Winter Park Resort


Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Winter Park. Located in Grand County just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about a ninety-minute drive from Denver.

History

The mountain opened for the 1939–40 season as Winter Park Ski Area and was owned and operated by the city and county of Denver until 2002, when Denver entered into a partnership with Intrawest ULC, a Canadian corporation headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, which operated the resort until Intrawest was acquired by Alterra Mountain Company in 2018. For nearly 70 years, a popular way for Denver residents to arrive was via the Ski Train, which arrived at the resort's base area through the Moffat Tunnel. Ski Train service ended in 2009 but returned as the Winter Park Express in 2017. Winter Park Resort is home to one of the world's largest and oldest disabled skiing programs, the National Sports Center for the Disabled.
During Intrawest's stint operating the resort, they made several changes to the mountain's infrastructure, renovating the food services in the West Portal base lodge, opening new lifts in 2005 and 2006, and a new base village with hundreds of condominia, a parking structure, a "Village Pond," retail space, and an open-air gondola known as "The Village Cabriolet." The historic 1955 Balcony House was listed as one of Colorado's Most Endangered Places by Colorado Preservation, Inc. This historic building was designed in the Googie style of architecture, which was a popular style in the 1940s to the 1960s.
The resort consists of three interconnected mountain peaks — Winter Park, Mary Jane, and Vasquez Ridge — which share a common lift ticket. Mary Jane, opened in 1975, has a separate base area and is known for its moguls, tree skiing, hidden huts, and generally more difficult terrain. It encompasses the above-tree line terrain of Parsenn Bowl. Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offers intermediate terrain and mogul runs. In 1997, of backcountry terrain in Vasquez Cirque were opened to skiing, although access required hiking from the top of Mary Jane; the 2006 relocation of the former Outrigger triple chairlift to the backside of Parsenn Bowl provides an easier escape back to Mary Jane after descending Vasquez Cirque.
Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the resort was divided into seven "territories". The three peaks — Winter Park, Mary Jane, and Vasquez Ridge — are each considered their own territories. Parsenn Bowl is now considered its own territory separate from Mary Jane. The remaining three are Vasquez Cirque, Eagle Wind, and "Terrain Park".
Winter Park is a year-round resort; the resort operates the lifts during the summer months for mountain biking, hiking and sightseeing. The Arrow chairlift also services an alpine slide in the summer, and the base area features miniature golf, a climbing wall, and other diversions. While the Winter Park area is also a popular destination for golf, there are no golf courses located at, or operated by, the resort itself. Winter Park boasts the most extensive lift access summer mountain biking trails in Colorado.
In 2018 Winter Park Resort was named "Best ski resort in North America" as voted by the readers of USA Today. In 2019 Winter Park Resort was named "Number 1 Ski Resort in North America".
Winter Park hosted the NCAA Skiing Championships in 1956, 1959, 1972, and 1977. The team title went to Denver in 1956 and Colorado took the latter three.

Statistics

Image:Winter Park.jpg|right|thumb|View looking east at Parry Peak from near the top of the Mary Jane.
[Image:Winter park base.jpg|right|thumb|Panoramic view of the Zephyr Express and Zephyr Mountain Lodge.]

Elevation

  • Base:
  • Summit:
  • Vertical rise:
  • Skiable area:
  • Trails: 166 total
  • Average annual snowfall:
  • "Territories"
  • *Winter Park
  • *Vasquez Ridge
  • *Parsenn Bowl
  • *Terrain Park
  • *Mary Jane
  • *Eagle Wind
  • *The Cirque

Slope Aspects

  • North: 50%
  • East: 10%[Image:Panorama Whistlestop Run (Winter Park Resort).jpg|thumb|A panorama taken on Whistlestop run at Winter Park Resort.][Image:Parsenn Bowl.jpg|right|thumb|View looking north from the top of Parsenn Bowl prior to the construction of the Panoramic Express.]
  • South: 2%
  • West: 38%

Lifts

  • Winter Park currently has 23 operating lifts.
Lift NameTypeManufacturerYear builtTerritoryNotes
The GondolaGondola 10Leitner-Poma2018Winter Park
Village CabrioletGondola 8Leitner-Poma2008n/aDoes not serve any terrain, used as transportation between Vintage parking lot to Winter Park Village.
Panoramic ExpressHigh speed six packLeitner-Poma2007Parsenn BowlWhen opened, it was marketed as being the highest high-speed six pack in North America, a title it retained until the Kensho SuperChair at Breckenridge Ski Resort was built in 2013.
Super Gauge ExpressHigh speed six packLeitner-Poma2005Mary Jane
Sunnyside ExpressHigh speed six packLeitner-Poma2019Mary Jane
Explorer ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1999Winter ParkFormerly called the Eskimo Express from 1999 to 2020
Gemini ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1993Winter Park
High Lonesome ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1991Mary Jane
Olympia ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1996Winter Park
Wild Spur ExpressHigh speed six packLeitner-Poma2023Vasquez RidgeContains a midway load station for skiers lapping the ridge, eliminating a lengthy traverse back to the base of the lift
Prospector ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1994Winter Park
ArrowTripleYan1979Winter Park
Eagle WindTripleYan2006Eagle WindFormer Outrigger chair from 1978-2003
EndeavourTriplePoma1993Winter Park
ChallengerDoubleHeron-Poma1974Mary Jane
DiscoveryDoubleHeron-Poma1984Winter Park
Galloping GooseDoubleHeron-Poma1974Mary Jane
Iron HorseDoubleHeron-Poma1974Mary Jane
Looking GlassDoubleRiblet1966Winter Park
Pony ExpressDoubleHeron-Poma1974Mary Jane
LariatRope TowPoma2002Winter Park
SpiritPlatter surface liftPoma2004Winter Park
CometConveyorMagic Carpet2019Winter Park
MeteorConveyorMagic Carpet2019Winter Park

Former lifts

Winter Park Colorado
Lift NameTypeManufacturerYears of OperationNotes-
SunnysideTripleCTEC1989-2019Replaced by a high-speed six pack
ApolloPlatterLeitner-Poma2004-2009-
ApolloDoubleRiblet1969-1998Replaced by Eskimo Express-
CometT-Bar1957-1977Replaced by Arrow triple-
EskimoDoubleRiblet1963-1990Destroyed in 1990 as part of a series of tests that included an uncontrolled rollback, trees falling on the line, and a fire in the motor room. Replaced by the Eskimo triple.-
EskimoTripleYan1990-1999Replaced with Eskimo Express; Relocated from Zephyr. Later sold to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.-
GeminiDoubleMiner-Denver1969-1993Replaced by Gemini Express-
High LonesomeQuadPoma1985-1991Converted to high speed quad-
HughesDoubleRiblet1962-1993Replaced by Gemini Express-
MeteorT-BarSwiss1957-1977Replaced with Outrigger triple-
OlympiaDoubleHeron-Poma1971-1996Replaced by Olympia Express; featured a midway unload station-
OutriggerT-BarSwiss1948-1978-
OutriggerTripleYan1978-2005SBNO from 2003 to 2005; relocated to Vasquez Ridge and operates as Eagle Wind-
Pioneer ExpressHigh Speed QuadPoma1986-2023Replaced by Wild Spur Express-
ProspectorDoubleRiblet1963-1994Replaced by Prospector Express-
Summit ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1985-2005Replaced by Super Gauge Express. Lift relocated to Mission Ridge Ski Area where it operated until 2020.-
TimberlineDoubleHeron-Poma/Thiokol1992-2007Relocated from Ski Granby Ranch ; replaced by Panoramic Express-
ZephyrTripleYan1983-1990Replaced by Zephyr Express; was later reinstalled as Eskimo before being sold to Jackson Hole in 1999-
Zephyr ExpressHigh speed quadPoma1990-2018Replaced with ten-person gondola-
Bob WoodsT-bar1940-1969Replaced with Apollo double-

Historic Trails

During Winter Park's 75-year history, many individuals have made significant contributions to the development and image of the ski area. Several ski trails have been identified on the resort's website as "historical trails," and even more exist on the mountain. A commemorative sign, with a brief narrative about the individual's contribution to the ski area, has been installed along each historical trail. Listed are both the run and in parentheses the lift that reaches them:
[Image:Fraser Valley zoom.jpg|thumb|Winter Park Resort nestled in with the Continental Divide]
  • Hughes '
  • Cranmer '
  • Allan Phipps '
  • Bradley's Bash '
  • Mulligan's Mile '
  • Jack Kendrick '
  • Mt. Maury '
  • Retta's Run '
  • Engeldive '
  • Balch '
  • Wilson's Way '
  • Mary Jane Trail '
  • Over N' Underwood
  • Butch's Breezeway ''''

Notable people

  • Elizabeth McIntyre, freestyle skier, Olympic silver medalist; lives in Winter Park
  • Ryan Max Riley, freestyle skier, US Champion, and humorist; lived in Winter Park
  • Ryan St. Onge, freestyle skier, World Champion and two-time Olympian; lived in Winter Park
  • Michelle Roark, freestyle skier, World Champion silver medalist and two-time Olympian; lived in Winter Park
  • Birk Irving, freestyle skier, World Champion bronze medalist, X-Games silver medalist, X-Games bronze medalist, Olympian; lived in Winter Park