Winter Park wants to expand with a new restaurant, trails and a gondola
DENVER (KDVR) — Winter Park Resort is proposing a slew of projects that it says will enhance and modernize its services on the mountain over the next few years, which has been submitted for public comment through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
In this phase of the resort’s master development plan, the business is proposing a dedicated, on-mountain learning center at Discovery Park. This will include the development of new aerial and surface lifts, trail grading and ski school facilities, but an environmental analysis of the proposals is not yet submitted. It’s expected in spring 2025.
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Winter Park is also proposing the construction of a new restaurant on Vasquez Ridge to replace the existing Sundance Chili Hut. The restaurant would feature a 3,000-square-foot deck and provide seated meals for guests.
Other improvements would be to replace the existing Gemini Express chairlift, which connects to the base area, with a 10-passenger gondola, as well as replace the Endeavor, a three-person chairlift, and the Discover, a two-person chairlift, with four-person lifts.
The resort is also proposing the installation of three conveyor lifts adjacent to the top terminal of the proposed Gemini gondola. The Gemini gondola would also require an 8,000-square-foot storage building at the top terminal, in addition to electricity, sanitary sewer, fiber optics, water and natural gas for the facilities.
The resort also wants to expand its snowmaking coverage in the Mary Jane and Winter Park zones. This would mean installing new snowmaking lines or replacing existing lines in about 34,000 feet of trench in the Winter Park development area, and expanding snow coverage by approximately 57 acres on 10 ski trails.
The Mary Jane project would include 31,900 feet of new snowmaking pipeline, three valve blockhouses of various sizes and a new pumphouse on the Whistlestop trail. This would expand snowmaking coverage by approximately 77 acres in the development zone, adding snow coverage to another 10 trails.
Winter Park is also seeking to conduct trail improvements by conducting tree removal and “glading” in the Mary Jane and Parsenn Bowl areas and removing dead and dying trees in the Jelly Roll Glades area.
The last proposal from the resort is to remove the existing Looking Glass chairlift and expand the ski terrain onto Cooper Creek Summit through a new chairlift (with access roads and utilities). Specifically, Winter Park wants to install a six-person chairlift at the bottom of the Buckaroo ski trail, intending northeast to the top of the Cooper Creek summit.
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Through that lift, the resort would create six new trails ranging from beginner to intermediate levels. This would require Winter Park to install approximately 6,584 feet of snowmaking pipeline along those new trails to cover 21.3 acres of terrain.
Anyone who wants to comment on the project can submit it electronically on the project website. A comment link is in the right-hand column. The comment period is open through June 15.
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