General Comments/Likes
The variety of entry level and intermediate ski and snowboard terrain at Winter Park is the key to the long-term success it has enjoyed.
First time skiers or riders and mid to upper level intermediates will find plenty to do. Winter Park is also a great race hill and has one of the best race crews in the business.
The Balcony House base lodge is great for the non-skier/rider who wants to sit and watch their friends and family doing their thing. It is a classic design with amazing outside decks and the perfect sun exposure for warming up on a clear, cold day.
Head to The Jane for tree skiing. Some of the best in the West!
See my rating for The Mary Jane.
Dislikes
The transportation from town to the ski hill is fair. It gets you fairly close to the lifts, but don’t expect a comfortable, roomy ride unless riding on a school bus is your idea of quality transportation.
The distance one is forced to walk if you park there is a real hassle, especially with kids in tow. Walking through the base village is yet another example of the “Disney Effect” that has wiped out the unique character of individual ski areas. It’s yet another cookie cutter base village that makes me want to run…
The West Portal Station building may be the ugliest building at any ski resort anywhere. Stairs, stairs and more stairs. Whoever designed it and whoever approved its construction never wore a pair of ski boots and never watched first time skiers walk in ski boots and attempt to climb stairs. Add to that the the lack of views from the seating areas and it really makes you wonder. Right next door you have the classic Balcony House with it’s massive windows over looking the ski trails. Why the designers of the West Portal building didn’t use the Balcony House for inspiration is beyond me!?!
Below average vertical on the expert side of things, the runs, (other than Outhouse) are short. Winter Park is NOT “big mountain” skiing, yet the ticket prices are the same or higher than places like Squaw Valley, CA. which has three times the terrain variety and excitement at ten dollars less per day.
It makes no difference if your ticket is good at both Winter Park and The Mary Jane, $90 + dollars per day ticket is NOT justifiable here, period!
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Rated By
- Ski Prophet
- Gender: Male
- Age: 51
- Resides In: Jackson's Hole, WY, USA
- Disciplines: Alpine, Back Country, Nordic Jumping, Nordic Touring, Telemarker
- Years Skiing/Riding: 49
- Avg. Days Per Season: 71 - 100 days
- Read Full Profile »
art b
02/02/2010 01:02PM
I hear what you’re saying about the base area and parking especially. Also, try as it may, neither the ski area nor the town of Winter Park is very resorty. It’s really a front range locals’ hill. On the other hand it’s artificial to determine value for money and the whole ski experience without reference to Mary Jane, which is contiguous to WP and skiiable right off of WP’s main Zephyr lift. It might not be obvious to first timers from your review but you can ski all 3000 acres/3000 vert of WP-MJ on the lift ticket, and when you count the MJ terrain you’ve got a hill that’s in the upper ranks of lift-served terrain.
BTW what happened to the ski train? I heard it stopped running.
NyAxter
02/03/2010 06:02AM
Yeah Amtrak pulled a fast one on the new owners of the Ski Train over insurance and killed the deal after train tickets had already been sold. It’s a big and historic loss to the ski community in Colorado. R.I.P. Ski Train. And now the RailRoad company is starting to hassle old town residents who cross the tracks to get to the ski lifts.