Whale’s Tail, Breckenridge (311 at Wedgewood Lodge)

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 Whale’s Tail.

This run is a double black diamond in the saddle between Peak 7 and Peak 8 with a 604-foot drop. You can access it via the highest chairlift in the world, Imperial Express Chair. Beware the cornices at the top giving you a boost in speed when you hop into the bowl. This run is extremely popular, and for good reason. It offers gorgeous views of the entire mountain and town below. The origin of the name is not very clear, but the area was originally called White Whale. It’s thought that because the pattern of melting spring snow on the rock resembles a whale’s tail, it was renamed to what we see today. The is expert-only and hike-to terrain.

The high alpine.

The theme of your unit is the high alpine wildlife of Colorado. If you have kids or kids-at-heart on your trip who love animals, this is a great opportunity to learn more about what lives here and maybe go on a scavenger hunt. Be sure to thread lightly and stay on trail as wildlife at high elevations such as moss is extremely sensitive.

Some folks have always been fascinated with Colorado’s flora and fauna such as Edwin Carter, an early mid-1800’s naturalist who wanted to preserve species for the future by practicing taxidermy. He believed that all Colorado animals would be extinct by the end of the 19th century due to pollution caused by mining. While many species survived the pollution, some did go extinct due to other numerous reasons and other species numbers plummeted. Nowadays, some species are protected in hopes that they can recover from human activities. If you would like to learn more about Edwin Carter, visit the museum in town.

Did you know? Mountain goats can jump up to 12 feet in one hop!

Chappell: Mountain goat study needs to continue: The Rocky Mountain goat population of Colorado has two main herds, the Gore Range herd with about 150 goats and the Continental Divide herd with about 225 goats, and they have one great friend named Alex Chappell, who has devoted the last two years researching the goats. Original creator: 1994; Mark Fox. Summit Daily.

If you’re hiking in the middle of the mountains during the summer and you hear a car alarm sound, it’s probably a marmot.

The Yellow Bellied Marmot: Fauna Facts. Original creator: 1982; Unknown. The Mountain Ear

These birds are uncommon in Colorado, but if you’re a birdwatcher, look for this guy because every now again you can come across this beautiful bird from up north.

Gray Crowned Rosy Finch (Leucosticte Griseinucha): This illustration was extracted from the vintage book: Contributions to the natural history of Alaska. Original creator: Circa 1874 to 1881; Turner, Lucien McShan.

Did you know? A male bighorn ram’s horns can weigh up to 30 pounds.

Mountain sheep in a freight car: Big Horn sheep eat probably hay on the snowy ground outside Denver and Rio Grande Railroad freight car number “3438” in Colorado. A ram stands inside the car. Original creator: [between 1917 and 1926]; C. Bancroft. Denver Public Library Special Collections, Z-5739

All parts of the Columbine are inedible, but nevertheless, beautiful to look at.

Colorado state flower (the Columbine): Artistic studio view of Colorado’s state flower, Columbine; shows five blooms on four stems with black background. Original creator: [1900–1920]; McClure, Louis Charles, 1867–1957. Denver Public Library Special Collections, MCC-1936.

Denver (Colo.) Ptarmigan in Winter, The Spirit of the Colorado Rockies: Newsletter produced everty two months by the City of Denver highlighting the civic, administrative, and informational aspects of government within the City. Original creator: 1924; Clark Blickensderfer. Denver Public Library Special Collections, C352.078883 D4373muX3

Winter 2010.

From aerial imagery, you can see the vast expanse of the White River National Forest. Can you point out Breckenridge and Copper Mountain?

A modern touch.

At Wedgewood Lodge, we want to give you a distinctive look into the past history of Breckenridge. Each photo in your historical gallery is unique to your stay and took countless hours to curate. There are stories to tell about Breckenridge and Summit County today as well, and the following photos have been shot by Julia Anna Moore.

Summer 2020.

In the midst of the pandemic, historic wildfires hit the state of Colorado. Most of my photos during my short walk on Boreas Pass had a hazy red undertone, representative of how my lungs felt even just going a short distance. The air quality was terrible, I’m surprised you could even see these mountains at all.

Duo of the Colorado Rockies framed by Evergreens. You can see the haziness as these photos were taken during the historic 2020 wildfires.

More hazy photos of the landscape on fire.

Summer 2022.

Storms in Summit County roll in like clock work during the summertime, so you better do all your fun outdoor activities before lunch. Sometimes the rain blows over quickly, sometimes it lasts until sunset, creating a beautiful pattern in the sky.

The sun sets in July after a thunderstorm kissing Bald Mountain with alpenglow.

The mountains below are some of the same mountains you saw in some of my above photos from the 2020 wildfires. Notice the clarity in the air as the sun sets, lighting the mountains up with alpenglow. 2022 was a very wet year, a large contrast from the year of COVID-19.

A panoramic view of the White River National Forest.

Autumn 2022.

A small snowstorm turned the peaks white in September, and I ran out of my front door to get the clouds leaving the mountains as the sky cleared. The excitement of ski season set in. The right photo was taken on Lake Dillon from a small boat the next day.

The first snowfall in September, the aspens in the mountains already ready to drop their leaves for wintertime.

Winter 2022.

The picturesque Hoosier Pass in dark greens and grays as snow falls, creating yet another perfect powder day for Summit County. Be careful if you are attempting to drive over this pass in bad weather, or consider delaying travel.

A hazy snowstorm blows over the mountains, creating the atmosphere of cozying up at home with a cup of tea.

Winter 2023.

A fluffy snow had fallen all day, and as the sky cleared up in time for sunset. The alpenglow lit up the mountains before the sun sank behind the mountains creating a hazy blanket of darkness over White River National Forest.

Loveland Pass is the perfect place to take in the view, just be sure that you have 4WD if it’s been snowing and park off the road in the parking lot.

A hazy sunset paints over Loveland Pass

Strings of alpenglow touch the Pali Lift and the Continental Divide at Arapahoe Basin. The alpenglow eventually disappears and the blanket of darkness settles.

During the storm you see below in Summit, conditions were windy, rough, and cold. While most people chose to stay in, I ran up the mountain with my camera.

Strings of alpenglow touch the Pali Lift and the Continental Divide at Arapahoe Basin. The alpenglow eventually disappears and the blanket of darkness settles.

Want to take a piece of Summit County home with you? We will ship any of the prints from Julia’s gallery straight to your house. We offer different sizes and framing options. Reach out here.

Mail not working? Try this → solivagantjules [at] gmail.com

Connect with us.

535 Four O’Clock Road, Breckenridge, CO, 80424
(970) 453–1800
Booking: reservations[at]wedgewoodlodge.com
Business: askinner[at]wedgewoodlodge.com

If you find any inaccuracies or have a comment, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

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