The announced development is a revised version of its initial plans on property abutting Peaks 7 and 8 and the Watson parking lot in the historical town of Breckenridge, located 60 miles west of Denver. Publicly traded Vail Resorts has abandoned a $500,000 plan to develop 33 home sites in an environmentally sensitive area known as Cucumber Gulch, preserving the land as wetlands and a wildlife habitat. Still, the plan for Breckenridge - which for the past two ski seasons has been the nation's most popular resort, booking nearly $1.5 million skier visits - is the biggest corporate initiative by VRDC. In the past three years, VRDC has pumped $100 million into improvements for Breckenridge, a former mining town.

The Peak 8 plan calls for developing 48 of the 258 acres it owns with a mix of residential and commercial units and replacing all the current ski area operations and administration buildings, some of which were constructed shortly after the mountain opened in 1961. About 430 condominiums will be built, averaging less than 900 sf each and 12 single-family homes. A key component will be a ''grand scale'' lodge with 148 condominium hotel units, fitness center with swimming pool, courts, year-round ice-skating rink and 12,000-sf conference center.The Peak 7 plans will resemble a ''smaller, more intimate village,'' composed of two condominium buildings with skier services on the plaza level and a series of small mountain lodges, each with six to 10 condominiums.

A total of 110,000 sf will be built on the peaks, replacing 46,000 sf of existing buildings. In addition, 35,000 sf is being dedicated to new skier services and restaurant space, with 26,000 sf being allocated for retail space. Key to the plan is a gondola at the Watson parking lot to develop the first link with the town to the ski mountain.