Resort Review from an intermediate Snowboarder’s perspective, I like blue and black groomers and tree runs, skip the terrain park and love aprés-ski food and drinks:
Overview:
Winter Park is a medium sized Colorado ski resort home to Mary Jane, the mogul laden territory, with its slogan “No Pain No Jane”. Its proximity to Denver (~90 miles) and unpretentious vibe make it a great resort to enjoy Colorado ski conditions without breaking the bank. Good choice if you are looking for a short trip where you can easily get in and get out.
Pros:
Medium ski-able area
Varied terrain (groomers, glades and bowls)
Close to airport (about an hour and half)
More affordable than other Colorado resorts
Cons:
Minimal village and nightlife
Can be very crowded on weekends due to proximity to Denver
Getting there:
Winter Park is one of the closest resorts to Denver, making it easy to get to and also one of the most popular Colorado resorts.
Denver’s airport is easy to navigate as it has an internal train system to take you between the terminals and baggage claim.
Denver’s baggage claim area is nicely setup to handle checked ski and snowboard equipment. I’ve never had a problem with quickly picking up my snowboard tube.
The drive from Denver to Winter Park is about 1.5hrs depending on traffic and weather. Each time I’ve been to Winter Park I’ve taken a shuttle service, like Home James, but you could also take the train.
During the winter months, Amtrak runs the Winter Park Express, which is a train that runs just between Denver and Winter Park once a day on the weekends. I had a friend take the train to Winter Park and it was a seamless process after landing in Denver Airport.
Mountain Terrain:
Winter Park has approximately 3,000 ski-able acres. The mountain is divided into seven territories:
Winter Park - main village area with long groomers
Terrain Park - with seven terrain parks and a super pipe
Mary Jane - moguls, moguls, moguls
Parsenn Bowl - bowl area that leads into tree glades
The Cirque - backcountry skiing for expert riders; access via Cirque sled, no lift access
Eagle Wind - expert tree glades
Vasque Ridge - is off the beaten pass with blue and black runs
My favorite territory is Parsenn Bowl. You can ride down Larkspur and enjoy the open bowl feeling or ride Parry’s Peak along the ridge and pick your spot to drop into the trees. Like most glades, make sure there is fresh powder otherwise you are going to be in some very deep, icy moguls.
Mary Jane is also fun but as a snowboarder watch out as some of those mogul trails are tight and tough on a snowboard. Wildwood glade, Bellmar bowl and Columbine trails are all fun rides.
For snowboarders be aware that some of the trails in between the territories are catwalks, so you might need to be shuffle a bit to make it across.
Village/Lodging:
Winter Park has a small village area. There are a handful of restaurants on the resort, enough to keep you entertained maybe for a long weekend. The town of Winter Park is about a 10 minute drive from the resort. There is a free shuttle that runs from the resort, through Winter Park north to Fraser. This gives you more restaurants and lodging options.
In terms of lodging there are a couple of options within the village but numerous of condo options in the town.
Winter Park Village isn’t the type of village you can really walk around as its tiny. There are plenty of restaurants and shops in the town but you will need to use the shuttle system to get around.
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