Jon Copeland, COO at Breckenridge Ski Resort, is bringing the bang back to Breck.
“We’re core to the snowboarding world,” Copeland told Krystal 93. “We’ve been there before, and we’re ready to open the door and start these things again.”
Copeland is talking about the Rockstar Energy Open, Breck’s first major pro contest since Dew Tour left in 2018. It hits the slopes Dec. 19-21 with 60 elite snowboarders, including Summit’s own Olympic champ Red Gerard, plus 10 amateurs selected through an open online video contest.
Now in his third season at the helm, Copeland admits Breck was feeling some burnout from large events. The resort had been hosting pro contests almost annually since opening its slopes to snowboarders in 1984.
“We’ve got some plans for this year, obviously, and the Rockstar Open is a big one, but we’ve got a music series returning,” Copeland teased. He declined to share details on the who or when, saying musical acts will be announced after ski season opening day Nov. 7.
Bigger than one weekend
That’s not all Copeland has up his sleeve. The Peak 8 base area will look a little different this season with food trucks, tapping into a trend that is popping up everywhere from the plaza at Peak 9 to the Frisco Adventure Park.
Up on the mountain, at 11,000-plus feet, a dormant building is reopening its doors.
“We’re going to reopen out warming hut at Chair 6, at the bottom of Imperial Chair,” Copeland said. “We’re going to do some grab-and-go food there, giving people a place to spend some time.”
Beneath the snow, Breck was investing heavily in snowmaking this season with new high-efficiency guns on Springmeier and an updated, state-of-the-art pumphouse.
“That’s the brains of the whole operation,” Copeland said. “It’s nothing that people will show up and say, ‘That’s amazing,’ but it’s the stuff you need to have, the stuff that needs to click. There’s much more with the snowmaking that people realize.