Winter Park Resort
Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, about a 90-minute drive from Denver. It sits in Grand County near Winter Park, off U.S. Highway 40, and covers three connected peaks: Winter Park, Mary Jane, and Vasquez Ridge.
The resort’s base sits at about 9,000 feet and the top at 12,060 feet, giving a vertical rise of 3,060 feet. It offers about 3,081 acres of skiable terrain and 167 runs. The trail mix is roughly 8% beginner, 18% intermediate, 19% advanced, 52% most difficult, and 3% expert.
Winter Park is a year-round destination. In winter, it’s known for long lift lines and diverse terrain, while in summer the lifts operate for mountain biking, hiking, and sightseeing. The Arrow chairlift serves an alpine slide, and the base area features mini golf, a climbing wall, and other activities. The resort does not run its own golf courses.
Historically, Winter Park opened for the 1939–40 season as Winter Park Ski Area and was owned by the City and County of Denver until 2002. It then partnered with Intrawest, which was later acquired by Alterra Mountain Company in 2018. The famous Ski Train from Denver carried skiers to the base until 2009; it returned in 2017 as the Winter Park Express.
The resort has a strong legacy in adaptive sports, home to the National Sports Center for the Disabled. In the 2000s, changes included renovations to West Portal base lodge, new lifts, and a base village with hundreds of condos, a parking structure, a pond, retail space, and a gondola known as The Village Cabriolet. The historic Balcony House, built in 1955 in a Googie style, is recognized as a Colorado endangered place.
Mary Jane, opened in 1975, is famous for moguls, tree skiing, and tougher terrain, with its own base area. Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offers intermediate runs and moguls. In 1997, backcountry terrain in Vasquez Cirque was opened, and in 2006 a lift was relocated to improve access back to Mary Jane.
Since 2013–14, the resort has been organized into seven “territories” across the three peaks (Winter Park, Mary Jane, Vasquez Ridge) plus Parsenn Bowl, Vasquez Cirque, Eagle Wind, and Terrain Park.
Winter Park has earned national recognition, including being named Best Ski Resort in North America by USA Today readers in 2018 and No. 1 Ski Resort in North America in 2019. It also hosted NCAA Skiing Championships in several years (1956, 1959, 1972, 1977).
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 20:31 (CET).