Winter Park Resort is an

alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

at Winter Park. Located in Grand County just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about a ninety-minute drive from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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

until 2002, when Denver entered into a partnership with Intrawest ULC, a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

corporation headquartered in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, which operated the resort until Intrawest was acquired by

Alterra Mountain Company Alterra Mountain Company is an American hospitality company established in 2018 with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. It is privately owned by KSL Capital Partners and Henry Crown and Company, the owners of Aspen/Snowmass. It is a conglomerate o ...

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 The Moffat Tunnel is a railroad and water tunnel that cuts through the Continental Divide in north-central Colorado. Named after Colorado railroad pioneer David Moffat, the tunnel's first official railroad traffic passed through in February 192 ...

. 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 The National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that began in 1970 providing ski lessons for children with amputations. Today, the NSCD is one of the largest therapeutic recreation organizations in the ...

. 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 The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...

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 Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the ...

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 A lift ticket or lift pass is an identifier usually attached to a skier's or snowboarder's outerwear that indicates they have paid and can ride on the ski lift(s) that transport people and equipment up or down a mountain. Types of 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 The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

terrain of Parsenn Bowl. Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offers intermediate terrain and mogul runs. In 1997, of

backcountry In the United States, a backcountry or backwater is a geographical area that is remote, undeveloped, isolated, or difficult to access. Terminology Backcountry and wilderness within United States national parks The National Park Service (NPS) ...

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 An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. Th ...

to the backside of Parsenn Bowl (now called Eagle Wind) 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 (the backcountry terrain behind Parsenn Bowl), Eagle Wind (the glade below Vasquez Cirque), and "Terrain Park" (the various

terrain parks A terrain park or snow park is an outdoor recreation area containing terrain that allows skiers, snowboarders and snowbikers to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. From their ...

across the mountain). Winter Park is a year-round

resort A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term ''resort ...

; the resort operates the lifts during the summer months for

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

and sightseeing. The Arrow chairlift also services an

alpine slide A summer toboggan is an amusement or recreational ride which uses a bobsled-like sled or cart to run down a track usually built on the side of a hill. There are two main types: an Alpine coaster or mountain coaster is a type of roller coaster ...

in the summer, and the base area features

miniature golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

, a

climbing wall A climbing wall is an artificially constructed wall with grips for hands and feet, usually used for indoor climbing, but sometimes located outdoors. Some are brick or wooden constructions, but on most modern walls, the material most often used i ...

, and other diversions. While the Winter Park area is also a popular destination for

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, 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 The NCAA Skiing Championships are held annually to crown the National Collegiate Athletic Association combined men's and women's team skiing champion. Before 1983, the championship was only for men's skiing. Unlike many NCAA sports, only one N ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

. The team title went to

in 1956 and

took the latter three.

Statistics

Elevation

*Base: *Summit: *Vertical rise:

Trails

*Skiable area: *Trails: 166 total (8% beginner, 18% intermediate, 19% advanced, 52% difficult, 3% expert) *Average annual snowfall: *"Territories" **Winter Park **Vasquez Ridge **Parsenn Bowl **Terrain Park **Mary Jane **Eagle Wind **The Cirque

Slope Aspects

*North: 50% *East: 10% *South: 2% *West: 38%

Lifts

*Winter Park currently has 23 operating lifts.

Former lifts

Winter Park Colorado

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: *Hughes ''(The Gondola or Explorer Express)'' *Cranmer ''(The Gondola or Explorer Express)'' *Allan Phipps ''(The Gondola, Explorer Express or Prospector Express)'' *Bradley's Bash ''(The Gondola or Explorer Express)'' *Mulligan's Mile ''(The Gondola or Explorer Express)'' *Jack Kendrick ''(Prospector Express or Looking Glass)'' *Mt. Maury ''(learning slope with carpet)'' *Retta's Run ''(Explorer Express lift line)'' *Engeldive ''(Prospector Express and Looking Glass)'' *Balch ''(The Gondola or Explorer Express)'' *Wilson's Way ''(Discovery learning double)'' *Mary Jane Trail ''(reached from Super Gauge Express, Olympia Express or High Lonesome Express)'' *Over N' Underwood ''(Prospector Express or Looking Glass)'' (not listed on website) *Butch's Breezeway ''(Prospector Express or Looking Glass)'' (not listed on website)

Notable people

* Elizabeth McIntyre (born 1965), freestyle skier, Olympic silver medalist; lives in Winter Park *

Ryan Max Riley Ryan Max Riley (born May 15, 1979) is a humorist and athlete who was a humor writer for ''The Harvard Lampoon''. He competed on the World Cup for seven years and was a two-time US National Champion as an athlete on the U.S. Ski Team in the frees ...

(born 1979), freestyle skier, US Champion, and humorist; lived in Winter Park * Ryan St. Onge (born 1983), freestyle skier, World Champion and two-time Olympian; lived in Winter Park * Michelle Roark (born 1974), freestyle skier, World Champion silver medalist and two-time Olympian; lived in Winter Park

References

External links

Official Web Site3dSkiMap of Winter Park ResortDatabase of ski maps of Winter Park
{{Authority control Alterra Mountain Company Ski areas and resorts in Colorado Buildings and structures in Grand County, Colorado Tourist attractions in Grand County, Colorado