A German´s guide to Breck
I’m originally from Munich, Germany – City of beergardens and Oktoberfest, of two surf-able river waves, of majestic old churches and castles with the Alps in visible distance on a sunny day… Why would I spend more time in Breckenridge than my beautiful home city these days?
Breckenridge makes it easier for me to find my Zen and keep it.
Even though I grew up on the outskirts of Munich, with forests and calm roads, it still feels amazing to get away from city traffic and stressed people. To go to a place whose traffic lights you can count on 2 hands, and where most people are all about having a good time since they are on vacation.
I really enjoy being in a small town that has everything I need, from a large grocery store to a huge gym (the Breckenridge Recreation Center – my favorite gym in the world), to a bunch of amazing coffee shops (to name a few – Cuppa Jo´s, Clint´s and The Crown) and cute happy-hour-restaurants (the most famous is probably Mi Casa´s 3-6 p.m. happy hour).
But the biggest reason that brought and kept me here is the mountain. With the newly opened Peak 6, Breck has 5 different ski- and snowboard-able peaks that not only guarantee great snow conditions from November through April, but also contain the best freestyle fun parks I have ever come across in a long professional snowboarding career. I haven´t found any other place where I can make it from my bed to the park chairlift in less than 20 minutes, without driving. It’s just a short walk in fresh early-morning mountain-air to the gondola, a 10 minute ride up to peak 8 (enough time to tighten my boots and finish my coffee), and then I´m on 5-chair, the chairlift for Freeway and Park Lane (the biggest of Breck´s terrain parks) , which attracts pro snowboarders and skiers from all over the world all season long.
Breckenridge is my little fairy-tale town, where big city reality stops and my own customized dream becomes the truth. This is the place where many years ago I did my first big international competition on American snow and qualified for the X Games. Breckenridge is where the professional snowboarding life I have been living ever since really started.
There is something very special about this place, how it puts me in tune with life, how things tend to just come together and feel right.
And that´s why, even now when I am hurt (I tore my Achilles tendon in December), I still choose to be here. Sure, I miss snowboarding tremendously, miss the perfect jump mornings and competing in my home resort. It hurts to look up to Peak 8 on a sunny day knowing what I am missing. But even without the snowboarding, Breckenridge still makes me feel happy, even in those rather difficult times of injury. I am so glad to be here.
– Silvia Mittermüller
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