Romantic Breckenridge- Dining With the One You Love

Winter in Breckenridge is truly romantic.  Everywhere you look, couples are holding hands and wandering the streets, window shopping, in this picturesque Victorian town.  The snow covered street lamps and trees look like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  The brisk mountain air invites you to warm up next to the one you love. 

The restaurants in Breckenridge seem to be made for rekindling or building a new fire for love.  

  

Ember, one of the newest eateries in town is warm and inviting.  Their motto is “Put a Spark in your Night” and they do just that with unique appetizers and culinary cocktails.  For Valentines day they have a three course meal filled with aphrodisiacs.  Call the Breckenridge Concierge now 877-225-1162 to book your reservation.

The Hearthstone is a local’s favorite because of its fine food and vintage décor.  It is in a historic home built in 1886 and has a rustic, yet elegant interior. The food is five star with items on the menu like house smoked trout, ginger crusted scallops and blackberry elk.  The views of the ski hill from the upstairs lounge are incredible.  Try to get a window seat.

The contemporary cuisine and the relaxed fun atmosphere of the Blue River Bistro make date night here irresistible.   The crab cakes are a must-have as well are the signature martinis.  There is nightly live music featuring acoustic blues and mountain jazz.  There is a nice combination here of singles looking for love and couples celebrating theirs.  If you are a ResortQuest guest you will receive a free coupon for a signature martini!

Spend your Valentine's Day in Breckenridge for an extra special get away with the one you love! Our ResortQuest accommodations are made for romance! View photos and video of each unit so you can pick the perfect one!  View our lodging deals for Valentines!

Super Bowl in Breckenridge- Best Places to Watch the Game!

Blog is written by Karin Bearnarth, ResortQuest's event planner and sports enthusiast!

It’s time once again for the best time of the television year – Super Bowl!  Whether you are just about the Football or you love the commercials, here is what you need to know about the Superbowl and the BEST places to watch the game in Breckenridge!

Super Bowl XLV will be the 45th annual edition of the Super Bowl in American Football, and the 41st annual championship game of the modern-era National Football League (NFL). The game, to be played on February 6, 2011, will pit the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers against the NFC champion Green Bay Packers to decide the NFL champion for the 2010 season. The game will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Kickoff time is approximately 6:25pm EST. This will be the eighth appearance in the Super Bowl for the Steelers (who hold the record with 6 Super Bowl wins) and the fifth for the Packers (who hold the record with 12 overall NFL titles, including 3 Super Bowl wins and 9 league titles prior to the Super Bowl-era).

Ok, now the hard part – where to watch the big game, or in my case the commercials!  Luckily, Breckenridge offers many, many places to watch the game (commercials) from.  And more fortunate is that the game will begin about 4:25pm Mountain Standard time, so you can get a great day of skiing in beforehand! 
Now, every bar in town will be offering a beer or drink special, and seating will be first come first served, so get off the slope and find your seat early.  And of course, pregame fanfare will be broadcasting at least three hours before kick-off. 

• Downstairs at Eric’s if you want to bring the family.  The kids will not get bored with the huge arcade in the lobby.  The prices are reasonable, the food is homemade and  the portions are hearty.  Eric’s is Steelers country – as the owner Eric is a fanatic – so be prepared in your green and gold.  
  
• Napper Tandy’s is a spacious Irish Pub with no particular allegiance to either team.  This is, after all, American Football! The Guinness will pour, and the crowd will gather not only in the pub, but also downstairs at the Salt Creek restaurant for delicious BBQ food.  Napper Tandy’s also has a giant outdoor deck for those who want to grab a breath of fresh air. 
  
• Mi Casa Mexican Restaurant, overlooking the Blue River, has been hosting the NFL football pool all year and is a likely stop for locals to gather.  The giant gold margaritas will surely put everyone in the celebratory mood!  No team allegiance here either so wear your team colors.  Located right in the Der Steiermark Condos!  Book a room in the Der Steiermark now!

Whether you try one of my suggestions or visit one of the other 61 bars or restaurants in town, make sure you get there early to get a good seat.  The commercials begin before kick-off…

Get to Breckenridge for an awesome day of skiing then some good ol' mountain town parties for the Super Bowl! Enjoy beautiful accommodations with ResortQuest that are right downtown!

2011 International Snow Sculpture Contests Breckenridge, Colorado!

Imagine 20 ton blocks of snow come to life over 65 hours to become incredible works of art! That is what the 21st Annual Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Competition is all about! During 1/25/2011 – 1/30/2011 the teams of artists will be working round the clock to free their creations from the ice. Or join us 1/30/2011 – 2/6/2011 for the final viewing week.

These international teams are coming to Breckenridge from all over the world to see who can produce the best work of snowy art!   This year we have 15 teams from eight different countries (United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Sweden, China, Austria and Australia) will participate in the 21st Annual Budweiser Snow Sculpture Championships at the Riverwalk Center.

When the sculptures are finished on Saturday, January 29, a panel of well-known artists and patrons of the arts serve as judges. Awards are presented to the first, second and third place sculptures on Sunday, January 31. Awards are also given for People's Choice, Kids' Choice and Artists' Choice.  

Get to Breckenridge to be amazed by incredible art work that is so perfect in it's snow white medium.  But hurry before mother nature melts them away!  Stay with ResortQuest Breckenridge at Main Street Station and be just a few block from all the activity and save big! See our lodging deals!

EpicMix Ski Pass- Map Your Runs & Get Your Pins! Breckenridge Experience

So the Epic Mix Pass has been out now for about half a ski season at Breckenridge Ski Resort and Keystone Ski Resort and we’ve been hearing that not only does our office love the new pass features but a lot of other people do to. 

Lowdown: Epic Mix pass allows for you to be checked in at different Vail Resorts and check all of your skiing statistics online. Because of the handy RF scanning system in season passes as well as Peaks tickets, collecting data is easy: every scan of your pass registers data.  Learn how to get discounted lift tickets with ResortQuest Breckenridge.

EpicMix will calculate your vertical feet, days skied, and lifts ridden. A very fun and interactive part of the EpicMix is the pins feature. For different accomplishments on the hill, such as skiing in less than 5 degree weather to checking in a day late for a powder day, EpicMix will award you many different pins.
It’s all about Vertical: Many pass holders in Breckenridge have challenged each other to see who can get in the most runs, vertical feet or lift rides in a month.  One of our lovely RQ members has reached over well over 20,000 vertical feet in January- that is alot of ski runs!

Get Your Flair!  The EpicMix Pins are like Flair (think the movie Office Space) the more you have the cooler you are – it also means you love to search out and discover new territory, and you love to check in for an après drink on the mountain etc.

Here are just a sampling of the available Breckenridge Pins:  These 13 pins present a little bit more of a challenge to receive all of them than some of the other Vail Resorts….
•    Brecken in - Earned for your first visit to Breckenridge
•    Opening Day Breckenridge - Earned for attending Breckenridge's opening day
•    Breckenridge: Peak 7 - Earned for 5 runs on Peak 7
•    Breckenridge: Peak 10 - Earned for five runs on Peak 10
•    6 pack - Earned for five rides on 6 Chair
•    Mr. T - Earned for checking in at least five times on the T bar
•    Imperial Palace - Earned for riding the Imperial Express Lift five times
•    Ullr - Earned for attending the Ullr Festival
•    Dew Tour - Earned for attending the Dew Tour
•    Breck Pow - Earned for hitting Breckenridge with a 6 inch snow check in
•    Breck Dancer - Earned for 10 days in one season at Breckenridge

•    Breckinator - Earned for 25 days in one season at Breckenridge
•    Tom's Baby - Earned for 50 days in one season at Breckenridge

Come ski in Breckenridge and find out just how cool the EpicMix is – it’s a great way to further involve the whole gang while skiing and on vacation- a little friendly competition for the most pins makes the vacation even more exciting!!!

Book with ResortQuest Breckenridge today and save big on lodging, discounted lift tickets and discounted ski rentals. Book today!

Keep Up With New Year's Resolutions While on Vacation in Breckenridge

This blog is written by Karin Bearnarth, events coordinator for ResortQuest Breckenridge.

Did you know that 90% of Americans who propose a New Year’s resolution decide to get in better shape?  If you are one of those people - did you know that only 1% actually follow through? So to keep this new goal,  I decided to research ways to make the Exercise word a bit more fun and they are perfect activities to do while in Breckenridge.

Here are great workouts that take place around Breckenridge that you can do while on vacation!

On Monday, in Frisco at the Alpine Dance Academy, dance teacher extraordinaire Kelly Monohan taught myself and a few other brave moms Hip Hop for one hour. We basically learned  about 1 minute of dance moves in those 60 minutes…to the top 40 hit remake of the Dirty Dancing super song - “I Had the Time of My Life“,  - new version by Flo Rida.  By the end of the hour - we had really worked up a sweat and didn’t even realize we were…exercising.  The bonus?  I sound very cool around my 11 and 12 year old when the song plays on Sirius Top 40 - sing out loud because  I obviously already know all of the words from the past version and proclaim that I “dance to this song in Hip Hop class“.

On Tuesday, I took advantage of public skating time at the Steve C West Ice Arena   during lunch.  I suppose we all fell in love with the beauty of figure skating when Dorothy Hamill was introduced to the world in 1976 as an Olympic skating star, but then as the spokes person for “Short and Sassy” shampoo - with her super cute haircut that we all decided to try.  So I hit the skating rink with some friends for lunch and a funny thing happened - we all worked so hard at not falling that we were basically strengthening our core in order to stay upright.  Yes, we did indeed fall  - a lot, but between giggling around the rink for and hour or so and eventually trying to spin and skate backwards, we really worked up a glow.

Wednesday I thought I should get outside and enjoy some nice weather, so I headed up to the Nordic Center on Peak 8,  strapped on some 165 cross country skis (with edges) and headed out to what can only be described as a winter wonderland.  If the beauty doesn’t take your breath away, the workout will.  Just be sure to watch the path and direction  others are taking, as I drifted into the wrong lane going the wrong way was scolded at by obvious regulars.  Afterwards I enjoyed a nice warm drink and a granola bar inside the hut - a reward for a very good work out. See other outdoor winter activities.

Thursday , I headed back indoors to Body Pump.  Now it sounds hard , because it is, however there are a couple of girls in the office that have dropped at least two dress sizes by going once or twice a week for their lunch hour.  In these intense 60 minutes, you work out to loud music in a pre-choreographed barbell class.  So I headed into class and tried my best to keep up and I was soon comfortable and delightfully challenged.  Did I just say delightfully?  During exercise?  After the class I was remarkably renewed and focused for the rest of the day at work.  Remember to bring a change of clothes and save time to rinse off - whew!

Friday, I decided to drop in to the newly formed Curling League over at Steve C West Ice Arena.  The game, affectionately called Ice Chess,  seemed so much fun this past Winter Olympics in Vancouver as it was televised in prime time daily.  Whether I was “throwing” or casting  the stone or feverishly working my broom,  it was a good workout and very competitive and, I must say, our team won three to two.  We named our team Curls Gone Wild…

So do your best to keep your New Year’s Resolution, become the 1% that sticks to it -  and stay fit and happy while doing it- and you'll be enjoying your vacation even more! Book your vacation to Breckenridge and receive awesome lodging discounts so you can spend your money on all the fun things you'll be trying!

Breckenridge Hits 260 Inches of Snow Milestone for 2010-11 Season

It's true- Breckenridge has received 265 inches of awesome deep white powder snow! Ullr Festival and all those snow dances made the snow gods happy and Breckenridge has just been getting pounded by the latest string of winter storms that are blowing through the Rockies.  In no time Breckenridge will see the 300" mark!

Breckenridge got 31" inches of snow over the last 48 hours inducing many perma-grins and very happy powder hounds. So where are you? Get to Breckenridge now and get tons of powder shots and great lodging deals.

So how much really is 265 inches of snow?- here are some approximate examples to think about:

• 2 story house
• The height of the walls of Breckenridge's new half-pipe
• 3 moose stacked high
• 22 feet of powder shots to the face
• 4 1/2 girl's snowboards laid out
• 88 Go Pro Helmet Cameras stacked on top of each other
• 37 bottles of stacked apres ski beers
• 110 cupcakes
• Gretchen Bleiler, Clair Bidez, Hannah Teter, Lindsay Vonn standing on each other’s shoulders.

Get to Breckenridge now for epic snow conditions, and epic lodging deals! After playing all day in waist deep powder come back to a comfy beautiful condo to sit by the fire, enjoy the hot tub and reminisce about floating all day in the powder!

Best January Events in Breckenridge for 2011

January is not your ordinary month in Breckenridge. 2011 will be a start of the new year with new opportunities and events you have to see! January brings in a month full of fun, frolic and fabulous snow!  Check out these events you won't want to miss! AND get great lodging deals for the month of January with ResortQuest Breckenridge and Keystone!!!

January 9, 2011 kicks off Ullr Fest!

Ullr Fest is the now - infamous annual winter festival held in honor of the mythical Norse God of snow. In Norse mythology, Ullr (pronounced Oool-er), son of Sif and the stepson of Thor, the "God of Thunder", loved the cold, and delighted in traveling over the country on his skis or skates. It is said that by paying yearly homage to him, Ullr will show his pleasure by granting much snowfall to those who praise him! 

During Ullr Fest, which runs from Jan 9- Jan 15, 2011, you will see horned Viking hats adorning the heads of skiers and snowboarders, Ullympic competitors flinging frying pans for prizes, more than 12,000 Ullr enthusiasts filling the streets for the Ullr Parade chanting “ Ullr! Ullr! Ullr!” Watch as maniacal float participants ski off jumps on Main Street or glide along town in a hot tub.   Book your lodging now to save up to 40% off!

Body Art Ball January 11, 2011:

Tuaca Liqueur announces it will bring the Body Art Ball Tour to eight cities for 11 shows, with the January 11, 2011 show in Breckenridge, sponsored, in part by ResortQuest. A perfect blend of body art, drama and personality, this bold take on pop culture is a choreographed stage show featuring painted performers illustrating the transformation of the human body into a canvas. Produced by Dallas-based Chris and Candy Productions, visual artists convert performers into living, breathing works of art for a show that dazzles the audience with a sensual and sassy presentation to music and synchronized lights. The creators of the body art are abstract, airbrush or tattoo artists who bring to life body art as celebrated in today's pop culture. Tickets can be obtained by visiting www.tuacabodyartball.com for venues and more information. Event attendees must be 21 and older. Tickets and proper ID must be presented at the door. Don't miss this unique event- book your lodging now and stay super close to the action.

Chilly Chili Cook Off – January 15th

A cash prizes totaling $3000 will be awarded to the best chili in various categories at the Chilly Chili Cook-off sponsored in part by ResortQuest. Sample all the chili you wish for $20 from 3 – 7pm at the Riverwalk Center in the heart of Breckenridge. Or enter your best recipe for a chance to win. Book your lodging now to make sure you enjoy Ullr Fest and the Chili Cookoff!

January 25-Feb.6 The International Snow Sculpting Championships
Teams from around the world will arrive in Breckenridge for their 21st Festival, sponsored in part by ResortQuest. Artists come together to carve beautiful masterpieces from 20-ton blocks of snow. In just 65 hours, these enormous snow canvasses transform into three dimensional works of art. These 12-foot blocks of snow turn into expressive pieces of art using only their own two hands, creative vision and approved hand tools. From a whimsical bouquet of enormous flowers, to thought-provoking abstract and sometimes gravity-defying shapes, sculptors form these creations before thousands of spectators over the course of five days at the Riverwalk Center. See the full event details including sculpting and judging times!  Book your lodging now to see how the worldly teams create their snow masterpieces!

Get to Breckenridge for an incredible January packed full of amazing events!  Save up to 40% off your January lodging!

Dew Tour Breckenridge Wrap Up- Video of Highlights

The 2010 Dew Tour's first stop was in Breckenridge, CO over Dec. 16-19 and there was high flying action, elite athletes and big brand new tricks and throw downs.  Although the Dew Tour has moved on and its next stop is Jan. 20, 2011 in Killington, Vermont,  the Dew left some fond memories of the killer action that took place on Breckenridge Ski Resort's slopes.

See upcoming Breckenridge events like Ullr Fest and the International Ice Sculpting! 

Check out this Dew Tour Highlight Video that was put together by ResortQuest Breckenridge employee Kenny Rzonca!  He was able to catch some of the best views of the high flying action!  Go Dew Tour!

Don't miss the Dew Tour action! When you stay with ResortQuest Breckenridge during the Dew Tour or any other of Breckenridge's incredible winter events you will receive great lodging deals while staying at some of the best locations in Breckenridge! See our lodging deals!

$39 Southwest Flights to Colorado Plus Skis Fly Free- Get to Breckenridge

Southwest.com is making sure you are able to get to the Colorado ski slopes this winter with a new promotion that just came out announcing tons of inexpensive flights to Denver! These flights are not only CHEAP (some as low as $39 dollars!!!) but your first 2 bags or 2  Ski bags Fly for FREE!  

Combine this deal with our incredible lodging deals with ResortQuest Breckenridge and Keystone, and you’ll be saving money in every aspect of your vacation!

Right now you can save up to 40% on lodging during the month of January.  See our lodging deals.  Our properties at ResortQuest Breckenridge and properties at Keystone not only offer superior luxury, unbeatable location to downtown and the slopes, but you can save money by not renting a car.  Our superior complimentary on demand shuttles are at your beck and call- go downtown to grab a bite to eat, get a ride to the gondola so you can get first tracks and then head to your nightly plans!

So how where and when do you save?
•    Book your flights with Southwest airlines into Denver- save on cheap flights plus save up to $100 dollars on checked baggage fees! (price based on oversized baggage fees from United.com)
•    When you book your shuttle bus from Denver to Breckenridge, ResortQuest guests receive a discount on their shuttle.
•    Don’t waste money on a rental car- use the ResortQuest Free Shuttle! Go anywhere in Breckenridge and be hassle free and stress free (you wont have to drive in snowy conditions) with a shuttle that is on demand!
•    Book your lodging with ResortQuest and save up to 40% on your lodging.
•    Save on Activities!  All ResortQuest Breckenridge guests now receive our premier RSVP (ResortQuest Serious Vacation Package) coupon books full of free activities! Get a spa treatment, free martinis, free sleigh ride and more!

Combine all of these deals and you’ll be saving money while on vacation! All these deals make it that much easier to get the “Land called Colorado” so start planning your winter ski trip to Breckenridge! Don’t miss out on Breckenridge’s powder- it just keeps snowing!

Breckenridge's New Roller Coaster Gold Run on Peak 8

Breckenridge Ski Resort already has everything you could want in a ski resort- perfect family areas with beginner terrain, high altitude bowls that satisfy the best of skiers, yummy on mountain restaurants and great ski school programs!  But now the Breckenridge Ski Resort has added another element to the adrenaline rush- the new Gold Run Roller Coaster!

The Gold Run Roller Coaster is set at the base of Peak 8.  Race down the mountain on 2,500 feet of elevated roller coaster track as you enjoy a thrilling journey through the forest around and above the ski runs!  The BreckConnect Gondola provides easy access to this new adrenaline-packed attraction, which is open in both summer and winter. Guests can ride as singles or with a friend in the two-seater cars, which give you the controls to manage your own speed through the hairpin curves and twists!

Watch the video from CBS New4!

Get to Breckenridge for your diverse winter vacation! ResortQuest Breckenridge has amazing lodging deals right now including our Stay Longer Save More Deal! Stay 7 nights and save 40%!