Warm Up by the Fire at Zephyr Mountain Lodge

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Chris

: Fire at Zephyr Mountain Lodge

Winter Park can get chilly during the day (and definitely at night!), so it’s nice to take a break by the big fire outside by Zephyr Mountain Lodge.

Chris, our twins, and I did just that this week. The boys were whining and as soon as we pulled them up to the fire they smiled and said “fiahh!”

It sometimes becomes a nice gathering place with friends and strangers. Everyone gets friendly and talkative when they’re warm!

Live Theatre in Winter Park!

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Chris

ticket1 If you hurry- you can still catch the special Valentines Day presentation of “I love you, you’re perfect, now change!” Located in the shopping center next to Mirasol Cantina, showtimes are at 7:30 pm and will continue next Thursday and Friday. Get some great laughs with your loved ones and enjoy the show! For reservations, call 970-726-5048, and walk-ins are welcome. For more info, check out The Grand Theatre Website.

Sunny Day in Winter Park Village

Posted on February 14, 2009 by Chris

: Guests in Winter Park Village

It’s a sunny day today in Winter Park. I met these visitors today who wanted to be on our blog, so here it is. They were having a great time walking thru the village after a great day on the slopes?

Their advice? Check out the jumps to the right of Cranmer… they thought they were easy but you got lots of air. I personally jump 1 inch and feel I’m 2 feet in the air, but I guess I’m a wimp.

The Winter Park Village is shaping up – stores and restaurants are FINALLY opening – the latest one being Lime – a higher end Mexican restaurant. We’ll blog about it after we try it…

Mardi Gras at Winter Park. Show us your ??? to get some beads!

Posted on February 13, 2009 by Amy

Mardi Gras is coming to Winter Park on February 24th!! Beads, beads, beads everywhere, around necks, in trees, even on dogs. On the hill, you’ll most likely run into some friendly folks from New Orleans who are on a Winter Park Ski Vacation to escape the craziness at home.

Come to the big party downtown at Cooper Creek Square. The celebration begins at 6:30pm and will feature jugglers, fire throwers, and acrobats. Drink and dinner specials will be served at the Cooper Creek restaurants. Be sure to have an official Mardi Gras beverage, a Hurricane made with Southern Comfort. Smokin’ Moe’s and the Grand County Blues Society will host Trampled Under Foot at 9pm.

Give us a call to make your last minute Mardi Gras reservation. We still have some fantastic Winter Park properties for you to choose from. Come and earn your beads in Winter Park! We want to party with you!

Winter Park Village – Wagon Service

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Chris

: Wagons in Winter Park Village

It’s a bit of a haul from where the Village Cabriolet drops you off in the new Winter Park Village to where you pop your skis and boards on, but they have a cool service at least to help you haul your stuff.

Look for the signs (and wagons) like in the photo to the right and you can grab a wagon for no charge to pull skis, boots, or children thru the Village.

It says something like “this is for hauling kid’s stuff” but I’ve seen everyone pulling them to cart their gear, bags, coats, and yes…children.

Perfect ski day at Winter Park/Mary Jane – Expert style!!

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Chris

Chris and Sarah skiing the tough stuff

Below Sarah has posted a perfect ski day as an intermediate. Here is my perfect day trying to push yourself hard enough to get some sore legs tomorrow and the right to quaff a few down tonight. It all starts at the Zephyr lift at the Winter Park side of the hill because I’m a little spoiled and like the ski in/ski out set up. This gets us to the top of WP up at Sunspot and the morning is taken up by:

1) Traverse to Cheshire Cat down to the Olympia lift and that lets us off at the top of Mary Jane Trail. Warm up is over!
Gandy Dancer down till you meet up with Mary Jane Trail all the way down to Super Guage express.
2) Super Guage up to top of Mary Jane. Take Whistle Stop around to Golden Spike and witness the bumps that Mary Jane is famous for. This is my favorite run of all.
3. Once down take a right and get back onto Lower Arrowhead Loop and let your skis make the wide arcs they were designed to make. We are back down at Super Guage.
Super Guage lets us off and we take a left and head to the left of Sunnyside to the Trestle exit. Enjoy the relatively mild bumps at the beginning because the Trestle cliff will take your breath away. After you navigate a few more of Mary Jane’s finest, you traverse back to the base of Mary Jane.
You may be getting hungry by now but we are here to make the legs burn so lets do another before lunch. Super Guage up again and Rollins Ridge over to Derailer. Now this run should be called “The Big Burn” ’cause that is what you are going to get unless you are partakin’ some of Michael Phelps wacky tabacky. We are at Mary Jane base now and we need to get to Sunspot for the best views around while resting your legs and filling your belly.

Enjoy lunch because you are only half done! Here is our after lunch set:

From Sunspot lets hit Outhouse. Another leg burner of a run that will bring us down to Super Gauge again.
Take the Gauge up and head over to Sunnyside again and lets show some lift riders our moves and take Columbine down to Panoramic Express. Columbine is a little decieving. Looks like an easy black diamond but a friend tore his rotator cuff and dislocated his arm on this mild baby!
Up Panoramic to the top of Parsenn Bowl. Make your way down the ridge to the top of Eagles Wind lift and pick your poison of double blacks over here. Medicine Man, Little Raven, Black Coat and Left Hand will give all the tree/bump skiin’ that you desire and then some. We take Eagles Wind back up to get out here and ski back over the ridge to Sunnyside lift.
Let’s head down Whistle Stop again and wing around to Sterling. This is Golden Spike’s evil twin that gets you longing for your 12 oz of liquid relief. At bottom we take Arrowhead Loop all the way down to Jane Base.
We need to get back over to Winter Park base so up Super Gauge again and down Whistle Stop to Cranmer. On the right side of Cranmer we have some bumps to end off the day and finish driving that spike into your lower back. We take a Cranmer Cutoff to Jack Kendrick.

Check out Winter Park Resort’s interactive lift map at http://www.skiwinterpark.com/mountain/winter_trail_map.htm to set up your plan of attack.

Now go enjoy five or six barley pops!

Elk Creek – Secret Sledding Hill

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Amy

Got some inside scoop the other day on a sweet place to sled where the locals go. It’s called Elk Creek and it’s easy to find. Turn left at the stoplight in Fraser and drive PAST the tubing hill. About a mile down the road, the road dead ends. Park and walk straight and you’ll see a nice sledding hill with probably no one on it!

Sledding at Elk Creek Hill

Here’s a photo of us trying it out this week. You will need your own sled though (or most of our rental properties have sleds in them for you to use).

“Hike Up!” says the Musher

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Chris

Hike Up!

When a friend of ours asked me to pick her up at the Dog Sled Rides of Winter Park (a sign I had driven by countless times on my way home), I thought it would be fun to check out. Kind of like my experience with horseback riding this summer, I was once again amazed that this type of unique fun experience was literally within walking distance of my home!

We arrived to find 84 Siberian and Alaskan huskies barking ready to be hooked on to the sleds. They chose 30 of them and took out 4 sleds.

My sister-in-law and neice went for her birthday treat. They loved it! Said they went thru trails and the scenery was beautiful. Unlike the barking start, they said it was very peaceful as the dogs don’t bark while they are hoofing it!

The owners, Jeff and Tracie Martin, are really nice too – they live on the premise. It’s a bit of a splurge, but worth it. How many people can say they’ve been on a Dog Sled Ride?? One of those things you can brag about and have great photos to boot.

Out on the Trail

Open everyday but Tuesday. Prices are $150 for an adult and child and $175 for 2 adults. 45 minutes long although we hear that in the afternoon, the rides get a bit slower and longer (those doggies are tired!).

Website: http://www.dogsledrides.com/winterpark/

Wondering how they keep those dogs active in the summer? Golf Carts!!

Ski Biking…the new rage? or just a fad?

Posted on February 8, 2009 by Chris

: WP resort guy on ski bike

I really don’t have a lot of knowledge on this one but wanted to warn everyone – there are BIKES on the ski hill these days. Yesterday, I encountered a swarm of these guys on Cranmer…on bikes! I know Winter Park is known for mountain biking, but this is a bit bizarre.

You can rent these at the base apparently – looks a little scary but fun. I’ll try it and let you know. For now, wanted you to see the photo I caught – it was sort of like BigFoot – did I really just see a biker go by me on the slopes?

Indeed, I did.

Top Ten Ski Day Necessities

Posted on February 7, 2009 by Valarie

1. Wool Socks – who hates cold feet – I do, I do!

2. Helmet - protection not only from trees, but from of out of control skiers and boarders.

Ski/Boarding necessities

3. Wicking base layer – there’s no better way to stay warm then to stay dry.

4. Water – staying hydrated will save you a headache later.

5. Goggles – fog-resistant make a huge difference.

6. Mittens - instead of gloves, will keep your hands much warmer. Down is best!

7. Neck gator – will keep your neck and face warm on windy days.

8. Sun Screen – at 10,000 feet, the sun can be lethal.

9. Condition-specific tune and skis – fatter skis for powder, skinnier for snow-pack and the right tune for the specific snow conditions will improve your performance.

10. Hot chocolate and a warm cookie – a great treat to warm you up.