Winter Park Resort

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Winter Park/Mary Jane Resort
Winter Park Village
Location:
Colorado, U.S.
Nearest city: Winter Park, Colorado
Coordinates: 39°53′13″N 105°45′45″W / 39.88694, -105.7625 (Winter Park/Mary Jane Resort)Coordinates: 39°53′13″N 105°45′45″W / 39.88694, -105.7625 (Winter Park/Mary Jane Resort)
Top elevation: 12,060 feet (3,680 m)
Base elevation: 9,000 feet (2,700 m)
Skiable area: 2,762 acres (11.2 km²)
Runs: 134 total
9% beginner
34% intermediate
57% advanced/expert
Lift system: 25 total (9 high-speed chairs, 10 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-tree line terrain of Parsenn Bowl. Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offering more intermediate terrain and mogul runs. In 1997, 435 acres (1.76 km²) 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] However, while this change has been great for the economic development of the town and the resort, it has also been a threat to the existing historic resort base. The historic Balcony House remains under constant threat of demolition. This historic building was designed in the Googie style of architecture, which was a popular style in the 1940s to the 1960s. This building is a standing memory to the original history of Winter Park.

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.

Contents

[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)
View looking north from the top of Parsenn Bowl, Winter Park Resort.
View looking north from the top of Parsenn Bowl, Winter Park Resort.
View looking east from near the top of the Mary Jane section of Winter Park Resort.
View looking east from near the top of the Mary Jane section of Winter Park Resort.

[edit] Lifts [1]

25 total (manufacturer, year installed)

Ski trail near the top of Winter Park Resort.
Ski trail near the top of Winter Park Resort.

[edit] Former lifts[5]

  • High-speed detachable quad chairlifts:
    • Summit Express (Poma, 1986; replaced with Super Gauge Express high-speed six-pack in 2005)
  • Quad chairlifts:
    • High Lonesome (Poma, 1986; replaced with High Lonesome Express high-speed quad in 1991)
  • Triple chairlifts:
    • Outrigger (Yan, 1977; moved to Vasquez Cirque in 2006 and renamed Eagle Wind)
    • Zephyr (Yan, 1983; moved to replace the Eskimo double in 1990; replaced with Zephyr Express high-speed quad)
  • Double chairlifts:
    • Apollo (Riblet, 1969)
    • Eskimo (Riblet, 1963; replaced with Yan triple chair (former Zephyr) in 1990 and then Eskimo Express high-speed quad in 1999)
    • Gemini (Miner-Denver, 1969; 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)
    • Timberline - (Poma, 1992; replaced with Panoramic Express high-speed six-person in 2007)
  • Surface lifts:
    • J-bar (1939 – ?)
    • 2 rope tows (1945 – ?]])
    • Comet T-bar (1957; replaced with Arrow triple in 1977)
    • Meteor T-bar (1957 – 1977)replaced with Outrigger triple
    • Bob Woods T-bar (1940s; replaced with Apollo double in 1969)

[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

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Colorado Chairlift Locations

[edit] External links

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