Mary Jane Top Two Ski Resort for Bumps

Mary Jane Best Bumps in Colorado

I was reading up on the best ski resorts for bumps and I came across a top ten list of mogul ski resorts.  This is from MountainYahoos.com and I think their list is pretty much right on besides Winter Park being right behind Taos.  I have skied all the resorts on this list besides the two in the East.

In fact, four of the resorts on this list are on my top five Colorado ski resorts.  Taos is a very nice ski destination indeed, with some great steeps and good bumps but it is really not in the class of bump skiing here at the Jane.  I have to say  that none really compare to Mary Jane with it’s deeps, steeps, powder, The Chutes and the famous Elevator Chutes.

Here is what the Mountain Yahoos have to say about our beloved madam of the night Ms. Mary Jane:

“The Mary Jane (part of the Winter Park resort), dedicates itself to moguls. You can find moguls on the entire mountain. This is the break down of the trails:

• Expert Only: 1% (Double black diamond)
• Most Difficult: 57% (Black diamond)
• Advanced: 22% (Blue-Black)
• Intermediate: 19% (Blue)
• Beginner: 1% (Green)”

I also found another ranking of best bump/mogul resorts for Colorado and I very much agree with this list from D Bahr of Regis University.  His explanation of how he feels about Vail could not be said better: “Vail. Ok, go ahead and shoot me. I know you love it, but I don’t. It’s boring and expensive. There, I said it.”  And about Breckenridge: “Breckenridge. Used to have the advantage of being a real town, but like much of the I-70 corridor, it has been overrun and condo-ized. Oh, and the skiing sucks. Flat and boring. Sorry.”

Well there you have it.  If you are wanting to ski the best bumps, trees or have some of the best snow in Colorado, Winter Park and specifically Mary Jane is the place to be.

Winter Park Colorado Mountain Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras in the Colorado Rocky Mountains

Looking for something to do in to celebrate Mardi Gras?  Well look no further, there is much to do up here in Winter Park, Colorado and this is the perfect time to head to the hills and get away from the February blues.  The snow is falling and we should have around ten inches of new snow by this coming Monday, Feb 8th, if the forecasts are to be believed.  So come check out the Winter Park Mountain Mardi Gras.

Saturday February13

12:00-5:00pm at the Winter Park Village

High Altitude Style! Come join the party in the Village to celebrate this New Orleans tradition Winter Park-style! This event features bands, street performers, festive decorations, food and plenty of beads to go around!

Music (in Starbucks Plaza)

12:00pm-1:00pm:  Louisiana Clan Dogs
1:20pm-2:20pm:  Aden Harrell & Friends Jazz Quartet
2:40pm-3:40pm:  Otones Brass Band
4:00pm-5:00pm:  Dikki Du & The Zydeco Krewe
Performers (throughout the Village)

12:00pm-5:00pm:  Salida Circus Performers (includes flame throwers, jugglers, trapeze artists, jesters & unicyclists)
12:00pm-5:00pm:  Face-Painting and Caricature Drawings
12:00pm-5:00pm:  Children’s Crafts – masks and crowns
1:00pm-3:00pm:  Giant Puppetry
2:00pm-4:00pm:  Ear2Ear Photobooth

Food (in Starbucks Plaza)

Jambalaya, crawfish, etouffee, gumbo, crepes, bread pudding and beignets provided by Village restaurants

FAT Tuesday February 16th

• 6:30-8:30pm – Mardi Gras Parade at Cooper Creek
Square: Come in costume and participate in Fat Tuesday
(Winter Park style) in the shortest, craziest, coldest
Mardi Gras Parade on Earth!
• 9pm – The Grand County Blues Society presents
Trampled Under Foot w/Samantha Fish at Smokin Moes

All of this to be had while trying to get in all the runs at Winter Park and Mary Jane Resorts.

“Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez”

Ziggy’s Donuts Winter Park, CO

Winter Park Donuts

Looking for some good coffee and donuts in Winter Park.  Well, Ziggy’s donuts has now been open for a month here in Winter Park, CO.  Ziggy is serving up custom made donuts and some superb coffee right in downtown Winter Park.  Located in the Kings Crossing Shopping Center, right off of US Highway 40, Ziggy’s is the place for your doughnut fix.

Ziggy’s offers custom made donuts that come right off the conveyor belt and are custom hand dipped in whatever topping you chose.  There are five or six tables to enjoy your treats or a couple of counter spaces to watch the donuts being made.  The twins above, enjoying the first donuts of their lives, were mesmerized by the doughnut machine and the dipping in the custom toppings.

Ziggy’s also has coffee,  from espresso to cappuccino you can any coffee that you like from Ziggy’s magical Italian coffee machine.  They also have various Polish confections on the shelves for you to enjoy on the slopes up at the resort.

Just stop off on your way to Winter Park Resort and enjoy some fresh coffee and donuts.

Winter Park Base Ski Rentals and Ski Tunes

Winter Park Resort Ski Rentals and Tune Ups

Who knew that a simple ski tune up would make  my day at Winter Park Resort.  I had skied 13 times since the last tuneup and the skis were getting dull and not holding an edge on the crusty stuff or the ice.  I took my Dynastar Legends in to Winter Park Resort Rentals and by the next morning the sticks were as good as new if not better.  I heard the claims that the Montana Chrystal Glide tuning system works wonders but I didn’t think there would be that much of a difference.  I do now believe!  Had a great day skiing and the skis performed better than I expected.  The young lads working at Winter Park Base Rentals did a great job and were very friendly and knowledgeable.  They had the skis tuned and ready with an overnight turn around time.

The base is the THE place for ultimate convenience in ski rentals right at the base of Winter Park Resort. Guests of Winter Park Lodging Company save up to 40% off walk-in rates with Winter Park Resort Rentals, located just steps from the lifts! See below for all of the extra benefits you’ll get when you rent with Winter Park Resort Rentals. This discount is reserved only for guests of Winter Park Lodging Company, so when you book with us, we’ll send you all of the prices and instructions on how to reserve your ski rentals online.

More than just ski rentals, when you rent with Winter Park Resort Rentals you also enjoy these extras:

• Free on-snow storage. Pick up your skis and poles on the way to the lift, then return them for overnight storage at the end of the day.
• Late pick up. Open until 9pm so you can stop by on your way into town the night you arrive.
• Lift ticket and lesson pick-up. Pick up your pre-paid lift tickets or ski rental vouchers while you get fitted for skis.
• Purchase lift tickets. Buy your lift tickets when you pick up your skis. You can even use our money-saving COUPONS.
• FREE Kids Rentals. If you rent a performance or demo ski or snowboard package, you’ll get a free kids rental. One free kids rental per adult.
• Retail Discount Card. Get a discount card good for 10% off all Winter Park Resort Retail – waiting for you in your welcome gift bag. Also good for 10% off walk-in ski/board rentals and 30% off on-snow storage for last-minute stays.
• Additional gear such as goggles, snow clothes and helmets are available for rent.
• New Gear. About 80% of all sport and performance ski and snowboard equipment is brand-new for the 2009/2010 ski season.

Winter Park Base Rentals  Custom Ski/Snowboard Deliver Service

It doesn’t get any more convenient than this:

Rent with Winter Park Resort Rentals and you also have the option to add on Custom Delivery Service. A ski technician will deliver your boots to you anywhere in Winter Park or Fraser until 10:00 pm the night you arrive, then fit everyone to be sure you’re good to go. You’ll get a claim ticket to present at the outdoor counter on the way to the lifts. They’ll have your skis/board and poles outside waiting for you!

In addition, they’ll deliver any ski lessons or lift tickets that have been pre-paid, so after you pick up your skis, you’re ready to go. No lines. On the last day you ski, bring your regular shoes and they’ll store them so you can drop off your boots at end of day and you can walk away in your shoes.

The price is $29.99 for up to 4 people and then $5 for each additional person.

Winter Park Resort Base Ski Storage

This service is available to all guests of Winter Park Lodging Company, even if you don’t rent skis through the Winter Park Resort Rentals. Save up to 35% off of regular prices when you present your discount card that is provided to all guests in your welcome gift-bag. Normal prices are about $5.00/night.

So get your ski deals from Winter Park Base Rentals with Winter Park Lodging Company.

Buying New Skis? Some Sage Advice From Winter Park, CO

Winter Park, Colorado Ski Shops

When it comes to buying skis and snowboards the one piece of advice we have is this: BUY LOCAL or buy from the Lange girl!

Skis are expensive and the general life of a ski is 80-120 days of actual skiing. That’s 6 years if you ski 20 days a year so make sure to get it right.

When purchasing skis there are three very important things to keep in mind:

DEMOS:   What people like in a ski can be very personal and is difficult to tell with just a conversation. When you buy skis at a local ski shop you have the opportunity to demo the skis on the slopes, this way you can know if these are the skis for you. The price of any demo days is usually applied to any ski you purchase.

KNOWLEDGE:   The staff at our local shops love to ski and are passionate about the sport and the equipment.  They sleep, eat,  and breathe this stuff.  Most supplier reps come to the stores that sell their brands and do seminars about their equipment and a lot of times they take the whole staff on mountain to actually try all the new gear out. Last time I was in a big box store with some time to kill the “salesman” actually was reading from the pamphlet dangling from a ski.

PRICE:   As you compare prices think about the price of actually mounting a binding to the ski. If you walk into a shop and ask them to mount a binding to a ski you will pay a ton for it. As I surf the web or kill time waiting for my wife at the mall I look at ski prices and they’re not any cheaper than what we have up here. Generally what they will have is a cheap “fleet ski” (see KNOWLEDGE above).

We here at Winter Park Lodging Company recommend several stores for new ski purchases:

1. Grand Sports
2. Ski Depot
3. Ski Broker

Mr. Ed Raegnor contributed to this Winter Park/Mary Jane blog.

Winter Park Full Moon Cross Country Skiing

Pole Creek Full Moon Cross Country Skiing

This Saturday January 30th there is a full moon cross country skiing event at Pole Creek Golf Club.  Time is from 5:30PM to 8PM.

Full moon snowshoe or cross country ski at Pole Creek Golf Course. Trails for all abilities and free hot chocolate and schnapps out on the course.

Dinner after at Bistro 28 with homemade pastas and other menu selections priced at $8.  Reservations recommended at 970.887.9797

Dinner every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at Bistro 28 Burger and a beer/wine – Prime rib and Pasta specials.

Come see Pole Creek in a different light. Moonlight that is!  The weather forecast looks good and there is nothing better than cross country skiing, hot chocolate and schnapps on a Saturday night.  After you get a workout in, belly up to Bistro 28’s bar and have another schnapps and a plate of homemade pasta.

Get outside and enjoy the Colorado winter.

Winter Park Resort Spring Splash 2010

Winter Park, CO. Spring Splash

The 42nd annual Spring Splash is back at Winter Park/Mary Jane Resort on Sunday April 18th, 2010.  This is the longest running end of the season ski party held in Colorado and maybe the United States.  The Spring Splash is now sponsored by Coca-Cola so it is officially known as the Coca-Cola Spring Splask.

Splash as it is known locally here in Winter Park is actually two parties. The official held at the base of Winter Park Resort is a family fun affair with music, racing and prizes.  The official description is: Winter Park Resort’s Coca-Cola® Spring Splash is the oldest tradition of its kind and on its 42nd year. Athletes begin at 12pm as spectators watch skiers and riders struggle through obstacles on the Larry Sale trail race course and attempt to skim across an icy pond to reach the finish line and post a time. Live music sets the tone for a closing day party that is fun for everyone!

The unofficial party, and not for the younger part of the whole family, is the end of season party held in the Challenger lot of Mary Jane Resort.  Music, BBQ, adult beverages, costumes and a very much party atmosphere pervade the “end of season splash”.  Party gets going early, as on the night before on April 17th, and lasts past sundown on April 18th.  The last few years have seen Winter Park/Fraser Valley Police with drug dogs and a big police presence.  This is a fun time though that Winter Park locals and visitors plan for weeks in advance.  So it is fun for all just make good choices with your drinking and driving and other behaviors.

If you have not been to the official or the unofficial Splash you are missing out.  This is one of the most fun, if not the most fun times in Winter Park, CO all year.

For Spring Splash race registration:  Sunday, April 18, 8-10:30am: Guest Services, Balcony House, base of Winter Park Resort. $20 entry fee; $39 lift and entry fee, $15 employee entry fee. Limited to the first 100 participants. 18 and over, must show proof of age. Day of registration only, no pre-registration is available. You must be present to register.

LIVE MUSIC in the Plaza from 2-6pm

For more race details, contact the Winter Park Resort guest information hotline at 970.726.1564.

Lodging prices are at the lowest of the ski season for Spring Splash, so be safe and stay a few nights and enjoy some great deals on Winter Park CO. Lodging.

Five Best Restaurants in Winter Park, Colorado

Winter Park Colorado Best Restaurants

Top five favorite restaurants in Winter Park, Colorado.  I guess you could say the Winter Park, Fraser, Tabenash area because they are not all in town proper of Winter Park, CO.  This list is of actual full service restaurants and does not include Winter Park breakfast restaurants or Winter Park walk up restaurants.  It also is focused on food even though a couple here are also my favorite Winter Park places to have a beer or cocktail.  The list is in no particular order and is definitely not exhaustive.

**** ENTER TO WIN TWO FREE NIGHTS OF LODGING! Comment below with your favorite dinner restaurant in Winter Park and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win two free  nights between June and August at a two-bedroom condo.  Must comment by Feb 28th with winner announced March 2nd****

Winter Park Top Five Restaurants

1. Tabernash Tavern – Right on US Highway 40 in our home of Tabernash.  The Tavern describes themselves as: “A wine bar in beautiful lower downtown Tabernash, Colorado, serving Chef Alberto Sapien’s international culinary creations”.   As the description says it is a mix of very different styles of food and they haven’t missed every time I’ve been there.  The Tavern has opened an Italian eatery in the town of Winter Park under the name Alberto’s.
2. Hernando’s Pizza Pub – Probably the most popular of all Winter Park Restaurants and one of the most consistent.  The pizza is very good and their salads are fantastic.  A great bar to watch the tourists and the locals alike with some great bartenders.  Be sure to arrive early or call before heading over because Hernando’s is usually very busy.
3. The Sushi Bar – Yes, sushi up here at over 9,000 ft in the Colorado Rocky Mountains is pretty darn good.  The Sushi Bar is located at the end of WP on US 40.  The Sushi Bar has some great food and a very friendly waitstaff.  With $1.50 bottles of beer everyday you can’t go wrong with some WP style sushi a a cheap cold one to wash it down.
4. Mirasol Cantina – Located on US 40 in the Conoco Shopping Center.  Mirasol is a taco bar with great tacos ( try their lamb tacos) and the best margaritas in Winter Park.  Chips and Salsa are fantastic and their salsa bar has some of the best salsas I have tasted.  They have a small bar of about five seats that is a fun place to spend an evening eating and drinking.  Mirasol is not open for lunch so make sure to join them for dinner.
5. The Ranch House Restaurant at Devils Thumb Ranch – Located in Tabernash at Devils Thumb Ranch.  The room is spectacular and the food is just as good.   The Ranch House serves New American Mountain Cuisine  – which means real food, cooked with real ingredients. Organic and locally grown whenever we can. Always fresh, always delicious.  Probably the most expensive restaurant on this list but also maybe the best with the highest level of service.

Maybe I should have done a best ten of Winter Park because there are some I definitely left out.  The above list of five should most certainly include The Cheeky Monk, Fontenot’s and The Back Country Grill.

Our little town of Winter Park has some very good restaurants.  Check out Winter Park Lodging Company’s restaurant discounts to get some great grub and drinks for a little bit cheaper.

Blues From The Top Festival Winter Park, CO

Winter Park Blues Festival

The Blues from the Top blues show is back in WInter Park for the summer of 2010.  June 25th,26th and 27th will see some of the finest blues players around descend on the hills of Winter Park for a long weekend of music, mountains and fun.

The performers so far are:

Walter Trout and the Radicals

Teresa James and the Rhythm Tramps

Trampled Under Foot

Mike Zito

Smokin’ Joe Kubek featuring Bnois King

Ana Popovic

Dick50 (Delbert McClinton’s band)

Samantha Fish

Nick Moss and The Flip Tops

JP Soars and The Red Hots

Delores Scott

Suprise Guest

Visit the Grand Blues Society website for tickets.

Come on up to Winter Park, Colorado for one a great music festival in the Rocky Mountains.

More Money Problems for Intrawest

Intrawest Winter Park Resort

Where is Intrawest heading with their money problems?  After a two month extension of a loan payment due in late October of 2009, Intrawest missed the extension date on a payment of $524 million.

Intrawest, which operates four Canadian resorts such as Olympic-skiing venue Whistler Blackcomb, as well as six resorts in the United States, defaulted on the $524-million debt payment in late December and has been trying to work out a deal with lenders.

The company is owned by private equity firm Fortress Investment Group LLC, which acquired Intrawest in 2006 for $1.8-billion. Fortress also assumed $950-million in debt in the deal. Fortress paid a 20-per-cent premium over Intrawest’s share price to get its hands on the company, but said in a letter to shareholders in August that it had marked down the value of the investment to 29 cents on the dollar.

Sounds like not a great investment so far for Fortress.  What to make of Intrawest is the question for us here in Winter Park, CO.  Intrawest has sold Copper Mountain Ski Resort and is in the process of selling its Sandestin, Florida beach resort.  Earlier in the year, Intrawest sold two of its resorts in France to holiday company Pierre et Vacances. That price was also not disclosed.  Will Intrawest up and walk away from their management agreement with the City of Denver?  Very unlikely, but in these crazy financial times for resort developers nothing is beyond belief.

This next year will be a very interesting time to see what happens to Intrawest.  They have disbanded the development part of their company, Intrawest Placemaking, and are having a hard time selling the real estate it has already developed.  So their revenue income is now mainly from sales of lift tickets, food, beverage, lodging, and equipment.   A great snow year with  skier visits up and Intrawest may be OK.  With a down year I think they may be selling off their parts.  That may be the case anyway if they can not come to an agreement with their financiers.

Anywho, Winter Park will be celebrating it’s 70th year of continuous operation this January 23rd here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  And now would be a great time to visit and buy property at Winter Park Resort.