We have a new partner here in Winter Park, CO for ski and board rentals.  Epic Mountain Sports is a locally owned and operated ski/sports shop that is renting some of best equipment you can find in the Winter Park area. Winter Park Lodging Company has a great deal with Epic Mountain Sports , the newest ski & snowboard rental shop with two central locations in downtown Winter Park. Epic Mountain Sports specializes in quality rentals at a great price, friendly service & expert advice.

Epic Mountain Sports offers packages for individuals, families and groups. Rentals include all a skier/ boarder could want: shaped skis, high performance skis, basic snowboards, performance snowboards, snow blades and children’s packages. Kid’s rentals are free with each paying adult. If skiing is not on the list, then try out some snowshoes for a beautiful and exhilarating walk through the stunning woods that surround Winter Park.

If you are ready to demo some the best and newest technology in boards and skis head on in and talk to the skiing and boarding crazed techies at Epic.  They have all-mountain, powder skis, front-side carvers, twin tips for the park & pipe, mid-fats, mogul skis, and backcountry. Of course all of these skis come in women specific models too. Take your pick of models from Volkl, Rossignol, Dynastar, K2, Nordica and Icelantic. The techies know the equipment and know the mountain and will help you pick something fun for you to try. Ask about the new “rocker/early rise” technology in this years new ski models.

Epic Mountain Sports is growing. They now have a new, bigger store in downtown Winter Park across from Cooper Creek Square. The free ski shuttle picks up steps from the door. What convenience.  And they still have their store on the north end of Winter Park, located next to Mirasol and Conoco in the Park Place Shopping Center.

And best of all Winter Park Lodging Company has an exclusive deal with Epic Mountain Sports that will get you on the hill in the best equipment at the lowest prices.  Check out Epics Winter Park Resort Ski Rental Deals with Winter Park Lodging Company.

What a great way to spend a Saturday Night: on the links of Pole Creek Golf Club with skis on your feet and the moon lighting the ground below.

Pole Creek Golf Club had their first, of hopefully many, moonlight snow shoe and ski events this past Saturday night and the event was fantastic.  Show up clip on the skis and make a run through the marked course.  On the course is a bonfire with some hearty souls serving up schnapps with hot chocolate.  Finish up the trek and head inside for some wine and dinner.

We hope that they continue this moonlight tradition all year long.  It was a great time and there were a lot of people out enjoying the moonlight and the crisp Colorado air.  Lots of kids, dogs and people of all ages having a great time in the clear moonlight.

Dinner was good, wine was even better.  Service was a bit slow as I don’t think Bistro 28 expected quite as many people to join them for the first running of this event. Better get to ironing out the kinks before the next moonlight snowshoe event.

All in all it was a great night,  ended  with a glass of wine at home and the excitement of a another full moon in thirty days.

Look for these signs

Elyse having fun up Berthoud Trail

We went on a snowshoe outing this week to show my neices the outdoors of Winter Park without spending a dime.  Ok, I did already have 2 pairs of snowshoes and borrowed the other pair from my friend (and realtor), Shanna, so I guess it wouldn’t be free for the tourist.   To rent showshoes, go to The Ski Broker - not too much $ at all.

Shanna recommended this trail and we took her up on it.  To get there, we went up Berthoud Pass (from Winter Park) past 2 switchbacks.  On the 2nd turn to the left, there is a big orange backcountry avalanche warning sign and parking area.   We pulled over, strapped on our snowshoes, grabbed our poles (don’t forget poles!!) and headed up the trail.

Shanna said there would be a flat meadow right away but we never found that – it was still really fun and not too tough. It was an easy uphill climb for awhile and we quickly forgot about life and started singing and laughing.

The path is very easy to follow and we saw two other groups while we climbed. It got a bit steep for awhile so we stopped often and took more photos.   

We ran into some backcountry skiers. They were doing “Avy training” they told us. My neice from NC said “huh?!” so we got an education on Avalanche training and how people actually live on the extreme side of the outdoors. We said goodbye and continued to sing and hike in our wimpy little snowshoes. We felt cool, at least.

Top of the World (without much effort)!

The photos look a lot more extreme than it was – I think anyone in good enough shape to ski could easily do this.  And, it was a fun experience to get out and relax!!

We went for a long hike last weekend in Winter Park – found a great place that’s easy to get to for snowshoeing or hiking. Turn into Lakota (across from WP), and walk up the hill. Take right at top of the hill and it will circle around to the Bon Fils station. About a 2 hour hike if you stop and take photos as much as we did.

This is a picture of my parents – 55 years of marriage. There was tons of snow!!

They are making progress on the condos next to Zephyr but it’s taking forever. Parking garage has been started also next to Zephyr… stay tuned for more updates…