Winter Park Resort
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Winter Park/Mary Jane Resort | |
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| Location: | Colorado, USA |
| Nearest city: | Winter Park, Colorado |
| Coordinates: | |
| Top elevation: | 12060 ft (3676 m) |
| Base elevation: | 9000 ft (2743 m) |
| Skiable area: | 2,762 acres (11.2 km²) |
| Runs: | 134 total 9% beginner 34% intermediate 57% advanced/expert |
| Lift system: | 25 total (8 high-speed chairs, 11 fixed-grip chairs, 6 surface lifts) |
| Snowfall: | 349 in (8.86 m) |
| Web site: | http://www.skiwinterpark.com |
Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in Winter Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. Located just off U.S. Highway 40, the resort is about an hour and a half's drive from Denver, Colorado.
The mountain opened for the 1939–1940 season as Winter Park Ski Area[1] 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 has operated the resort since then.[2] One popular way for Denver residents — many of whom have learned to ski or snowboard at Winter Park over the years — to get there is via the Ski Train, which arrives at the resort's base area though the Moffatt Tunnel. It is home to one of the world's largest and oldest disabled skiing programs, the National Sports Center for the Disabled.
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-treeline terrain of Parsenn Bowl. Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offering more intermediate terrain and mogul runs. In 1997, 435 acres of formerly backcountry terrain in Vasquez Cirque were opened to skiing, although access required hiking from the top of Mary Jane;[3] the 2006 relocation of the former Outrigger triple chairlift to the Cirque provides lift access to much of that terrain.
Since taking over operation of the resort, Intrawest has 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 publicly announcing plans for a new base village to include hundreds of new condominiums, a parking structure, a "Village Pond," and a "family swim center," all accessible via a new open-air gondola to be known as "The Cabriolet."[4]
In an attempt to make Winter Park into a year-round resort, Intrawest operates the lifts during the summer months for mountain biking. 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.
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[edit] Statistics
[edit] Elevation
- Base: 9,000 ft (2,700 m)
- Summit: 12,060 ft (3,680 m)
- Vertical rise: 3,060 ft (930 m)
[edit] Trails
- Skiable area: 3,060 acres (12.38 km²)
- Trails: 143 total (9% beginner, 34% intermediate, 57% advanced/expert)
- Average annual snowfall: 365 in (9 m)
[edit] Lifts [1]
25 total (manufacturer, year installed)
- 1 high-speed detachable six-passenger chairlift:
- Super Gauge Express (@Mary Jane) (Leitner-Poma, 2005)
- 7 high-speed detachable quad chairlifts:
- 4 triple chairlifts:
- 7 double chairlifts:
- Challenger (@Mary Jane) (Heron-Poma, 1975)
- Discovery (Heron-Poma, 1984)
- Galloping Goose (@Mary Jane) (Heron-Poma, 1975)
- Iron Horse (@Mary Jane) (Heron-Poma, 1975)
- Looking Glass (Riblet, 1965)
- Pony Express (@Mary Jane) (Heron-Poma, 1975)
- Timberline (@Mary Jane) (Heron-Poma, 1992; former SolVista chairlift and before that former Stagecoach lift)
- 3 surface lifts:
- Apollo
- Lariat handle tow (Poma, 2002)
- Spirit platter pull (Poma, 2004)
- 3 conveyor lifts:
- Children's Center magic carpet
- Comet magic carpet
- Meteor magic carpet
[edit] Former lifts[5]
- High-speed detachable quad chairlifts:
- Quad chairlifts:
- Triple chairlifts:
- Double chairlifts:
- Apollo (Riblet, 1968)
- Eskimo (Riblet, 1963; replaced with Yan triple chair (former Zephyr) in 1990 and then Eskimo Express high-speed quad in 1999)
- Gemini (1968; replaced with Gemini Express high-speed quad in 1993).
- Hughes - (Riblet, 1961; removed in early '90s)
- Olympia - (Riblet, 1971; replaced with Olympia Express high-speed quad in 1996)
- Prospector (Riblet, 1963; replaced with Prospector Express high-speed quad in 1994)
- Surface lifts:
[edit] Historic Trails[6]
During Winter Park's 67-year history, many individuals have made significant contributions to the development and image of the ski area. Over the years several ski trails have been identified as "historical trails." A commemorative sign, with a brief narrative about the individual's contribution to the ski area, has been installed along each historical trail:
- 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
