Rollo while you are away, the not knowing would ruin the trip for me if that were the case.

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    1. Thank you so much Deanne. Yes being away from Rollo is stressful but it is so great that we found out that Jessica, the veterinary technician does dog sitting. He knew her already and was very comfortable with her.

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    1. Yes, thank you John, it was snowing a lot and the snow was thick and overall great, especially up in the Imperial Bowl. We certainly were very lucky to find Jessica, the veterinary technician. Rollo knew her and was already comfortable with her.

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  17. Such cute pictures of Rollo. The ski resort sounds wonderful. I have only skied once and I got knocked over by a large man which was rather off putting. We were both on the beginner slope. Congratulations of your exciting news.

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  18. Congratulations on the happy news, Thomas. I’m sure the whole family will be looking forward to the new addition. And the holiday sounds fabulous. Thanks for sharing it. Another place to add to my list. And Rollo looks very happy as well. Take care.

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  19. We have had family reunions every three years for the past 33 years. We’ve had two reunions in Colorado, one of which was in Breckenridge. It was summertime when my family was there. Interestingly, they were having a problem with vandalism toward out of state vehicles at the time, which we knew nothing about until my rental car became one of the targets. Someone poured some acidic substance on the hood of the car that literally took off all the layers of paint down to the metal. It’s the only time I’ve brought a car rental back with any kind of damage. Fortunately, our insurance picked up the tab.

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    1. Family reunion every third year sounds like a great idea. I am so sorry about the vandalism. That is really strange and I did not hear about that. I wonder why someone would do that. Maybe people who doesn’t like tourists, but that’s what they live from. Very weird.

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      1. That was the police’s theory. There had been something like 30 vandalism incidents in a two week period. All of the vehicles were from out of state. I know it made the local paper at the time (probably something like 20 years ago.) I always wondered if they ever found out who was responsible.

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        1. I tried to google about this incident but I think it is too far back in time. However, I saw other articles about more recent vandalism in Breckenridge and it seems like some people are upset about tourists driving up prices for locals. The thing is though, that tourism brings in a lot of money for the community.

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  22. It sounds like you had a wonderful trip, and huge congrats on your coming grandparenthood! It’s a thrill of a lifetime, Thomas. And cute pictures of Rollo. I love the one where he’s smiling. So adorable. You seem to have found a good solution for his care while you’re away. Glad you had a great vacation with your family. It’s so important. 😀

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    1. Thank you so much Diana for the congrats and kind words. We had a great time together as family and we finally found a good solution for Rollo. He is not easy that way but Jessica, the veterinary technician is perfect for him.

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  25. I’m glad you had a fun family skiing vacation at Breckenridge, Thomas! It seems like this is a great place for skiiers of varying skills with so many trails. How wonderful that you skiied every day. Congratulations to Ashley becoming a new mom and to you and Claudia becoming new grandparents. That’s exciting news. I’m also glad you had a perfect dog sitting situation for Rollo. A lovely photo of your daughter in 2008. Welcome back to the real world.

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    1. Thank you so much Miriam for your kind words and for your congrats to Ashley and us. It is going to be exciting. You are right. The variety of pists make it great for a family with varied levels and interests. It was a fun vacation with family but it is also nice to come back home to Rollo. He sat there in the window waiting for us as if he had done that the whole time we were gone, but we know he wasn’t.

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  26. Aww, I can see Rollo sitting in front of the window waiting that almost made you feel guilty, Thomas. It reminds me of when the grandkids were a lot younger, I watched them on my daughter and son-in-law’s date night. The girls sat in front of the window crying, watched them pulling away. They were okay after a while.

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    1. Aww, that is sad but it is how it is. I am glad they were fine later on. I was participating in a book club meeting tonight and I was dog sitting a dog while the owner went to buy some snacks. The dog was sitting in my lap staring at her as she walked inside and then he just sat in my lap staring at the door.

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      1. I know, Thomas! Dog are like humans in many ways.
        I sometimes want to take the sadness away from the kids but somehow it’s part of the growing process. If we know they’re sad, we can show support by saying we understand. My daughter and son-in-law learned to let them cry even though it’s just as easy to give what they want to stop the crying.

        I remember when I was working with the school parents, I said, “If the kids don’t learn to take ‘no’ for answer now, it’ll be harder when they are older, or adult.”

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        1. Yes you are right. Our younger son did not want to go to school (in first grade) and despite having the sweetest and kindest teacher he frequently ran out of the class room and tried to run back home. His teacher ran after him to catch him. She took it with good humor. He eventually learned to stay in the classroom, which he needed to do. Both kids and dogs need to learn how to handle bein left sometimes, as long as they are well taken care of.

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        2. Kids are funny. You are right, at least she didn’t have the teacher chasing her across the school yard. I should say that in my son’s case, he could have walked/ran home, it was less than a mile, but he would have had to cross a big street, which would have been dangerous.

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  27. Congratulations to Ashely and your family, that’s so exciting. Rollo is so adorable, it’s great you can leave him with someone he’s already comfortable with. Otherwise it can be a difficult adjustment for pets.

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    1. Thank you so much Pooja. It is especially difficult to leave Rollo because he is so anxious and suspicious of people he does not know. Therefore, it was great that we found out Jessica, his veterinary technician does dog sitting including overnight.

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