Winter Park and Mary Jane make up one of Colorado's favorite ski areas (named for the former). The designation between the two peaks is a perfect divide between the split personality of Winter Park's trails. Mary Jane favors skiers courtesy of long, well-maintained bump runs that seemingly merge into more bump runs as you make your way down the mountain. Snowboarders are certainly welcome to join in the fun, but they better be ready to twist the day away as they challenge the sustained mogul fields. Mary Jane extends to the higher reaches of the mountain, where the airy Panoramic Express tops out at over 12,000 ft. atop the Parsenn Bowl. A network of fast and fun black diamond runs rush down the mountain into the treeline from the resort's highest point.
One of the many famous bump runs at Winter Park. — Photo courtesy of Courtesy of Colorado Ski Country USAWinter Park is more of an everymans' mountain with a good variety of terrain. Greens, blues and moderate blacks dominate the lower portion of Winter Park. The Eagle Wind lift serves as a gateway between Winter Park and Mary Jane and services some of the best feature-laden runs on the mountain. Winter Park also has a plethora of terrain parks, starting with the modest beginners' sections to the gutsy Railyard's boxes, rails and big-air jumps.
Some of the best snow can be found on the Sunnyside lift on the Mary Jane portion of the peak. Because it captures the most direct sun, it tends to soften up earlier. In the spring, Sunnyside and the tree runs off of the Panoramic Express are top notch corn-snow trails. On the Winter Park side of things, the Pioneer Express is ideal for cruisers and those who want to hop around on modest terrain features, especially on the blue-black runs.
End your day in town where locals and tourists come together in the relaxed pubs and restaurants. There's a surprising amount of cuisine variety along with dozens of local microbrews to sample to round out a fine day on the hill.
