The Team Breckenridge snow sculpture, pictured on the left, is called "Fun Every Time Around." The team captain is Keith Martin, who says he can see the figures in the snow before he carves them. Martin and two of the other team members, Tim West and Margo Jerkovit, got started in snow sculpture through the Snowflake Competition, which is now in its fourth year. The fourth member of the team was Breckenridge Associates realtor, and veteran snow sculptor, Tom Day.
http://www.BreckenridgeAssociates.com

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The final gun sounded at 10 a.m. on the 22nd annual International Sculpture Competition, today. The intensity of the past four days: people and tools of all stripes working on the snow, crawling all over 10-foot x 10-foot blocks has transformed into mobs of people streaming by the 15 finished sculptures that sit cordoned over like works in a museum.

Last night many teams working through the night to finish. Team Breckenridge hosted by Breckenridge Associates Real Estate had finished the structure of the carosel, and was working on detailing the horses and adding jewels to the crown. "We only stayed out until two," said Tom Day, a Breck. Associates realtor working on the sculpture. Tom was not being facetious. He remembers many years when the team worked…

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Lined up at the Riverwalk Center like marble outside the quarry at Carrara, the 15 blocks of snow stand ready for the beginning of the 22nd Annual International Snow Sculpture Competition, today. About 12 feet tall, 10 feet long and wide, the blocks give sculptors the opportunity to make something big, with a lot less effort than carving marble.

Fifteen teams have arrived to make sculpture. This morning, each team selected a block and attempted to claim it in the shotgun start at 11 a.m.

Although the snow looks very similar at this point, like stone, each block has different qualities depending on the composition and the temperature of the layers as it was being formed. Breckenridge uses only man-made snow, so there are very few impurities. But ice chunks…

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UllrFest 2012 is new and improved.

Tomorrow, Thursday, is the parade and following it will be the return of the bonfire. For many years, safety concerns prevented the town from having the big outdoor fire that had been a fixture of the fest. But this year, the fire is back in Ullr. After the Ullr floats parade from north to south down Main Street they will circle back to the start and over to the Gondola parking lot where the bonfire will be lit.  The exact location is the southeast corner of this lot, or directly behind Breckenridge Town Hall.

For those who remember the old days, there will be no throwing of skis into the bonfire! We're green now. Skis, and many other things that were historically thrown into the fire, do not burn cleanly.

New to the 2012…

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For decades Breckenridge has been in the myth-making business – creating greatly memorable vacations, fantasy-good lifestyles for locals and loose-yourself getaways for seasonal inhabitants. Never is this myth making more apparent than in January when, giddy with leftover holiday cheer, the town puts on another installment of the pageant of Ullr.

For 49 years, we’ve pretended Ullr Fest was some kind of ancient ritual from the nebulous old country and Ullr was the Norse god of snow.

Not that we adore false idols here. We simply know we’re crazy to be living in a place where snow can pile up so high it meets the snow sliding from the roof. We need a winter festival that’s just for fun.

So, our legend of Ullr is a complete fabrication created by ski-town…

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A quick look at the statistics available for 2011 indicates there were a lot more Buyers taking advantage of low prices and even lower interest rates than in 2010. Sales of Summit County Single Family Homes in 2011 outpaced sales in 2010 by approximately 14%. In Breckenridge, area Home Sales were up for the year a whopping 32%. Sales of Condominiums in Summit County in 2011 were up an impressive 8% in number of transactions for the year. In Breckenridge, 2011 Condo sales increased 7% over sales in 2010.

These are all positive indicators of the demand for property in Summit County. On the supply side we are seeing a decrease in the numbers of Available Inventory in all categories. Listings of Condominiums in Breckenridge are currently about 25% below the…

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Happy New Year and thank you for joining us for another edition of our Top 5 Best Real Estate Deals in Breckenridge! The holidays have been beautiful and mostly warm with a little snow and lots of sunshine. There are some great events coming up in the next few weeks including Ullr Fest and the International Snow Sculpting Championships. Be sure to check out our Events Calendar for the latest winter events in Breckenridge and Summit County.  

For January, we're counting down the Top 5 Real Estate Deals as we jump into the new year. Here we go.



5.) 242 Goldenview Drive & 1226 Forest Hills Drive, Breckenridge
Our #5 pick is going to be vacant land in general with 2 specific properties that really stand out. Vacant land has been one of the hardest hit aspects…

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Whatever the headline reads we can all agree that mortgage rates are really low. The benefit of these low rates to Real Estate Buyers can be substantial. The difference between a rate of 4% and 5% on a 30 year mortgage loan of $600,000 can amount to $128,000 over the life of the loan, or $350 each month.

If you are waiting for the Real Estate market to drop another 1% or 2% before you buy, consider the following. If rates go up just ½% you will possibly pay $15,000 less for that $750,000 house and end up paying $63,000 more in interest over the life of the loan.

You may have heard that the Federal Reserve has promised to keep rates low until the middle of 2013. The problem is that they can and do change their mind if the economic outlook changes. In…

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January 24 marks the return of the annual and much anticipated International Snow Sculpture Championships (ISSC). Artists will spend 65 hours carving 20-ton blocks of snow into awe-inspiring masterpieces. Snow sculptors from around the globe will make Breckenridge their home during the event, taking place January 24-February 5, 2012. The competitive field is made up of 15 teams this year and the talent pool of sculptors will be exceptional as most every team has medaled in competition before. 

The International Snow Sculpture Championships will again be cast under a LED-lighting display as introduced last year, illuminating the sculptures and giving a different perspective to the event. We highly recommend checking out the snow sculptures in the evenings…

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