From: johnc@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU (John Cooley)
Subject: Re: Winter Park Info
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 21:38:44 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523
Followup-To: rec.skiing

In article <Bxortr.zw@rice.edu> turtle@owlnet.rice.edu 
(Mark Edward Duttweiler) writes:

>The ski club here at Rice is planning a trip to Winter Park over this years 
>spring break.

>I was wondring if anyone could tell me what they knew about the terrain 
>there.  Specifically,
>I am interested in finding out if there are any parts of the mountain that 
>would be more 
>entertaining than others for competent skiers.  Are there any lifts that 
>offer better skiing 
>than most but have shorter lines?  Are there any runs in particular that 
>I should make sure I
>ski?

>Also, I've heard that Winter Park has some excellent but somewhat well 
>hidden runs through the
>trees that are not on the trail map, particularly in the area between Winter 
>Park and Mary
>Jane.  Rumor has it that they are some of the best terrain on the mountain, 
>that is if you can 
>find them.  I realize that I may be prying into local knowledge here, but I 
>would greatly
>appreciate it if anyone could tell me more specifically where I might look 
>to find these 
>types of trails.  

>And hey, don't worry, I'm not really from Texas, I just go to school here.....

Yeah, that's right, that's the ticket.  I'm not actually a Texan.

Mr. Duttweiler's lines were a tad too long for 80-character displays.  I've
done a quick and dirty edit job to reduce the width of his file.  Of course,
the monitors in Texas are _bigger_ than the monitors anywhere else, even in
the days before X-terms.

As for WP, I'll say the following:
  *  There is almost always plenty of snow by mid-March, which is when many
     schools have spring break.

  *  Many, but not all, of the more entertaining marked runs are on the Mary
     Jane side.  Some areas of MJ suffer from excessive exposure to sun.  Some
     areas of MJ suffer from excessive exposure to people who think they have
     to ski it because WP is the "easy side."  They don't know what they're
     missing, and they scrape their way down Sleeper again and again because
     it's one of two runs at MJ that they can ski.

  *  The Summit Express often has long lines on weekends.  Some line is OK; it
     swallows people in a hurry, but too often, it's excessive.  All those 
     people from Sleeper ride up the Summit Express.  As for where else to go,
     you'll just have to ask around.  

  *  "Hidden runs" - Much of WP/MJ lacks ropes which might prevent you from
     going into the woods anywhere you want.  There are reasonable slots and
     there are places which go into pockets and deadends, and there are even a
     few cliffs here and there.  Explore for yourself, but be careful, and
     don't go under any ropes that _are_ there.

  *  Ski the Chutes on MJ's back side, if they're open.  They're short, semi-
     narrow, fairly steep, and often icy.  Watch for rocks.

  *  Parsenn Bowl is not steep.  It might be fun if you get a good dump with
     no wind, but it's prone to be wind-crusted.

  *  For actual extreme skiing, visit Berthoud Pass.  No lifts.  Walk and/or
     hitchhike.  Maybe even die.  There are plenty of avalanche chutes, cliffs
     and other "interesting" terrain.

Have a good time.  No I'm not going to tell anyone I'm not actually skiing
with where my favorite stashes and slots are.

            John Cooley
Xref: sparky rec.skiing:7589 co.general:1818