Powder Addiction Snow Cat Skiing Winter Park, CO

Powder Addiction Skiing on Jones Pass

We had day number two with Powder Addiction on Jones pass this week.  It was supposed to be day number four but a good bout of pink eye and an avalanche on US Highway 40 has postponed the other two trips.  The group that went up this time was full of Winter Park locals, a father-son WP second home team and a video and still camera professional.

What a senational day.  Temps were in the high 30’s and there were a few inches of fluffy white powder.  The above photos of Ed Reagner were shot later in the day as we were attempting a south facing wall that had baked all day and gotten a nice crusty layer on top that all us skiers had a little trouble with.

Mr. Scott Hefel was the professional photog along for the day and he took some spectacular pictures.  Check out Scott Hefel Photography to see the photos.  Click on Powder Addiction (bottom right) and use password: 3.15.10

We also had “T” from RSN Winter Park Channel 18 filming for an upcoming RSN sking special.  Maybe all us will be back-country skiing stars someday?  I am not holding my breath or quitting the day job though.

On the trip was a father and son team and for a 15 year old Chase could really rip it up.  I do wish I was skiing this terrain when I was 15 years old.  Anywho, it was a great day skiing.  I would like to thank, Jamie, Waldo and Scott for the expert guiding and safety provided.

If you have any desire to do some cat skiing Powder Addiction can not be beat.  It is reasonably priced, especially compared to other snow cat skiing operations, and the terrain and snow is fantastic.  Jones Pass is a short ride from Powder Addiction headquarters in the Winter Park Village with snow that drops from all storms coming through Central Colorado.  At the end of the day you get to enjoy a couple free Steamworks Brewery beers.

The snow is still coming and it’s not too late to get your cat skiing in this year.  Now is the time to sign up and take a snow cat skiing trip with Powder Addiction.

Moonlight Snowshoe and Cross Country Ski at Pole Creek

Winter Park, CO  Snow Shoe & Country Cross Ski

The second moonlight cross country ski and snow shoe is to be held next Saturday night February 27th at Pole Creek Golf Club.  We were able to attend the first edition and it was a fantastic time.  The moon is so bright that the trails are well lit and halfway through there is a bonfire with hot chocolate and schnapps being served.  Stay for dinner after the hike or ski at Bistro 28 they are serving up some great grub at reasonable prices.

Here is the full description from the Winter Park/Fraser Chamber of Commerce:

FULL MOON SNOWSHOE CROSS COUNTRY SKI AT POLE CREEK GOLF CLUB

TRAIL WILL BE WELL LIT WITH TIKI TORCHES
HOT CHOCOLATE AND SCHNAPPS AT THE BONFIRE!

DINNER AFTER AT “BISTRO 28”
FEATURING HOMEMADE PASTAS PLUS FANTASTIC MENU SELECTIONS
STARTING AT $8.
RESERVATIONS RECOMMENDED FOR DINNER
PLEASE CALL 970-887-9797
Dinner every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at Bistro 28
Burger and a beer/wine – Prime rib and Pasta specials

Don’t miss a fun way to get some exercise and enjoy the Grand County outdoors under the moonlight.

Winter Park Colorado Snow Cat Skiing

Powder Addiction Cat Skiing in Winter Park, Colorado

We finally got a chance to check out Powder Addiction, the new snow cat skiing tour operator that is headquartered in the Winter Park Village and running ski trips to Jones Pass.  Well, awesome is what I would have to say of Powder Addiction.  The snow was fantastic the guides were knowledgeable and the travel time to ski was very minimal.  This was the first of four trips that we have planned with the next coming in two weeks.

Our group consisted of myself, Ed Reagnor, Scott Emory, Teddy and Nick Kutrombos, Craig, Mike Ayre, Phil the snowboarder, Ben the Aussie, Jean Wolter and Todd the Cornhusker.  It was a great day of skiing.  Supposedly the snow up here in Winter Park is a little below average this year but the snow on Jones Pass was about the best I have ever skied -  light fluffy and lots and lots of it.

Our skiing guides were Mr. Ski Boss Jamie Wolter and Steve Waldorf.   The guides were very thorough, safe, fun and tried to get us the best snow and skiing possible.  We were able to get seven runs in and my legs were about shot with those seven.  The skis provide by Powder Addiction were Salomon Czar powder skis.  My first time on a rocker ski and man they can just float on the powder.  They are a little squirly on the packed snow but nice and fat with a lot of float on the fluffy powder.

Here is Powder Addictions description of skiing up at Jones Pass:

Our operation lies less than 1 hour drive from Denver. The closest powder skiing operation to the Front Range. If joining us from the Grand County you will meet at our World Headquarters in the Village at Winter Park. Our Jones Pass location gets the benefits of storms that flow in from all directions. We typically get hit by all the Colorado storms. This means you get the best chance for sweet skiing conditions when you ski with us.

You will spend the day skiing virgin snow at an average elevation of 11,000 feet. The high altitude combined with good Northern exposure keeps our snow cold and light.

If you enjoy skiing powder or are back country skiing fan I would definitely recommend Powder Addiction.  This was probably the best day of skiing I have ever had.  Whoooohoooo I can not wait ’till our next outing.

You can follow all of the Powder Addiction happenings at the Powder Addiction Facebook page.

Come and satisfy your powder addiction in Winter Park, CO

Winter Park Moonlight Snowshoe and Cross Country Ski

Pole Creek Moonlight Snowshoe

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.

Winter Park, CO. Winter

Winter Time in Winter Park, CO

Well, it is winter time here in Winter Park, Colorado.  Lots of snow on the ground and pretty darn chilly each morning.  Now is when the skiing gets good and the crowds are small until we hit the March spring break crowds (besides the pack of skiers here for Presidents weekend).

So far the snowfall in Winter Park has been somewhat short of the average but the forecast is calling for big storms thru the first part of February.  Bring on the snow!

Now is the time to get out to Devil’s  Thumb Ranch to do some cross country skiing or out the back door to take a nice snow shoe hike.  Looking for something a little different, head out and take a dog sled ride at Winter Park Dog Sled Rides.  Want to soak the cold from your bones, Hot Sulpher Springs Mineral Baths has hot pools to warm your cold bones.  If you are looking for a little summer in Winter Park head to the new Grand Park Rec Center.  The hot tub , steam room, sauna and water slide may fool you into thinking you are in Winter Park, FL not Winter Park, CO.

But why are most of us here in Winter Park?  It is the skiing.  Yes it may be a little cold but now is when you can get out and hit the slopes and you can find your own little sanctuary on the hill.  Fresh tracks, runs with only you and your shadow is what this time of winter is about.

So, lets do our snow dance and hope the storms keep on hitting us and that we may get clobbered by that 20′ storm that is always just over the horizon.

Mary Jane and Parsenn Bowl Now Open

Mary Jane at Winter Park Open

Winter Park Resort has opened Parsenn Bowl and some of the more popular runs over at Mary Jane.

Parsenn Bowl is Now Open

Catch a ride on the highest six passenger chairlift in North America – the Panoramic Express and enjoy open intermediate bowl skiing and some of the most fun intermediate gladed terrain around.   The Winter Park snow forecast is looking good for the next few days so now is a great time to head up to WP to make some turns.

Winter Park Winter Carnival  featuring Grand Park Winter Dog Days

Don’t miss  Winter Park’s 70th Anniversary on January 22nd thru 24th.  Be “Old School” by celebrating and dressing in your favorite decade. Join us at SnowZone at Hideaway Park for fun activities including sledding, human bowling, campfire, and hot chocolate from. Check out the “Old School” outdoor Parade at 6pm.  Fireworks and cake will be served after the parade.

Here are some of the events that will take place over the January 22ns weekend:

Downtown Winter Park

• Snowshoe Hikes
• PlayZone
• Human Bowling
• Lighted Parade including you and your pet!

Grand Park, Fraser

• Grand Park Sled Dog Races
• Dog Skijoring Clinics
• Snowshoe Event to benefit Pet Pals
• Campfire & S’mores

Winter Park Resort

• Mary Jane’s Birthday Bash
• Winter Park’s 70th Anniversary Celebration
• 26th Annual Chef’s Cup
• Pancakes, snow sculptures, snow golf, live music and more!

Vail Snow Reports To Be Believed?

Vail Snow Reports: Fact or Fiction?

We here at the Winter Park Lodging Company blog usually try to write about happenings up here in Winter Park that have to do with Winter Park Resort skiing and Grand County activities.  But every once in a while we see something that is a little out of our realm but needs to be commented on.  It is especially interesting if it has to do with our Goliath ski neighbor Vail.  And even more interesting if there is some controversy involved.

I read a column in The Denver Post about Summit Daily News firing a reporter for taking Vail to task about Vail’s snow reports.  Read the linked column as it is pretty juicy.  The best part is Vail saying they are closing their offices because of to much snow and not mentioning that their offices are in Broomfield, Colorado over 100 miles away from any of their resorts.  Classic Vail shenanigans.  Then there is the part of them throwing their weight around to get the reporter fired.  Really nothing new here just classic big ski resort behavior.

To give Summit Daily News a fair shake they have issued a response to the reporters firing.  Not sure I believe it as they did have an editor look at the story before it was ran but it is now a he said she said story.  How we have seen Vail tend to act though I would probably side with the reporters side of the story here.

This makes me think of Vail’s attempt to now offer Vail ski guests a better quality hamburger at the same price because the economy has gone into the dumpster.  Blah blah blah.  Would have been nice to get that hamburger when the economy wasn’t on the skids huh?

Anywho, all this brings me to is, are Vail’s snow reports to be believed?  Hmmmm, I say no.  So come up to Winter Park Resort, the David in this David and Goliath relationship, and know the snow that is reported is the snow you will find on the hills.

Tommelfest at Devil’s Thumb Ranch

Winter Park Nordic Skiing

Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Tabernash is hosting Tommelfest 2009 on December 12th.  There will classes, competition, food, music and booze.  Sounds like a grand time and they are giving away a free T-Shirt to attendees.

What is a Tommelfest? beats me but it sounds fun.  Here is what the WP Chamber of Commerce says about it: “Come celebrate all things Nordic – meatballs, music by Brethren Fast, fun dancing, demos, Grog Garden, BBQ $12, relay races, keg toss, waxing clinic, free lessons from the DU Nordic team, and very probably, meatballs at Tommelfest ‘09!”

Devil’s Thumb Ranch Facebook page is where I found the offer for free T-Shirts: “Facebook fans get a FREE t-shirt at Tommelfest! Tell your friends, neighbors, parents, strangers… Let’s Tommelfest Colorado! (and yes, I just turned Tommelfest into a verb…)”

Schedule of events for the day:

10:00am- 11:30am: Classes
11:30am-1:00pm: BBQ and Grog Garden (Heck’s Patio)
12:00pm: Norwegian Keg Toss sponsored by O’Doul’s
12:30pm- 1:30pm: Team Sprints (bib pick up in Broad Axe Barn)
12:30pm- 1:30pm: Wax clinic presented by Swix
1:30pm- 3:00pm: Classes
2:00pm- 3:30pm: Team Sprints, Freestyle, 2×2x.5km
3:45pm: Award Ceremony
4:00pm- 6:00pm: Cocktail Hour for Season Pass Holders (Heck’s Tavern)

Music by BRETHREN FAST 12PM TO 4PM

Call Devil’s Thumb Ranch at 970-726-8231 for more information.

Get up here to Winter Park and get some early skiing in.

Winter Park Colorado Trail Maps

Winter Park Resort Ski Trail Map

I was Googling around the web looking for a current Wnter Park Resort trail map and I found the above poster that I thought was very cool.  I also realized in my search that we have a Winter Park Resort trail map on our web site so I was just wasting my time being a bonehead.

This years and last years trail maps are the same as there are no changes at the resort.  There have been lots of changes in the last five years so there plenty of new challenging terrain up here at Winter Park.  My favorites are the runs serviced by the Panoramic Express and the Eagle Wind lifts.  Lots of great tree skiing and back country type terrain that doesn’t involve hiking up.

I saw an article in the Denver Post this morning called “Tale of the Trail” with descriptions of how some of the ski trails were named and I thought I would share the ones from Winter Park Resort:

“Drunken Frenchmen,” Mary Jane: Named for the French-Canadian loggers who cut timber by day and drank at night.

“Mary Jane,” Winter Park/Mary Jane: Named not for the sometimes medically sanctioned weed, but for a popular local prostitute who once owned the land where the trail was built, a resort spokesman says.

“Sterling Way,” Mary Jane: Named after a railroad engineer who slid to safety on a coal shovel, following a winter train wreck on Corona Pass.

I had heard the story of the first two but the Sterling way one was new to me.  Anyway, the story is linked above and it is quite amusing.

Snow is supposed to hit us this week so lets do the snow dance and hopefully we will get a nice blanket of that Colorado fluffy white powder in the next few days.

Ski Broker in Winter Park continues to keep us happy!

Well,  I did it. I finally bought a new snowboard. I’ve been riding on the same one for five years now, and while it    was a very sturdy, balanced, reliable board, it was time for an upgrade. (I promise this blog is not just a justification of my purchase to avoid buyer’s remorse).

So, after contemplating, researching, and saving pennies, I called Ski Broker in Fraser (one of their three locations) to ask if I could pretty please borrow a demo board to try out and possibly purchase (demo boards are brand new models that ski and snowboard companies send over to rental shops so customers can try out this year’s new gear). When Alissa, one of many knowledgable and helpful staff members, heard I was interested in buying, she went above and beyond to track down a board that would be perfect for me. With the help of Alissa, Paul (owner, check out his story: http://www.wpskibroker.com/AboutUs/tabid/54/Default.aspx), and Jamie (who assured me a snowboard was a necessity), I am now looking at a brand new Arbor Push snowboard. When it finally snows here, I’ll absolutely take a picture on the slopes to show it off

When I am about to spend half my rent money on a snowboard, I want to purchase one from someone who I know, trust, and is passionate about skiing and snowboarding themselves. Isn’t that what you want when you’re renting gear or having someone polish and tune up your own gear? Well, good news, that’s exaclty what you’ll find in our local, family owned Ski Broker. These guys do it all: they have a fantastic selection of rentals (of everything, including snowshoes and clothing) and gear for purchase, as well as extensive tunes and repairs. Check out their website for everything they have to offer: http://www.wpskibroker.com/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx. Since we trust them so much we wanted to share them with our guests, so don’t forget that when you book with us you receive 22% off your rentals at Ski Broker!