Help! I've been nominated to plan a group ski trip over President's Day weekend. Which is pretty funny since I'm the one who has never been there! We have lodging and airfare secured. Now we're looking for Breck info:
-Any recommendations for a shuttle between Denver Intl' and Breck? We'll have one van, but arriving in two waves, so half the group will need the shuttle. OR should we all take the shuttle and rent a car once we get to Breckenridge?
-Any recommendations on rental equip? We're looking for both ski and snowboard.
-I'm not familiar with the best way to secure lift tickets prior to the trip--any suggestions?
-Should we do a day trip to Vail? If so, what are the implications for our lift tickets?
-Restaurant recommendations--fun group, likes to eat well (ha).
-8 people total, all adults, 6 have experience with skiing, two are beginners.

Any and all suggestions are welcome! I really appreciate the help!

-shuttle - Shuttles are easy to find in the Denver Airport, but make reservations a head of time. Here's one provider, I'm sure there are others:
http://www.resortshuttle.com/
-rental equip: I used Blue Mountain Sports last time, got a coupon with my condo for a discount, and they were great.
-We bought ours off mountain at the local grocery store (in Dillon?) for a discount. Check out the Breckenridge forum on RSN.com for addition info:
http://www.rsn.com/community/breck/forum.html?segment_type=mtn&post_index=0
-Restaurant: Lots of restaurants in lots of price ranges. We liked Rasta Pasta, Eric's Downstairs for pizza (and craziness), the Breckenridge Brewery for happy hour brews/snacks, and Jalapeno's Authentic Mexican.

www.resort-express.com to Breckenridge from DIA. You can reserve online.

www.resort-express.com to Breckenridge from DIA. You can reserve online.

Restaurants - Steak and Rib, Giampietros(italian), Blue Moose(breakfast), Downstairs at Erics, Blue River Bistro

I'm not quite sure what kind of deals other people are getting on shuttles, but based upon my research from last year, depending on how long you are all staying, a shuttle may end up costing you more than renting a mini van or similar vehicle. I think I paid close to $100 per person for the round trip. I thought the shuttle was a bit crowded and the pick up time very early. Perhaps you could ask to rent one shuttle as a package deal?

Not sure about lift tickets, I bought mine here through an online package provider for a good price, I believe it might have been moguls.com. Purchased a 3 of 5 days (even though we were only there for 4) which gave us 3 days of skiing over the course of 5 days. With that ticket, we were entitled to ski 1 day in Vail which I would recommend. The area provides a bus shuttle that can move skiiers back and forth between Vail and Breck so no one has to drive.

As for restuarants, I think there are lots of recommendations on this site. That's how I found the restaurants where we ate, and I thought most all the recs people gave were good ones. I would make reservations before you get there for such a large party if your heart is set on a particular place.