Winter Park Ski Resort – Winter Park, CO

Winter Park is made up of two interconnected resorts: Winter Park and Mary Jane. Both offer incredible skiing and snowboarding and nearby access to the friendly, western towns of Winter Park and Fraser.

Combined, Winter Park and Mary Jane, offer more than 3,000 skiable acres and 166 designated trails. All together Winter Park Ski Resort is made up of five interconnected mountains: Winter Park, Mary Jane, Parsenn Bowl, Vasquez Cirque, and Vasquez Ridge.

Terrain

Beginners will find plenty of easy trails for learning on the Winter Park side of the resort: Groomed cruisers, mogul runs, and a dedicated 14 acres for Learn to Ski and Snowboard areas. Intermediates will find lots of blues throughout Winter Park and Mary Jane.

Winter Park, Colorado — Winter Park. Photo: K. Todd Storch

Experts will find the advanced terrain on the Mary Jane side of the Winter Park Resort. The Winter Park trails tend to flatten out quicker, whereas Mary Jane has steeps all the way down. The bumps and glades on Mary Jane are rated as some of the best in North America. The trees are well spaced and easy to access between trails and the moguls are steep and deep.

The Parsenn Bowl is located above the tree line and at the highest lift-served point on the mountain,12,060 ft. It’s one of the few big bowls in Colorado that intermediates can enjoy. The surrounding views of the Rocky Mountains are breathtaking. There are some glades at the bottom of the bowl that are widely spaced and often un-tracked after a storm.

Vasquez Ridge is a hidden gem at the resort and often left untouched throughout the day. In the summer, it’s prime for camping, hiking, and biking. In winter there are a couple of hundred acres back there, prime for skiing and snowboarding. Most of the runs are single black diamonds and are accessed by the Pioneer Express lift.

Mary Jane Ski Area Summit Skiing — Near the top of Mary Jane.

From the top of Parsenn Bowl, you can hike up and around the Vasquez Cirque for expert, back-country-style terrain. The scenery is stunning and makes the long, relatively flat hike worth the trouble. You’ll find chutes, cliffs, trees, cornices, and more adrenaline-pumping, off-piste challenges.

At the end is a traverse along the trees, so keep your speed up. You’ll be brought back to the Pioneer Express lift.

If you are into freestyle, Winter Park has you covered. There are three terrain Parks available with a natural progression between each. Discovery Park has small features and rails for beginners. Stepping it up a notch, Kendrick Terrain Park is for intermediates and Rail Yard is for advanced skiers/riders.

Winter Park Skier — Heading to the base for happy hour!

Village

There is both a Winter Park mountain village and historic, downtown Winter Park. The mountain village is located at the base of Winter Park and has a cabriolet to take you from the parking area to the village shops. It’s a modern ski village with all the amenities necessary for a world-class vacation, such as a scenic gondola ride.

It’s close to lodging and plenty of nice restaurants and shops. Winter Park Village also boasts an outdoor ice rink.

Downtown Winter Park offers accommodations to suit all budgets and restaurants for all tastes. You’ll find plenty of shopping and attractions spread throughout the mountain village, downtown Winter Park, and nearby Fraser. Other nearby attractions include Ski Granby Ranch and the Hot Sulphur Springs, west on Highway 40.