Colorado Winter Park Intel

[Magi]

Also, I forgot to mention, we tried the previously suggested "Dilly Dally Alley" run. Unfortunately, it was in rough shape... the bumps and undulations were too sharp/steep to get though... it was like skiing into Jersey Barriers on the highway.

Turns out, those rollers are the entire point behind Dilly Dally Alley.

We consider it in "rough shape" when it's been groomed and is all flat and boring - it was in prime condition the days you were here...

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Rollers are cool. But the dips were way to sharp to have any fun on. Our skis and boards were knifing straight into them rather than going over them. The radius on the bumps was maybe 6 inches. We tried it twice and both times didn't enjoy it. It was nothing like what i saw in the YouTube clips that were posted where the bumps were nice and smooth.

I didn't see anyone else in there either.

 

[Lofcaudio]

@Lofcaudio I am going to ask you at the same question I asked @JoeSchmoe, how come you liked Steamboat better than Winter Park? I am going to Steamboat in a couple of weeks and was deciding between the two, so I am curious why you liked one much better than the other. It sounds like I may have made the right choice?

As a ski tourist, Steamboat is more of a resort destination than Winter Park. While the town of Winter Park does have some charm, Steamboat Springs has a lot of it. Both mountains are somewhat disjointed, but Winter Park more so and definitely suffers from lots of flat spots and choke points which can lead to crowding issues. I consider Winter Park to be a very big "locals" mountain as there is plenty of good stuff there, it's just not easy to find for vacationers who are there for 4-6 days. And the wind which seems to close the Panoramic Express way more than you might expect (for example, in my 6 days of skiing at Winter Park, Panoramic was open for only about 1.5 days of those 6 days I have visited).

All that being said, I prefer the Aspen areas, Telluride, Vail, Beaver Creek, and Copper Mountain over both Steamboat and Winter Park when it comes to Colorado. Again, this is from the perspective of a ski tourist (advanced intermediate level) just visiting ski areas for 3-4 days a pop.

 

[Chris Walker]

As a ski tourist, Steamboat is more of a resort destination than Winter Park. While the town of Winter Park does have some charm, Steamboat Springs has a lot of it. Both mountains are somewhat disjointed, but Winter Park more so and definitely suffers from lots of flat spots and choke points which can lead to crowding issues. I consider Winter Park to be a very big "locals" mountain as there is plenty of good stuff there, it's just not easy to find for vacationers who are there for 4-6 days. And the wind which seems to close the Panoramic Express way more than you might expect (for example, in my 6 days of skiing at Winter Park, Panoramic was open for only about 1.5 days of those 6 days I have visited).

All that being said, I prefer the Aspen areas, Telluride, Vail, Beaver Creek, and Copper Mountain over both Steamboat and Winter Park when it comes to Colorado. Again, this is from the perspective of a ski tourist (advanced intermediate level) just visiting ski areas for 3-4 days a pop.

Personally I absolutely love Winter Park, but reading this, I think it’s fair criticism. It can be hard to find your way around. I can remember even in my 2nd year of skiing there every weekend occasions that I would come to the bottom of a different lift than I expected, thinking “how did I get here?”

I’d have to say your luck with the wind closing upper lifts was pretty bad. It happens sometimes but 4.5 days out of 6 was an extraordinary stretch.

 

[StuckonI70]

I will say that Winter Park is an especially tricky mountain to figure out.

It took me a few seasons to really find the sweet spots. Once you figure it out, it is quite the playful mountain. The layout is strange and pinpointing exact areas (a few spots off Eagle Wind and the Pano trees come to mind) is easier said than done. Now, there are a few realities you will have to accept. First, there will be bumps. Second, there will be runouts. Third, there will be traversing. Fourth, if it is snowing, Pano and Eagle Wind will close. This is the game you must play. Once you figure it out, you might understand what the hype is about.

I would generally agree that Steamboat is a better mountain, and it is one of the easiest mountains to figure out (hint, aim for the trees, slash pow, smile), but WP has a challenge and charm to it that I can't explain!

 

[JoeSchmoe]

I will say that Winter Park is an especially tricky mountain to figure out.

It took me a few seasons to really find the sweet spots. Once you figure it out, it is quite the playful mountain. The layout is strange and pinpointing exact areas (a few spots off Eagle Wind and the Pano trees come to mind) is easier said than done. Now, there are a few realities you will have to accept. First, there will be bumps. Second, there will be runouts. Third, there will be traversing. Fourth, if it is snowing, Pano and Eagle Wind will close. This is the game you must play. Once you figure it out, you might understand what the hype is about.

I would generally agree that Steamboat is a better mountain, and it is one of the easiest mountains to figure out (hint, aim for the trees, slash pow, smile), but WP has a challenge and charm to it that I can't explain!

I think I can see what you're saying, but I'm still not going back!

 

[StuckonI70]

I think I can see what you're sayiDng, but I'm still not going back!

That is fine. You should visit the mountains that work for you.
We all have our preferences on what we like in a ski area.
If you love Steamboat, you'll love PC/Canyons!

 

[JoeSchmoe]

That is fine. You should visit the mountains that work for you.
We all have our preferences on what we like in a ski area.
If you love Steamboat, you'll love PC/Canyons!

I hit Canyons one day before the merger... it was subpar compared to the rest of the SLC areas.

In an earlier post, I mentioned I liked Steamboat, but it was no Snowbird (or Brighton or Snowbasin).

 

[Jully]

I hit Canyons one day before the merger... it was subpar compared to the rest of the SLC areas.

In an earlier post, I mentioned I liked Steamboat, but it was no Snowbird (or Brighton or Snowbasin).

Interesting that you like Brighton, but found WP frustrating layout wise. Brighton also has a ton of flat spots and run outs. Absolutely awesome mountain, but a few similarities to WP IMO.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Interesting that you like Brighton, but found WP frustrating layout wise. Brighton also has a ton of flat spots and run outs. Absolutely awesome mountain, but a few similarities to WP IMO.

I think the difference is that Brighton's flat spots are between lifts. The trip to Milly is a pain and getting from Snake Creek to Great Western is flat. But if you stick to one lift, you're pretty good. The exception was the powder day we had last year where we erroneously went to Snake Creek first thing. The flatter part at the bottom was too slow in powder to maintain speed to the lift. It was fine by the end of the day. I guess we learned the hard way that Milly is where its at first thing in the morning.

At Winter Park, I had to unstrap even when sticking to a lift.

 

[Magi]

Winter Park has a huge variety of terrain that caters to lots of different skill levels. Some of the "problems" described in this thread can be mitigated by better route selection, and some of them require the rider to be capable of carrying speed. I don't see people I'd classify as black trail snowboarders unstrapping to get back to lifts anywhere at Winter Park.

Winter Park has some really amazing bits of terrain, and the best stuff isn't marked on the map. It's found in the trees, and off the beaten path. If all you've done are the marked runs, you haven't touched the best of Winter Park.

Here's a great metric - If you didn't find at least three huts on your trip - you didn't scratch the surface of what WP offers. It takes time or a guide to get the best out of Winter Park, and that investment is rewarded in a way that I think I've only ever found at Alta.

Most of the complaints I've seen in this thread reduce to the same complaint voiced in Snowbird's "One Star Review" Ad.
Like the sticker says - No Pain, No Jane.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

Winter Park has a huge variety of terrain that caters to lots of different skill levels. Some of the "problems" described in this thread can be mitigated by better route selection, and some of them require the rider to be capable of carrying speed. I don't see people I'd classify as black trail snowboarders unstrapping to get back to lifts anywhere at Winter Park.

Winter Park has some really amazing bits of terrain, and the best stuff isn't marked on the map. It's found in the trees, and off the beaten path. If all you've done are the marked runs, you haven't touched the best of Winter Park.

Here's a great metric - If you didn't find at least three huts on your trip - you didn't scratch the surface of what WP offers. It takes time or a guide to get the best out of Winter Park, and that investment is rewarded in a way that I think I've only ever found at Alta.

Most of the complaints I've seen in this thread reduce to the same complaint voiced in Snowbird's "One Star Review" Ad.
Like the sticker says - No Pain, No Jane.

Snowbird is my favourite resort. I don't see how the two are even close.

 

[cosmoliu]

As it happens, I'm up at Snowbird as I write this. I have put in probably 150 days here to date. The last couple of years I've been very fortunate to have learned a lot of the nooks and crannies from some old pros. The 'Bird and WP definitely are two completely different animals. As far as I'm concerned though, they occupy separate but equal places in my heart.

 

[BLT]

Rollers are cool. But the dips were way to sharp to have any fun on. Our skis and boards were knifing straight into them rather than going over them. The radius on the bumps was maybe 6 inches. We tried it twice and both times didn't enjoy it. It was nothing like what i saw in the YouTube clips that were posted where the bumps were nice and smooth.

I didn't see anyone else in there either.

Dilly Dally is “groomed” by kids, meaning that the bumps are formed by short kids. My kids love it! I ski WP/MJ almost every weekend and never ski DD. I always take the main trail. I love the bump run that starts near the top of Vasquez and ends up next to DD. It seems like that run always has nice, soft bumps. My kids then go down DD and hit the jump at the end while I take the nice blue run.

 

[Slim]

Winter Park has a huge variety of terrain that caters to lots of different skill levels. Some of the "problems" described in this thread can be mitigated by better route selection, and some of them require the rider to be capable of carrying speed. I don't see people I'd classify as black trail snowboarders unstrapping to get back to lifts anywhere at Winter Park.

Winter Park has some really amazing bits of terrain, and the best stuff isn't marked on the map. It's found in the trees, and off the beaten path. If all you've done are the marked runs, you haven't touched the best of Winter Park.

Here's a great metric - If you didn't find at least three huts on your trip - you didn't scratch the surface of what WP offers. It takes time or a guide to get the best out of Winter Park, and that investment is rewarded in a way that I think I've only ever found at Alta.

Most of the complaints I've seen in this thread reduce to the same complaint voiced in Snowbird's "One Star Review" Ad.
Like the sticker says - No Pain, No Jane.

I think part of the issue for @JoeSchmoe was that he is a snowboarder, not a skier, so flats are a bigger deal. Sure, expert snowboarders aren’t bothered by that as much, because they can carry speed and stick to steeper parts.
But @JoeSchmoe didn’t have that option, he was riding with a child, so he has to stick to the easier areas, and keep his speed in check. I always have to wait for my kids on those flats, and my kids are happy to bomb into them. They just don’t have the weight to speed through the flats. It’s no problem for me on skis, but if I was a snowboarder, man, I would NOT be happy.

Then he had some very bad luck with lift closures. In 5 (mostly 8 day) trips out there, I have never had such bad luck with lifts closing for extended times.

I love WP, but I’d say that his criticism is fair for the conditions he encountered and for HIS SITUATION, ie advanced snowboarder riding with beginner child.
He needs consistent slopes, with trees right next to a blue grooomer.

I think the moral of the story here is that the experience you have at a resort varies not just by conditions, but also by who you are (with).

IE skier vs boarder, bumper vs rager, want to keep cruising vs don’t mind disjointed skating sections and ducking into gullies.

 

[JoeSchmoe]

I think part of the issue for @JoeSchmoe was that he is a snowboarder, not a skier, so flats are a bigger deal. Sure, expert snowboarders aren’t bothered by that as much, because they can carry speed and stick to steeper parts.
But @JoeSchmoe didn’t have that option, he was riding with a child, so he has to stick to the easier areas, and keep his speed in check. I always have to wait for my kids on those flats, and my kids are happy to bomb into them. They just don’t have the weight to speed through the flats. It’s no problem for me on skis, but if I was a snowboarder, man, I would NOT be happy.

Then he had some very bad luck with lift closures. In 5 (mostly 8 day) trips out there, I have never had such bad luck with lifts closing for extended times.

I love WP, but I’d say that his criticism is fair for the conditions he encountered and for HIS SITUATION, ie advanced snowboarder riding with beginner child.
He needs consistent slopes, with trees right next to a blue grooomer.

I think the moral of the story here is that the experience you have at a resort varies not just by conditions, but also by who you are (with).

IE skier vs boarder, bumper vs rager, want to keep cruising vs don’t mind disjointed skating sections and ducking into gullies.

Good post. The light weight is definitely a killer on the flats for the kids. I typically have to bomb ahead as far as I can while still staying in view of my son. Once I get to a drop off, i can stop and wait.

My son is definitely an intermediate though... The groomed blacks at Steamboat were his favourite there. The Sunnyside area with the easier pitched trees and powder were his favourite at WP. He just didn't like the chair with no bar. Zephyr was good too.

Being able to lap Eagle Wind may have changed my opinion a lot... But it was too intimating for my son.

 

[Slim]

Good post. The light weight is definitely a killer on the flats for the kids. I typically have to bomb ahead as far as I can while still staying in view of my son. Once I get to a drop off, i can stop and wait.

My son is definitely an intermediate though... The groomed blacks at Steamboat were his favourite there. The Sunnyside area with the easier pitched trees and powder were his favourite at WP. He just didn't like the chair with no bar. Zephyr was good too.

Being able to lap Eagle Wind may have changed my opinion a lot... But it was too intimating for my son.

Eagle wind has a long traverse out, with some flatter sections. And it has a very long lift with no bar(probably scariest lift in WP...

 

[TonyPlush]

By the end of the day we had figured our where and where not to ski. As previous posters had mentioned, there is so much flat terrain at WP. It really sucked at times. The 2nd half of the Vasquez Ridge (Vasquez Flats!) was a write off. Why did they run the lift as far back as they did?! Hi-Lo sucked as did some of the Olympia Lift runs.

I'll chime in as a first time WP visitor freshly returned from a 3 day trip last week.

I asked the same question about the Pioneer Express lift. We did two runs in Vasquez Ridge all three days, because the runout was so bad, even as a skier. Granted, we seemed to have a headwind, but the worst part about it all is that you can't really even get any turns on on Quickdraw or the bottom of sundance, because you've just got to straightline the whole thing if you don't want to be poling for 10 minutes.

If Pioneer Express loaded at the end of Buckaroo, that'd be an awesome cruising section of the mountain. As it stands, it's not even worth it IMO, although the lack of crowds was cool. Had to have been an issue with environmental concerns... even putting a base village at the end of something so flat doesn't even make sense.

@Lofcaudio I am going to ask you at the same question I asked @JoeSchmoe, how come you liked Steamboat better than Winter Park? I am going to Steamboat in a couple of weeks and was deciding between the two, so I am curious why you liked one much better than the other. It sounds like I may have made the right choice?

My review of Winter Park as a non-local is that it IS a really cool mountain, and it definitely reveals its secrets slowly. Some of the best runs I had all trip were in hardly visited sections - the trees of Parsenn's bowl and High Lonesome. The VACANT Eagle Wind area was one of the coolest sections of a ski resort anywhere, IMO. Even Sleeper was awesome but easily overlooked by a visiting skier. I'm sure there's much more I didn't have time to uncover.

That said, WP wasn't my favorite mountain. IMO, it suffers from a similar run-out and double fall line problem as Park City/Canyons. I personally love long runs with steady fall lines. Even most of Winter Park's most popular areas consist of several short runs that funnel into a heavily trafficked runout back to the lift. (Edelweiss, Corona Way, Egress, Village Way, Vasquez runout) I personally find this a buzz kill.

For those reasons, I put Steamboat way above Winter Park, but I'm admittedly a Steamboat fanboy. For an advanced intermediate, Steamboat is heaven. The most perfectly spaced trees anywhere, lots of long steep groomers, bumps when you want them, and plenty of off-trail adventures to keep things interesting. Winter Park also seems to be much more crowded, which is expected given how close it is to Denver.

Don't get me wrong, I still had a great time in Winter Park. It's just not one of those mountains I'm dying to go back to. Then again, my opinion as a tourist is probably why the mountain is so great for you locals.

 

[StuckonI70]

Within the master plan, they do intend to add a midstation on Vasquez Ridge.
Thank goodness, because that runout does suck.

 

[Dwight]

So what are the snow conditions for WP and will conditions still be good/decent by end of March?

Have a possibility of heading there for a few days. Either WP or Ski Cooper.