Winter Park 4/19 to 4/22.

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Winter Park

Date

Apr 19, 2022

Snow Conditions

1. Slush or Spring Snow
2. Sticky
3. Moguls

From Aspen Snowmass we made the drive over to Winter Park to take advantage of our new spring Ikon passes. I originally had Breckenridge booked but changed to Winter Park once I realized that my favorite areas of Breck (Peak 9 and 10) would be closed by the time we arrived there. I was also somewhat eager to try Winter Park anyway since we had never been there before. It reminded me alot of Keystone. The villages and vibes are similar, both places have lots of high speed lifts, and there were tons of long mellow runs even on the Mary Jane side. The Eagle Wind lift was closed, so was the Vasquez Cirque access but we got a chance to ski the rest of the mountain over 4 bluebird days under perfect spring conditions. I feel that Winter Park is a great place to learn how to ski trees if your just beginning as there is nothing too crazy at WP and the resort has tons of great tree skiing. The terrain off of the Panoramic lift was by far my favorite, the views from the top of that lift were amazing as well!

Here are some of my better photos from the trip.......

 

[jimk]

It's been a good April for those who didn't put away their skis!

 

[Tonyr]

It's been a good April for those who didn't put away their skis!

That is for sure. It snowed around 6 to 8 inches the day we left Winter Park. Felt like it was the middle of winter as we were leaving.

 

[jaytrem]

Looks great! Not much better than MJ bumps! Last time I was there we had about a foot of fresh snow, bluebird skis, and I was sick as I've ever been (maybe early covid?). Managed to eek out 4 runs. Glad you had a better time!

 

[Tonyr]

Oh, sorry to hear that. Hopefully you get a chance to return one day. Terrain wise I thought WP was a slightly better version of Keystone as I mentioned earlier. I've heard that Copper is the best of the 3. Looking forward to trying it there next year.

 

[jaytrem]

I've been there a few times, so wasn't the end of the world. I like Copper a lot, that new Three Bears lift serves some nice steep stuff. Always seem to find nice bumps there too. Copper was our 2nd day on that last CO trip, so well before the illness. It was the Sunday before the Super Bowl. Super nice day and there were no crowds. Even the high speeds on the front had tiny lines. Did Eldora the day before to avoid the Saturday crowds and traffic. Works out great if you don't mind the extra not traffic drive time.

 

[Tonyr]

Good to know, thanks for the insight. We try to get to I-70 on a Thursday or Friday morning and have never had a problem with traffic unless the weather is bad. I've heard Friday nights and Saturday mornings are horrible. We also left for Denver once on a late Sunday afternoon and learned never to do that again.

 

[jaytrem]

We try to get to I-70 on a Thursday or Friday morning and have never had a problem with traffic unless the weather is bad.

That sounds like an even better plan. plus more skiing!

 

[Tonyr]

It works great. We fly to Denver on a 7 pm or 8 pm flight on a Wednesday or Thursday, stay overnight, then drive to wherever we are going in Colorado the next morning. It's works beautifully at avoiding weekend traffic. If you head back to the Denver area on a Saturday or Sunday morning you avoid the I-70 traffic as well.

 

[Bumpsis]

Nice pics, thanks for posting. Winter Park is on my list of places to ski but I always thought that being so close to Denever, the place is always mobbed. So, what time of year would be the best time to go? I assume that mid week skiing is of course least busy...

 

[Tonyr]

Nice pics, thanks for posting. Winter Park is on my list of places to ski but I always thought that being so close to Denever, the place is always mobbed. So, what time of year would be the best time to go? I assume that mid week skiing is of course least busy...

We went in April and there were no crowds but I am sure that it does get mobbed over the holiday weeks being so close to Denver. Winter Park is definitely worth a visit, especially if your into tree skiing but I would stay away during the holiday weeks.

 

[jaytrem]

Superbowl Saturday seemed to be a good day to go. Bluebird power day but still had short lines. I highly recommend not getting deathly ill on a day like that. Didn't even try to go to A-Basin the next day. :-( Superbowl Sunday is always one of my favorite ski days.