Colorful History Surrounds Winter Park Ski Resort
Colorado has a reputation for offering some of the finest snow skiing conditions in the country and the many options available at Winter Park Ski Resort are a testament to the excellent mountain slopes. Whether you choose resort lodging, condominiums or are looking for a private home on the slopes allowing you to begin each day sliding down a mountain, the lodging choices can meet the needs of the most discriminating skier. Open from the middle of November until mid-April, Winter Park Ski Resort offers some of the longest available skiing in the United States.
Winter Park Ski Resort may have had the backing of the manager of Parks and Improvements for the city of Denver in 1935, but before he began taking his vision of a ski resort to rival those in Europe, a lady by the name of Mary Jane exchanged her favors of land and opened the first ski trail on the mountain. Essentially used as sheep trail to grazing land, her business acumen enabled her to secure the land on which the trail, which still has her name, is a central part of the Winter Park Ski Resort.
As George Cranmer continued his push to turn the mountain into a popular ski resort, opening the first tow station in 1940, he received the support and guidance of many other winter sport enthusiasts in guiding the beginning growth of what became the Winter Park Ski Resort.
Five Trails Geared For All Levels Of Experience
Currently, Winter Park Ski Resort has five main areas to meet the needs of skiers of varying experience with a total of eight percent of the trails dedicated to beginners. Another 17 percent of the trails are for intermediate skiers and 19 percent are for those with advanced skills on the slopes. The most difficult trails comprise as much as 53 percent of the trails and another three percent are for expert skiers only.
The Mary Jane slope begins at about 12,060-feet and trails over four miles over 2,610 feet down the mountain, with 57 percent of its trails listed as some of the most difficult on the mountain. Pansenne Bowl at Winter Park Ski Resort also starts at an elevation of 12,060, dropping 1,712-feet over just over five miles.
Most of the expert-only trails at Winter Park Ski Resort are located on the Vasquez Cirque trail which 1,500 from an elevation of 11,900 feet. About 83 percent of it trails are for the most advanced skiers and the rest are listed for expert use only.
