The development is expected to reduce traffic congestion with the addition of a gondola, improve parking, create more ski-in/ski-out lodging and state-of-the-art skier facilities to drive destination business while minimizing commercial square footage so as not to compete with historic Downtown Breckenridge, reduce overall density of the ski resort properties and preserve open space and minimizing environmental impacts.

"We believe this agreement with the Breckenridge Ski Resort represents a new framework for a cooperative partnership to achieve the goals of the Breckenridge Ski Resort and the community,'' says Breckenridge Mayor Sam Mamula. ''I think this agreement could become the model for how Summit County and other Colorado resort communities will measure future development proposals with other ski corporations."

"The development of Peak 7 and 8 is essential for Breckenridge to remain competitive in the world of mountain resorts,'' adds Roger McCarthy, chief operating officer for the Breckenridge Ski Resort. ''The key is to maintain the magical balance of mountain, the environment and the town, all the while continuing to provide the level of guest experience for which Breckenridge has become known worldwide.''

The Breckenridge Ski Resort is reducing density through the elimination of as much as 110 single-family home equivalents, or 25% of its planned Peaks 7 and 8 development, as recommended by the Joint Upper Blue Master Plan. Additionally, both the town and the ski resort will protect the Preventative Management Area in Cucumber Gulch wetlands through a joint conservation effort that includes monitoring water quality and placing a total of 64.7 acres of wetlands into a conservation easement for preservation as open space. The plan calls for the development of 131 residential units at Peak 7, 340 residential units at Peak 8, approximately 15,000 sf of retail, rental and restaurant space, and almost 60,000 sf for a new skier services facility that will house restaurants, ski and snowboard school offices, skier storage and childcare.

The resort and the town will form a partnership for the construction of a $16 million gondola designed to run from the Watson and Sawmill parking lots located within the core of town to the planned development at the base of Peak 7 and then will turn and head across to the Peak 8 base area. The partnership also includes $4 million for construction of the Skyway Skiway, a half-mile catwalk that will take skiers and snowboarders from the Four O'Clock Run on Peak 8 down to the Watson and Sawmill parking lots. The base of the gondola also will serve as the site of a future intermodal transportation center for the resort town.