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Winter Park 2/12-2/13/18

Zand

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Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,108
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113
Location
Spencer, MA
Man it feels good to finally be able to post in this subforum :D

Delayed flight had me not getting into my hotel in Golden until after 1am last night, so figured instead of wearing myself out on the first day I'd sleep it off and head out a little after 9. Got to MJ shortly after 11 after a breakfast stop.

Pretty much spent the day exploring the different areas of the mountain. Again, trying not to wear myself out I mixed in plenty of groomers instead of going crazy on day 1.

Since I've never skied a bowl before I headed right for parsenn which obviously isn't much of a bowl but still fun skiing above the treeline for the first time. Took a spin down eagle wind which had the best snow on the mountain with low traffic. Really cool area...reminded me of mittersill a bit...but with snow.

Found a lot of fun tree areas on Mary Jane. Didn't come out here just to ski bumps all day so spent more time in the woods than on the trails over there. I did make the mistake of skiing out house for my last run of the day which wasn't my most graceful moment. Trail isn't any steeper or longer than outer limits but I was flailing all around at 4 pm.

Started snowing around 1 or 2 and continued lightly. Bigger squalls have been moving through tonight so hoping to get some minor powder runs in the morning.

So far so good. Havent dealt with altitude sickness (yet) but the loss of breath surely is noticable. At the top of pano the first time I went to take a breath and felt like I breathed in nothing...so weird. Not as big of a deal lower on the mountain but made sure to stop a few times each run to make sure I wouldn't pass out.

The locals are all talking about how terrible the coverage is. Seems pretty good to this easterner!
 

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,108
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
Day 2: insanity.

4 inches overnight at the base but more up high. Started off by heading over to Vazquez ridge...kind of a waste of time. Was hoping for great powder and no people. Got my wish with the people but everything was either groomed overnight or wall to wall bumps.

Headed up to parsenn to see if any of that was untracked. Lost the desire to ski up there when my face nearly fell off with the wicked wind blowing over the top. Made the great decision to head down into eagle wind and pretty much spent 4 hours in there. The top was getting refilled by the wind and even had untracked at 2 pm. Further down tons of untracked lines all day. So sick...best snow was skiers left of the lift but not too far. Went all the way out to left hand but it was a waste of time...lots of traversing out and back for a shorter run that was no better than the stuff closer to the lift.

Other fun areas I discovered were the woods on either side of the Sunnyside triple as well as either side of the looking Glass riblet. Haven't ridden one of those in a while.

Was very worn out after skiing eagle wind all day but still decided to get my ass kicked by trestle over at MJ as well as rettas run under the Eskimo express. Those runs off the winter park side are just as intense as the MJ runs just a little shorter.

Skied bell to bell today with only a 15 minute break so completely wiped. Decided not to mix in groomers today...straight out in the woods and some bumps. Heading to copper tomorrow...probably gonna be a late morning and a half day as more snow is coming Thursday so better to keep myself fresh for that.

I don't know if it's just because it's my first western area or it's really that good but I freakin love Winter Park. Lots of variety and something for everyone. If I end up liking copper less I'm definitely gonna swing back by on Friday for an encore.
 

speden

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Nov 18, 2008
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Um, are we going to get any pictures from this trip?

I've never gotten to Winter Park, so I'll be curious to hear how it compares to Copper. Sounds like you're having a good trip so far.
 

Zand

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
4,108
Points
113
Location
Spencer, MA
I'll try to upload from my phone...usually doesn't go well. Let's see if it works.
 

xlr8r

Active member
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Feb 7, 2009
Messages
945
Points
43
i think you will actually like Copper more. Lots more high alpine bowls above tree line, and places that do not get tracked out based on my trip there this past week. At Copper make sure to check out Spaulding Bowl, Union Bowl, Union Meadows, Copper Bowl, and if the Tucker cat is running take it just for the unique experience of catskiing, and then hiking the ridge up Tucker. Its just some of the terrain is not as easily lap-able as Winter Park. For instance Spaulding Bowl takes rides on Resolution and Storm King to lap, Union Meadows takes rides on Timberline and Sierra to lap.
 
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