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Paul Sanderson
from Evergreen, Colorado
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Feb 1, 2008 |
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Overall Rating: 5.0   |
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Winter Park is essentially the only place n e one should ever ski. I'm a local their and it's the best, note to the locals-don't give away the stashes Winter Park has an incredibly diverse amount of Terrain and on a hot day with not much snow rail yard and dark territory are the place to be. Any tourist or anybody who talks down on this place has no idea what they're talking about . Winter Park is a UTOPIA and all the people their are great and will help out with anything
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Glorria
from Orlando, Florida
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Dec 26, 2007 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.6 |
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I went to Winter Park on a couple day trips while staying in Sol Vista with a large, mixed group. The beginners stayed at Sol Vista, which was probably for the best.
I found Winter Park to have a great variety of terrain. At the time, it had terrific snow, although the base was really mucked up.
The first day I took a friend who's a snowboarder. He had a good time, but one thing we noticed was there seemed to be a lot of flatter terrain. On my own, I may not have noticed, but because it was so painful to him to get through I did.
The second day I went out to Mary Jane myself and had a great time. Terrific skiing all day long and I hooked up with some nice families having a little picnic in the parking area, that was a lot of fun. Everyone seemed to be pretty local on that side, whereas the first day we went to the main area and it didn't seem so much like that.
It was crowded, even for a week day, but overall pretty good. The lift lines never got too out-of-hand and there was a lot of room to spread out. The slopes actually seemed pretty well-patrolled and there weren't too many lunatics running around.
I'd go back again and spend some more time exploring there. The village was typical but pleasant. The prices were normal for the larger places out there (comparable to Steamboat for example).
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Teresa
from Orlando, Florida
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Nov 13, 2007 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.6 |
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We arrived during Spring Break, March 2007 and the crowds were aplenty. The staff at the mountain base were friendly and the ski instructors were very knowledgable. The town has alot to offer. Our first dining experience was The Green Olive, GREAT!! the food was superb, service was great and it has the best views in Winter Park, located at the top of Cooper Creek Square, breakfast, Mountain Rose, and for a little BBQ, try Smokin Moes, over all the experience was great.
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Aaron
from PA
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Nov 20, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.4 |
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this place is great but make sure you go when it snows or it will be pretty skiied out in 4 or 5 days if you look hard enough you can still find powder in the trees of the rail yard (left before the pipe) nice resort.
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d
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Oct 22, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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This is the best resort out there i have rode them all and this place is worth the trip! The Rail Yard is right on for all of you who like the park and if not Mary Jane speaks for itself. The mountain town is awsome. A must stop is the Winter park PUB a great bar that is known as the locals bar! all you have to do is find a local and ask them where the hotspots are to ride or ski, and you will get the ride of a life time. There is a tiny restaurant that post a now serving sign it is called Mountain Rose- some of the best food in the area the breakfeast or lunch A MUST!
I give this town and resort a 10!
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Jean Paul
from New York
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Mar 27, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 4.4 |
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Very impressed with the renaissance of this ski area, the 6 person lift has aided tremendously for the Mary Jane base. There were a satisfactory number of groomed runs each day and I found lots of secret powder stashes.
One thing that was not good however was the price of beers on the mountain and the base. $3.75 for a 12oz Coors? I thought I had travelled to Coors Country, or says the commercial. I think it is ridiculous that two beers cost more than a six pack, I felt like I was at Yankee stadium getting fleeced except it did not smell as bad. Save your money and go into town for suds, most bars have great specials that far outshine what Winter Park has to offer for libations.
One last thing, it would be nice to stand in a lift line and not have to get a face full of cigarette smoke. To me, this is rude as heck and I got really tired of this practice after a few days. It would be nice if WP would ban this habit from the lines but I am sure this is not on the agenda.
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Tom Kerr
from Woodland, California
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Mar 15, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 5.0 |
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I loved it!
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Claude P
from Ft Collins CO
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Feb 4, 2006 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.2 |
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I really like WP - especially MJane. I'm also pleased to see the installation of the 6 person chair at the base of MJ. I think WP could, however, REALLY improve the loading of that chair. Two changes need to be made .... 1) the singles line should end a LOT closer to the chair than it does right now - the way it is set up just seeds confusion and 2) get someone in the line to call forth groups of 6 to ENSURE each chair is FULL!
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Lou
from Largo, Florida
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Nov 3, 2005 |
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| Overall Rating: 3.8 |
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Members of the Clearwater/St. Pete ski club, went to Winter Park 2/12 to 2/19, 2005. The club as a whole really enjoys Winter Park. We have been something like 3 times in the last 4 years.
Personally, 2005 was my first trip to Winter Park. The ride from Denver was about as long as I want to travel on a bus. Not bad but I like to fly in as close as possible to my ski resorts.
We stayed at the Zephyr lodge. Very nice, upscale ski in ski out property. Would highly recommend but try and make sure your group stays in the same building. They have two and it is an inconvenience if you are split between the two buildings.
Thought the staff was very friendly. Sometimes left and right hand didn't know what each other were doing, but they tried to help and be friendly whenver needed.
Overall, the crowds weren't too bad. Weekend was busy as expected but Monday and Tuesday were very sparse, loved that! Big snow Tuesday night and Wednesday brought big crowds from Denver on Thursday and Friday (hated that).
Terrain was pretty good. I liked Parsenns Bowl the best. Looks intimidating from below but isn't all that tough in reality. The double lift was slow and there was always a line to get on this lift.
Now, about Mary Jane. I avoid bumps (bad knees)and was able to enjoy Mary Jane without hitting her bumps up high. Others in my group had to buy a shirt they saw in the shops, "Mary Jane is a Bitch". They thought that was very true. We were pretty split on this well known run.
The teaching area looked organized, large and well run. I think it would be a good place to learn.
On your first day I would recommend the guided mountain tour. The guide was knowledgable and could speak to a varied crowd well. We enjoyed it so much many of us did it a second day with a different host and was equally impressed. Learned alot about the mountain. Did you know that Mary Jane was a Madame and her customers sometimes paid her in real estate? Any way, be sure to do the tour. Best of all it was free!
The town is a ways from the mountain but the Zephyr offers a resort shuttle. Made things pretty easy to get around. Didn't find a bad restaurant in town all week. For breakfast, some locals recommended The Basecamp and I do now too. For dinner we did Deno's steakhouse, Hernandos for Italian, Fiesta Jaliesco for Mexican and the Untamed steakhouse. We ate like kings!
It's just my personal preference but, like a lot of resorts, Winter Park suffers from the one thing it can't do anything about. It sits by itself. Sure it's about 3000 acres but I am easily bored. I don't like the same runs over and over again. I prefer an area that has many more skiable acres or multiple resorts close by.
For me, 7 days is a long time at this resort. I would have been content here with a 4 day trip and 3 days somewhere else (Keystone is the next closest at 2 hours). Others just kept skiing the same run over and over.
I thought the mountain offered a very fair mix of green, blue and black runs.
If you go I am sure you will like it as there is not much not to like, especially if you stay at the Zephyr.
