Snowcat Skiing Winter Park, CO with Powder Addiction

Colorado Snowcat Skiing

Powder Addiction is back for year number two with a new snowcat and a frequent rider program. The Winter Park Village based snow cat operation provides guided snowcat skiing on Jones Pass right off of US Highway 40.

We at Winter Park Lodging Company were able to take a couple of trips up with Powder Addiction and the operation and skiing were phenomenal.  If you have any interest in back-country powder skiing this is a must.

Anywho, here is the details on Powder Addictions new snowcat and frequent rider program:

New snowcat for the 2010-2011 Season.

We have purchased a newer machine and have just finished ordering a custom passenger cabin for it. The new machine is a 2007 Bombardier BR 350. This machine has 350 horsepower compared to the 150 horsepower of the LMC machine we used last winter. More than twice as powerful! This machine is sweet and it will go up all of our terrain without slowing down or struggling on the steep hills. We should be able to average 12-13 miles per hour (MPH). The old LMC averaged about 4-5 MPH. We expect to be able to get an additional 2-3 runs per day!

Prices will remain the same this winter even with the investment of a sweet new snowcat. We are adding a new frequent skier incentive. For every 5 seats you buy the 6th one will be free! This will be good during one season only. We are now taking reservations for the 2010-2011 Season. Get your reservations now and make sure you do not miss out on what promises to be a fantastic season.

Please contact us via email to book your spots for this winter. I will call you back within a couple of days. No one is in the office during the summer but we will get back to you as soon as possible.

It has been a very wet the last few weeks here in Grand County. We can only hope that we get this much precipitation this winter especially in November and December.

Think Snow!

Yes it is August but now is the time to plan your trip to Winter Park for some SNOWCAT SKIING.  Let Winter Park Lodging Company plan your excursion and ski vacation.

Check out the above picture, that is yours truly in the red jacket looking at the ground.  Also in the pic are noted locals Ed Reagner, Mike Ayers (skippy), Craig Van Way, Chase and Steve Hogan and some other local Winter Park hooligans.

Favorite Winter Park Summer Patios

Backbowl's Patio

One of our favorite summertime activities in Winter Park is just hangin’ out at one of our favorite patios, kickin’ back to some live music and enjoying some cold beverages in the mountain sunshine. It’s definitely a favorite pasttime of mine!

When it comes to great summer patios in Winter Park, there are a few restaurants and bars that surpass the rest. If you have another favorite that I leave out, just let us know by leaving a comment below.  

My Top Picks:

- The Winter Park Pub.  The patio at “the pub” is #1 in my heart. There is usually live music at least three times a week, plus tons of space and seating for plenty of sunshine opportunities. They also have a tent for shade or rain coverage. It’s also a #1 locals favorite, so it’s a good place to mingle.  

- The Cheeky Monk - This is a newer restaurant at the Village at Winter Park Resort. The vibe inside is awesome, and they have like, a million types of beers. The patio is killer, too, and they oftentimes have live music and drink specials during the summer.

A packed patio at "The Pub"

- Backbowl Soup Company – another new restaurant at the Village at Winter Park Resort, Backbowl has an attractive, spacious patio with umbrellas & nice views. They also have live music and drink specials on Tues & Thursdays and the “Adventure Train Playground” that the kids love.

 - The Sushi Bar – Another local tradition is to hit up happy hour at The Sushi Bar at least a few times in the summer to enjoy their large deck. During happy hour you also get two-for-one specials on selected drinks & sushi rolls. They don’t have live music, but their parties and/or specials make up for that.  

- Deno’s Mountain Bistro.  A prime, south-west facing patio, this is a lovely spot for afternoon sunshine. Deno’s wine list is impressive, plus they have all the regular ol’ standbys and great wings. The only catch is that they don’t have live music.  

- Fontenot’s – This deck is often overlooked, but for what reason, I don’t know. They have a really nice deck, tables with umbrellas and great food. They tend to be on the pricey side, which may be why it’s not frequented too often by locals, but they have delicious appetizers like fried green tomatoes and coconut shrimp. Not a spot for live music, either.  

Other honorable mentions include the Gasthaus Eichler patio for lunch next to Vasquez Creek, Rudi’s Deli patio, and the Mountain Grind Cafe at Cooper Creek Square. 

Winter Park Resort Opening Day Ski Season 2010/2011

Winter Park Resort Opening Day

Yes, I know it is July and sunny and beautiful here in Winter Park, CO but that is no reason to not be thinking of fluffy white snow and the reason we are all here in WP….. SKI SEASON!

So get ready for the 2010/2011 ski season in Winter Park with opening on November 17th, 2010.  It should be another epic year here in the Rockies with some great snow forecast already for this year.  They said that last year also didn’t those pesky weatherman?  Last year was an El Nino year which bode well for the ski resorts in the southern part of Colorado.  This year is being forecast as a La Nina year and here is what snowforecast.com has to say about this years La Nina:

a La Nina SST pattern will likely take over for this coming fall/ winter, through possibly the season following (through 2012). This usually bodes well for northern Colorado resorts, but we will work up some comparisons of analog years this summer to see what we may expect.

So, I’m thinking we will be making up for the sub-par snow year of 2009/2010 and have ourselves a killer year in 2010/2011.  so the countdown has begun for ski season opening day for the 2010 ski season.  It is Wednesday November 17th, 2010 that we can all strap those boards on our feet and hit the slopes with some of that white gold.

Powder Addiction will also be running for it’s sophomore year of cat skiing up on Jones Pass.  If you were not able to go up last year and you like cat-skiing (who skies and wouldn’t like to cat ski I’m not sure) you should take a ride up with Powder Addiction.

Anywho, Winter Park Resort opens November17th 2010 for this coming ski season.  Need lodging?  Winter Park Lodging Company provides the finest ski homes, cabins, condos, town-homes in the Winter Park and Fraser area with the best discounts on Winter Park lift tickets and ski/board rentals.

Highlights from the Blues from the Top Festival in Winter Park

JP Soars and his handmade guitar

It turned out to be another perfect weekend of beautiful weather and outstanding blues performances for the eighth annual Blues from the Top festival in Winter Park, Colorado.  This weekend is my personal favorite of all Winter Park music festivals because: 1) it kicks off the summer in Winter Park; and 2) you can dance to the blues music right in front of the stage. You must check it out sometime if you haven’t yet.

The festivities started on Friday night with Curtis Salgado followed by Andy Irvine’s Blues Collective at Music at the Mall at Cooper Creek Square, then moved over to Smokin’ Moes for the official Pre-Festival Jam with jam performances by the festival’s performers.   The dance floor at Smokin’ Moes was packed as usual and the musicians were probably having as much or more fun than we were!

I missed the show on Saturday, but the highlight (from what I’ve heard) was the Walter Trout performance preceded by the hail strorm that swiftly cleared the park out for about 10 minutes. The cooler air after the storm was welcomed by my festival-goer friends, who came back to enjoy Walter and his band close out Saturday’s show.

Sunday’s show started out with a mimosa followed by several beers. Oh, and the music was great, too. We had Curtis Salgado, Nick Moss and the Fliptops, Mike Zito, Theresa James, JP Soars and Trampled Under Foot.  JP Soars was especially entertaining with his handmade guitar (pictured). His high energy paired with a voice that seems to come from a much bigger body was definitely a lot of fun to dance to. 

There were a lot of vendors to peruse between acts, plus good food like BBQ, Fried Catfish and Mexican. I loved the authentic $3 tamale and the mint chocolate chip ice cream for desert.  The continual lathering of sunscreen was necessary with all the wonderfully bright sunshine, with no afternoon thunderstorm or hardly a cloud in sight.  The Australian hat vendor sure must have made a killing, although be warned, he doesn’t take bargaining jokes lightly.

Ah, just another fun summer weekend in Winter Park, with plenty more to come. Next up is the Free Hi Country Music Festival, the Winter Park Jazz Festival, the Free Fox Classic Rock Festival and the Crankworx Colorado Mountain Bike Festival. The summer was just kicked off wonderfully by the Blues from the Top Music Fest.

Trestle Bike Park Freeride Fridays

Winter Park Trestle Bike Park

Freeride Friday’s are starting early this year. In fact they are starting this weekend. What is freeride Friday? you may ask. Well it is not free downhill riding, as in no cash spent.  It is freeridin’ on Friday with extended hours discounted rates and lots of activities after the ridin’.  If you have never been or your kids, especially those teenagers, you need to get out to Trestle Bike Park to check it out.  A more fun thrilling day can not be had and it is a serious workout on the body.

Anyway, the trails up here in Winter Park are in such great shape that Freeride Friday is starting this weekend, June 25th.  So get your gear together or come rent with Trestle Bike Shop and enjoy extended hours at the park. Stick around after the ride for your complimentary beverage and Coca-Cola® Family Movie Night Family in the Village!  The movie is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Winter Park Chocolate Festival is on Saturday and the weather looks spectacular for the weekend.

Here is the complete deal for Freeride Friday:

Rental / Trestle Park Pass, $34.99 (walk-in only)
Extended Bike Park hours open until 7pm with discounted lift/rental packages

For just $34.99, get a downhill mountain bike, lift ticket, protective gear and all the runs you can fit into 3 hours. Just head to the mountains by early afternoon to take advantage of this $79.99 value for only $34.99. Package includes:

▪ Kona Stinky downhill bike
▪ Body armor package
▪ Full face helmet
▪ Lift ticket
▪ Bonus Coors Light or soda

Everything you need to get you on the mountain and start your weekend! Valid from 4-7pm, with rentals due back by 7:30pm. Call 303.316.1564 for more information.

Freeride Fridays Bike Park Lift Ticket only: $19
Trestle Bike Park School
As part of Freeride Fridays, Trestle Bike Park School is offering deals on two new clinic times:

Group Lesson Special

• 2 hours of coaching for $20 per rider
• 11am, 1pm, 3pm
• Additional hour of coaching for just $10 more

Fun fun fun is all I can say about Trestle. Anyone with even a small bit of thrill seeking in them needs to check out the bike park. Its is a great time, safe and as I said a great workout.

Looking for some lodging when up in Winter Park, Colorado?  Well, let Winter Park Lodging Company hook you up with the best prices, deals and local knowledge of the area.

The Winter Park Mountain Bike Trail of the Week #3

Tipperary to Spruce Creek

The third Winter Park mountain bike trail of the week is here.  This week we have a great ride with some double and single track going trough Spruce Creek a couple times.  Overall it is a great ride with some water, good downhill jumps and great mountain scenery.

Tipperary to Spruce Creek

Distance: 7miles
Trail Location: From the Winter Park Visitor Center head north on US Hwy 40 into the town of Fraser. At the stop light turn left onto CR 72 stay right and drive through the meadow. At the “T” take a left, at the top of the hill you will see the Rodeo grounds.
Trail Description: Begin at the rodeo grounds west of Fraser. Head west on Givelo Trail. At the first intersection, CR 50S, turn right. Stay left on CR 50. Continue on CR 50 uphill, past two lodges on the right and over the cattle guard. Look for Tipperary on your left. Take a left on to Tipperary. Tipperary is a two track climb through, pines, aspens and lush mountain meadows. A canopy of trees covers much of the trail. Cross the first creek; continue to climb. Climb through two meadows, past a couple of springs, past the intersection to Back Scratch and through the second (and last) creek. The trail levels and begins the descent not long after a wet spring-fed area. You are now on Spruce Creek. (You only know this by looking at the map as there is no intersection or sign) The descent is much more technical than the climb. It’s loose and rocky, so be careful. Your next turn is a left onto St. Louis Creek Road and follow this back to your vehicle at the Rodeo Grounds.

Come on out and enjoy the great Colorado outdoors.  Let Winter Park Lodging Company supply your Winter Park summer vacation lodging and enjoy an active healthy getaway.

Whitewater Rafting in Winter Park, CO

Colorado River Rafting

The water is coming out of the mountains and the rafting companies and Colorado rafters are getting great water this year.  Local Winter Park rafting companies are having one of their best springs in recent years, thanks to all the spring snowmelt gushing out of the mountains into area waterways.

Due to the late April and May snowstorms and the warmer June weather we have had this year the rivers are full and this is the time of year to take a trip down the Upper Colorado or Clear Creek.

Winter Park Lodging Company Company works with two rafting companies in Winter Park,  Adventures in Whitewater and Red Tail Rafting.  This time of year, Adventures in Whitewater guides commercial rafting trips on a section of whitewater southwest of Kremmling, below Big Gore Canyon. The popular run stretches from Pumphouse on the Trough Road to Rancho del Rio, near State Bridge. As of Tuesday morning, nearly 5,900 cubic feet per second of water was running through that section of the river.

Adventures in Whitewater offers rafting trips on either the Upper Colorado or Clear Creek, has experienced and friendly guides, plus guests of Winter Park Lodging Company get 15% off. Just mention you’re our guests when you book your rafting trip.

Red Tail Rafting offers WP Lodging  Co. guests 10% off on Colorado River trips and even transports you to the river. Only full day raft trips offered, which offer you more time to enjoy the river.

The water is soon to crest and the flows of water will slow through the summer.  Now is a great time to get out and get on the water and see the beauty of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Winter Park, CO Recipe of the Month: June

The recipe of the month for June comes straight out of the bible of all cookbooks:  The Joy of Cooking. It is a delicious grilled or steamed-on-the-grill salmon fillet with an even more delicious Chipotle Mayonnaisse. A great meal for a summer evening and it’s quick and easy to boot.

You only really need 1/2 of the chipotle mayonnaisse that this recipe makes if your preparing four salmon fillets, but it’s so yummy you’ll want to save the leftover to spread on sandwiches or use for other meals. 

Tip: If you’ve got a sensitive tongue, (i.e. Taco Bell’s hot sauce is too spicy for you), you may want to stick to the milder variation of Watercress Mayonnaisse.

Ingredients:

Up to 8 Salmon Fillets & Chipotle or Watercress Mayonnaise

Chipotle Mayo
1 cup light or regular mayo
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle peppers
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the peppers (or to taste)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
salt and black pepper to taste

Watercress Mayo
1 cup light or regular mayo
1/4 cup finely chopped watercress
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

First, decide whether you’d like to prepare the salmon directly on the grill or if you’d like to steam it in foil over the grill. Both ways are easy, but if you use the steaming method you don’t have to worry about flipping the fillets or any stickage on the grill.

Prepare the chipotle or the watercress mayo next, just by adding all ingredients to a bowl and mixing until completely blended.

Start the fillets, using a medium-high flame. If you’re grilling directly over the flames, all you need to do is salt and pepper the fillets, then grill on each side 4-5 minutes or until they’re completely opaque.

If you’re steaming with foil, make sure to double up or use heavy duty foil. Set each fillet on a piece of foil large enough to completely wrap around it, spread a tablespoon or so of the mayo over the top, then fold the foil over the fillet. Set over a medium-high flame with the lid closed for about 15 minutes, or until completely opaque.

After the steaks are done, top with chipotle or watercress mayo and serve with wild rice and a green veggie for a pretty and healthy dinner.

More on Weddings in Winter Park!

As more and more engaged couples catch on to the appeal and popularity of our quaint and beautiful town, it seems that new businesses that cater to weddings in Winter Park keep popping up. Recently I’ve stumbled upon a couple of well kept secret gems that I’m happy to be able to share with everyone.

First, wedding cakes! Evelyn Stowers has been in the business of making delicious and elegant wedding cakes for 44 years. In fact, the first wedding cake she ever created was for her own wedding (they’re still happily married, likely due to her sweet personality and the cakes she’s always whipping up in their kitchen). Evelyn showed me a binder filled with hundreds of cakes she’s created over the years, and I have to say that I melted completely into giddy girl mode! She has fun and gorgeous ideas for decoration, and after almost half a century of baking, you better believe she’s got more than a couple delicious cake recipes on hand. So ff you don’t feel like hunting down a big banner to post on your car that says “wedding cake on board” while you drive up our curvy mountain pass, then send Mrs. Stowers an email at evelynstowers@yahoo.com. She’ll be happy to hear from you!

Second, and a little more unique, is Ear 2 Ear photo booths. A couple of locals, Jeff Skinner and John Vella, have found great success with their small business of delivering, setting up, and operating photo booths at all kinds of events, including weddings. And yes, you’re thinking of the right photo booths: the same ones you laugh like crazy in at carnivals with your best friends. Photo booths are a creative and fun addition at any event; we think it’s worth your time to check it out! You can read about all the details and see some sample photos at www.ear2earphotobooths.com , then give Jeff and John a call at 970 509 9778.

And as always, if you have any questions about other great services in the area or are interested in lodging, give Winter Park Lodging Company a call at 877-329-1383. We’re always happy to hear from you!

Winter Park, Colorado Beer Festival

Colorado Mountain Beer Festival

The first annual Winter Park, CO beer festival has been announced and will be taking place in Hideaway Park in downtown Winter Park, Colo on Saturday August 14, 2010.  This is Winter Parks first foray into the beer festival world but we are thinking that the Winter Park Beer Festival will be bigger and badder than the Great American Beer Festival in no time.

The Winter Park Beer Festival will be a celebration of beer, music and mountains, can you have any of these without the others?, in the beautiful environs of Winter Park, CO.  There will be over 25 breweries represented doing beer tastings and selling merchandise with local and national bands to keep all entertained.  There will also be vendors in Hideaway Park selling all that you will need to make this a fun and friendly day of beer drinking.  We are hoping that the three young ladies to the left will be attending to help peddle some of the suds.

Breweries that can be expected to be attending, but in no way guaranteed to be, include New Belgium Brewery, Odell’s Brewery, Coors, Budweiser, Great Divide Brewery, Oscar Blues Brewery, Sierra Nevada Brewery, Left Hand Brewery, Grand Lake Brewery, Deschutes Brewing and Flying Dog Brewery.  There should be some great beers by some of the best brewers in the nation.

As for music, the lineup should be fun with lots of good beer drinking tunes.  Here is who will be playing:

JJ Grey and MOFRO

“intriguing and fortuitous… Grey’s a songwriter with a sharp wit and a knack for skewering the hypocrites, jive politicians and carpetbaggers who litter the landscape. The MOFRO vibe travels freely among swamp funk, blues, rock and soul, and does so with a certain down-and-dirty swagger that’s as real as it is appealing.”

Filthy Children

This funk/jazz/rock septet serves up a funkinetic frenzy of fresh, original, mind moving music; reminiscent of such groove giants as Soulive, Greyboy Allstars, John Scofield, and Deep Banana Blackout. Filthy Children deliver action packed funk that’s sure to be “a big fat kick in the groove”

Cowboy Dave

Hillbilly yuckster by day, Saturday-morning-cartoon hero by night, Cowboy Dave and his band of honky-tonk all-stars are poised to put the western back in country and western. Known to many as the deadpanned FortyTwenty frontman and fiddle player, Cowboy Dave Wilson has spent the better part of this decade honing his craft throughout the honky-tonks of the Midwest and South.

Sounds like some good grooves to get a good beer drink going up in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.  This festival being on a Saturday lets you come up and enjoy a Free Ride Friday in Trestle Bike Park then the beer festival on Saturday and maybe some cross country/ single track mountain biking on Sunday before you return home.

I forgot to mention that the Winter Park Beer Festival benefits a truly worthy cause in the National Sports Center for the Disabled.  I do not know of a better cause to give to and to do it all by drinking some beer and listening to some music in the Colorado mountains, now that is one heck of a weekend.

So come on out and celebrate summer with some beer and music!