The annual Dew Tour snowboarding and freeskiing event may not return to Breckenridge Ski Resort in December.
Dew Tour spokeswoman Melissa Gullotti said in an email on Thursday that Dew Tour is currently in active discussions with several resorts about the future location of the event.
Dew Tour’s previous contract with Breckenridge Ski Resort concluded with last month’s event. It was the 11th consecutive year Dew Tour competitions took place in Breckenridge.
“While our current contract expired with last month’s event,” Breckenridge Ski Resort spokeswoman Sara Lococo said in an email on Thursday, “Vail Resorts, TEN and PepsiCo are currently working on negotiations for the future.”
Though the ski resort and Dew Tour are putting out official statements leaving the door open for a return to Breckenridge in December, documentation and information shared with the Breckenridge Tourism Office and the Breckenridge Town Council’s events committee suggests its more of a long shot.
On Thursday, Sandy Metzger, the Breckenridge Tourism Office’s events director, said the ski area said at a recent town of Breckenridge events committee meeting that Dew Tour most likely won’t be coming back in December.
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That notion is supported by the tourism office’s 2019 Business/Marketing Plan that it shared with the Breckenridge Town Council for a Jan. 8 work session. In that 2019 plan, the tourism office details as a primary goal to “fill the Dew Tour gap in December 2019.”
Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula said on Thursday the council has spoken with the tourism office about looking into potential event ideas to replace Dew Tour during the annual mid-December, weeklong slot it occupied before the holidays. Mamula described that week in December as one that used to be a relatively slow week annually, in terms of business and revenue for the town. The mayor said Dew Tour changed that, particularly over the weekend portion of the event.
Mamula said he thinks the town’s next step is to find some sort of alternative, though he said he doesn’t know what that alternative is.
In the plan, the tourism office mentioned the possibility of “elevating” the Lighting of Breckenridge and the annual Race of the Santas. The possibility of moving Ullr Fest into December was also noted.
“It would be nice to have something that we could have to energize that week,” Mamula said. “And whether that’s fireworks or a parade or another event similar to Ullr — or maybe you move one of the events. We are sort of leaving that up to the (tourism office) and the events committee to come up with something.”
In early years, after the Winter Dew Tour was launched in 2008, Breckenridge Ski Resort was one of several hosts along a multi-weekend touring event held at different sites. In more recent years, Breckenridge Ski Resort served as the official and total host of a singular annual Winter Dew Tour event.
