Winter Park Resort Ski and Ride School is celebrating its 65th consecutive year of consistently progressive coaching techniques. This season, the camps, clinics and lesson packages are guaranteed to give guests more focus on improving skill sets and more fun on the mountain. Are you interested in participating? Check out these camps and clinics highlights to see which one fits your interests.
I took my first snowboarding lesson last week and let’s just say it was…worthy of note. When I was younger and visited Colorado to ski, I convinced myself that I never had enough time/money to get into a lesson, nor did I feel like I could waste precious time on the mountain with an instructor and away from my friends. Summoning many a flashback to said friends offering to “teach” me how to snowboard which inevitably ended in them telling me to just strap in and try it. An approach I do not recommend. I obliged my friends, and after a half day of leaving my dignity in the snow, swore I would never try snowboarding again.
Fast forward four or five years and I land my first job out of college at Winter Park Resort. I start learning the industry, getting to know the resort; meeting new people and yaddah yaddah yaddah…everyone snowboards. Dang.
Then this interesting thing happens where I convince myself that I need to learn how to do this in order to be, you know, cool…and I take advantage of the most perfect opportunity to learn how to snowboard the right way offered right here at Winter Park Resort.
Friends of Berthoud Pass is excited to bring their outdoor avalanche awareness program to Winter Park Resort December 17-18!
Berthoud Pass, Winter Park, Colorado
So, imagine if your birthday came…oh I don’t know, FOUR DAYS EARLY. Wouldn’t that be awesome? We thought so too, and that’s why we were super excited to open Winter Park Resort early (for the first time in history…as in ever) this year, four days ahead of the originally planned opening date.
First Chair for Winter Park's 72nd Season
Thanks to the awesome crew of snowmakers who call this resort home, and the generous snowfall we have been experiencing here in the valley, snowmaking efforts were at an all-time high and resulted in enough snow to be able to open 36 acres and 5 trails, accessed by the Arrow, Gemini and Endeavor lifts, four days early for the season.
This weekend promises to be a good one too, as we’ll be open from the top! The Zephyr and the Eskimo will start turning Saturday morning with access to Cranmer, which means it will only November 19th and the slopes are open from top to bottom. If you’re looking for a park, we have an amazing early season set-up in Re-Railer with plenty of rails and boxes for your jibbing pleasure. How could it get any better than that? OH YEAH…we have over 15 brand new terrain park features currently being installed, including my personal favorite, the nuke!
A few of the features in Re-Railer
Yes Please!
The Nuke
Winter Park Resort is open for its 72nd season…and really, why would you go anywhere else?
I’m starting to see the first signs of winter both here in Winter Park and at the resort. The tiny sheet of ice on my windshield in the morning, a fog that hangs so low in the morning and covers my view of the mountains on my drive to work, and the busy whirr of the facilities and operations crew erasing all traces of the summer season from the resort base to make room for winter crowds.
And so, a thick anxiety hangs in the air while we all wait for the snow to show up, and welcome in another season of winter here in the valley. And with the reports of La Nina weather ahead, word is this winter could be one of the best yet. All that snow…all that powder.
Snow falls at Winter Park in September, 2011
The Winter Park Competition Center will host its 27th Annual Ski and Snowboard Swap Friday, October 14, from 5-9pm and Saturday, October 15, from 9am-6pm located in West Portal Station at the base of Winter Park Resort. This event will offer all snow sport fanatics a chance to save on goods provided by individuals and vendors liquidating last year’s stock at up to 75% off. Plus, buyers holding onto summer can find the best deals of the season on ex rental and demo Kona Minxy, Stinky, and Garbanzo Stab downhill bikes.
Winter Park Resort is Colorado's longest continually operated ski resort featuring over 3,000 acres of award-winning terrain including groomers, terrain parks, bumps, steeps, trees, and most definitely deeps. Winter Park Resort receives over 29 feet of snow annually, much in part to its ideal location amidst the Rocky Mountains. Just 67 miles northwest of Denver, Winter Park Resort is the closest major destination resort to Denver International Airport and offers its guests an abundance of activities and events for the young and the young at heart. © 2010 Winter Park Resort, CO
