Hello friend,
Welcome to the Wedgewood Lodge, slope-side, next to Snowflake Lift. Snowflake is a one-of-a-kind two-person lift that has a mid-load station and 70-degree turn to put you at Peak 8. It’s personally one of my favorite lifts of all time especially when snow is quietly falling, blanketing the landscape in Colorado’s legendary white powder.
We’re extremely stoked that you have chosen Breckenridge, and even more so that you’re staying with us. We pride ourselves in being a long-standing boutique experience, with studio spaces to three bedroom townhomes. We’re still family-owned and operated and specialize in group travel and weddings. Whether you’re here for the ski season or a summer getaway, we are only a few blocks from Main Street and just a stones throw from the slopes where you can ride and hike.
We renovated in 2023–2024 and within that renovation we decided to customize each and every space with unique historic photographs curated by me (Jules)! The artwork in your unit is unique to you and contains a piece of Breck’s history. In addition, you’ll see some of my own photographs sprinkled throughout the space. Each unit is also named after a run somewhere in Breck’s 3,000+ acres, with the story behind it explained below. Unfortunately, we only have 52 units, so a lot of runs were left unmentioned but we hope that you get to explore as much as you can. At Wedgewood, we love where we live and want to display how far the town has come. Thanks for coming, and enjoy your stay.
How to get to Tiger.
The naming of Tiger is actually pretty significant, not just a random animal picked from a cup of popsicle sticks. This double black diamond run can be found between Peak 8 and Peak 9 and was named after the company Royal Tiger Mines Co., founded in 1921 by engineer John A. Traylor. Over the next 15 years, the company would dominate and own most of the mining claims and mines in the French Gulch and Swan River area before going bankrupt in the 1930’s. This was probably due to the death of gold mining and a bit of the Great Depression. When Peak 9 opened in 1971, the original name of the area was Royal Tiger Mountain. This history all ties back to the Swan River, which is apparent in your living room. You can get to the trail by either taking the Peak 8 SuperConnect, the Colorado SuperChair, or hit it from above when coming from 6-Chair or Imperial Express.
Why is the Swan River so special?
Well… money. Much of the Swan River was decimated by dredging to search for valuable materials during the mining era. It was no secret that Breckenridge had gold, and the work to turn the river upside down to find metals like gold was ongoing for decades. It is now being restored with efforts to remove the rock piles left behind, reclaim riparian and upland habitat, and establish year round flows. You can read more about it here.
Breckenridge Prospecting — Swan River: Description: A prospect map of the Swan River in Breckenridge, Colorado. Original creator: 1941; Publisher: Natomas Company. Collection: Natomas Company Collection.
From top to bottom:
The Swan River and Georgia Gulch flume, northeast of Breckenridge: A section of the “Great Flume” called the Swan River and Georgia Gulch flume, northeast of Breckenridge, Colorado, circa 1905–1906. In the foreground, a waste gate diverts water downhill when a repair on the wooden flume was needed. Original creator: Circa 1905–1906; Westerman, Otto. Summit Historical Society Collection. Image created by Breckenridge History, Colorado.
Old gold dredge near Tiger, Colo.: View of an abandoned gold dredge on probably the Swan River near Tiger (Summit County), Colorado. Tailings piles are nearby. Original creator: 1940; Fick, William L.. Denver Public Library Special Collections, X-63025.
Core sampling prior to dredging, Summit Gulch in the Swan River Valley, east of Breckenridge: Core sampling in Summit Gulch prior to dredging the Swan River for gold. Circa 1895, near Breckenridge, Colorado. Two men operate the boiler while another man pans for gold in a wooden water flume. Piles of logs are stacked on the ground. Original creator: Circa 1895; Unidentified. Summit Historical Society Collection. Image created by Breckenridge History, Colorado.