Intrawest : Winter Park

We had an excellent couple of days at Winter Park. The resort is large and spread out, giving riders lots of room to play with as they explore. While much of Mary Jane is moguls, it is also steep, and with the right snow conditions can be just as fun to board. Up higher, above Mary Jane there is some excellent freeride terrain. Although the trees are well spaced, they can be dangerous until the snowpack is sufficiently high. Parsenn's bowl gives a great view of all of Winter Park's terrain, as well as excellent runs.

Their park wasn't into full swing yet when we visited, but from what I saw, it should be some pretty good terrain. A dedicated park team works hard to make sure everything is in order and that the jumps won't kill anyone. The terrain park is set on a nice long run with easy lift access. There will be lots of variation, from rollers to rails, and both small and large tabletops.

Winter Park is definitely a local's mountain, with the "C lift" servicing the "C lot", just below Mary Jane. Around lunchtime C lot turns into a huge tailgate and barbeque party zone as all the locals take breaks and chill with their friends. This is an excellent mountain for family vacations because there is terrain for all abilities and interests. You won't find a lot of bad attitudes; it seems that friendliness is a requirement for locals.

As very accurately quoted in one of the Winter Park brochures, Winter Park is "genuine . . . honest [and it is a resort in which you will find] life stripped clean of all the extraneous fluff so you can focus on the essentials that matter." Spread over five mountains, Winter Park has a small, local feel while containing the terrain and opportunity of a large resort. Everyone from all levels will find a place to ride. And, the view is gorgeous as you look over the mountains and the Continental Divide.

Parsenn Bowl and the famous Mary Jane provide awesome terrain for most all riders, except beginners. There are good opportunities to pick your path with the bowl runs and the tree runs, as well as some challenging blue-black runs. Winter Park, in relation to the Forest Service, has a policy in which they let nature take its course. Where tree branches fall and where rocks lie, they are not removed or moved. Therefore, the terrain, especially in the trees, is always different and that much more challenging. As a second year rider I found a lot of terrain on Mary Jane and in Parsenn's to "master." Access to Mary Jane and Parsenn's Bowl may be attained through the Winter Park Village or the Mary Jane Base Area.

I highly recommend Winter Park for the beginning to intermediate rider. There is a nice set of green runs that are spacious and long. Discovery Park is a set of green runs that is fenced off from the other runs and the result is a very comfortable beginner/slow zone that is bigger than most I have seen. As scary as it is to learn, it is even more scary to be terrified for your life as people rush by. Discovery Park eliminates some of the cause of this fear and is a secure place to take kids, the whole family or to go learn yourself. Once you become good enough to leave Discovery Park there are many other good runs like March Hare, Allan Phipps, Switchyard and Whistlestop that you can take as the next step in becoming a good rider. I would like to mention, however, that many of the lifts (outside of Discovery Park) are high speed and do not slow down. Getting off is a challenge until you are really comfortable with lifts.

The lodges on the mountain are there for rider convenience, be it a good lunch (the soup is fantastic), a warm up or a bathroom break. The friendly local atmosphere is really relaxed and comfortable. Lots of local businessmen do their business on the mountain.

Winter Park offers a wide variety of terrain. It just so happens that the mountain is naturally separated into areas of interest. Mary Jane is mostly moguls with some great tree runs and moderately challenging blue runs dispersed throughout. If you are a skier and interested in bumps, there is no other area so purely devoted to them. For snowboarders, the Parsenn Bowl and tree runs are worth the ride. The rest of the moguls get old.

Within Winter Park proper, the middle mountain area is full of sick park features, beginner terrain, beginner park features and some other runs. The most friendly, least visited side of the mountain is the far right hand side where the Pioneer Express accesses several blue trails.

Winter Park and Mary Jane are not the most snowboard friendly in regards to getting from place to place.  There are many flat, long cat-tracks that if you don't hold enough speed will have you walking or hitching a ride from a passing ski pole. The long green runs that were absolutely necessary to get place to place drove me crazy but besides that, once on the run your are trying to get to, there are some beautiful, quiet runs with nicely spaced trees to ride through.

The town of Winter Park is beyond boring after a day of exploring.  If you combine Winter Park and the few po-dunk towns that surround it, what is offered is very limited. There are a handful of great restaurants, like Hernando's Pizza, but besides riding and going out to dinner in town (not much in the base area, which is under heavy construction right now), there really isn't much else to do.

Winter Park is a mountain I would ride occasionally for specific reasons, being some of the tree runs and certain areas of the mountain I really enjoyed. Besides that, it wouldn't be my destination trip after trip.