Winter Park Ski Resort
By Amanda May
Staff Writer
Rockies.com
On the western slope of the Continental Divide, Winter Park is a mega resort owned by the city of Denver.
A skier gets into some of the plentiful powder at Winter Park. (Winter Park Ski Resort)
The resort and town of Winter Park are at the southern end of the Fraser Valley, and just a short drive from Denver. The base is at 9,100 feet, and the summit reaches about 12,000 feet above sea level.
Families love Winter Park for its activities like hayrides, sleigh rides, and sledding as well as the ski and board school on the mountain.
The ski resort receives a stunning amount of 375 inches of snow per year, which blankets the area and stays for six months.
The area has 143 trails on 3,060 acres with another 1,212 acres of off-piste terrain like Vasquez Cirque and some glade skiing. Winter Park Resort has snowmaking on 25 of their trails, totaling almost 300 acres. The snowmaking helps along Mother Nature and makes sure that the resort opens before Thanksgiving.
The monster trails at Winter Park reach up to five miles in length, but if they aren’t enough to get rid of your cabin fever, head to one of the six terrain parks. A Super Pipe and over 80 features await!
And nobody gets left out at Winter Park, with the leading national program for disabled skiers.
The terrain is classified as 8% beginner, 17% intermediate, 19% more difficult, 53% most difficult and 3% expert.
The area is serviced by 25 lifts, including 2 high-speed six-person chair lifts, 4 triples, 7 high-speed express quads, 6 doubles, 3 surface lifts and 3 magic carpets. The total uphill capacity is 36,920 skiers per hour.
Every year there are multi-million dollar improvements, so there’s always something new to see.
To get to Winter Park, fly into Denver International Airport and take one of the resort’s shuttles, or drive, taking I-70 and Highway 40 northwest from Denver 67 miles. Amtrak’s California Zepher can get you pretty close, and provides one of the most breathtaking rides in the country.
Phone: (970) 726-1564
Snow Phone: (303) 316-1564
Christy Sports: The future of ski and board rentals has arrived! Reserve your gear online and pick it up at their Winter Park location! Or use their Door 2 Door service and get the gear delivered right to your condo or hotel! The website also has a clothing store with all the major brands, like Burton, K2, Helly Hansen, Spyder and more! Also selling kayaks and all the paddle gear you could want! Save up to 20% by renting online!
Beaver Village Condos: A great choice for a vacation to Winter Park. Located right in downtown Winter Park, Colorado, this lodging facility has one to four-bedroom condos for rent by the night. Each condo has a full kitchen, dining room, private balcony and gas or wood-burning stove. Head to the central clubhouse to swim in their indoor pool, soak in the hot tubs or relax in the sauna. Spectacular views of the Continental Divide!
Iron Horse Resort: Stay here for fantastic ski-in/ski-out convenience during your ski vacation in Winter Park, Colorado. Just take the catwalk to the base area and you’re your day of skiing at Winter Park started! Facility amenities include an on-site bar and restaurant. Choose from studios to multiple-bedroom condos.
[...] Basin is just 15 minutes past Winter Park, and is great for first-timers and intermediate skiers and snowboarders.View of the night skiing at [...]
[...] Near Denver While the City of Denver owns and operates Winter Park, the closest ski resort is actually Echo Mountain Park. A-Basin and Loveland aren’t too far [...]
[...] Winter Park Ski Resort is owned by the city of Denver and has 143 trails with another 1,212 acres of off-piste terrain including Vasquez Cirque and glade skiing. Although they receive about 375 inches of snow per year fairly consistently, they don’t take any chances. Snowmaking on 26 trails (almost 300 acres) ensures that they always open before Thanksgiving. [...]
[...] Tourism Office)Take a chair lift up the mountain in the summer and you’ll have 50 miles just at Winter Park Ski Resort! Signs are posted letting bikers know about each trail’s specific difficulty [...]