Winter Park Resort is set to open its doors on Friday, October 31, making it one of the first resorts in North America to crank up the chairlifts for the 2025-26 season. The Colorado ski season is now officially in full throttle.
The early start also marks a milestone as Winter Park prepares to celebrate the 50th year of its Mary Jane Mountain. The mountain will mark its half-century anniversary on Jan. 10, 2026. We're counting down the days for the Mary Jane Base area to open this year, as the resort is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Mary Jane base in January 2026.
This early start is huge news for skiers and riders eagerly awaiting the cold smoke. It means Winter Park will be one of the first resorts in North America to get spinning, following close behind Keystone and Arapahoe Basin, and marking a major victory for early-season stoke.
Winter Park Resort is ringing in the 2025-26 season. The Oct. 31 opening will make Winter Park the third resort to open in Colorado - and North America - after Keystone on Oct. 25 and Arapahoe Basin on Oct.
Winter Park Resort is an alpine ski resort in the western United States, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Winter Park. The mountain opened for the 1939-40 season as Winter Park Ski Area and was owned and operated by the city and county of Denver until 2002, when Denver entered into a partnership with Intrawest ULC, a Canadian corporation headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, which operated the resort until Intrawest was acquired by Alterra Mountain Company in 2018.
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Opening day at Winter Park Resort was on Oct. 31. Regular hours are now in effect. On Tuesday, Nov. 4, the resort was spinning the following lifts: Arrow, Gemini and Endeavour. These lifts access beginner and intermediate terrain on the lower half of the mountain. Meteor and Spirit carpets were also open in the learning area, as well as the Village Cabriolet in the parking lot.
The opening will be focused on limited terrain, allowing for those crucial first laps and the chance to get your ski legs back. Expect firm, fast surfaces and keep it on the groomed runs.
This Halloween opening is far from a coincidence. It officially ties Winter Park’s earliest start date in its long history, a testament to the mountain operations team.
2025 marks the second time in resort history that Winter Park Resort has opened to the public on Halloween, tying with 2022 for the earliest winter season kick-off in resort history, according to a press release from the resort. This matches Winter Park’s earliest opening in history. The Grand County ski area also opened on Halloween in 2022.
While early season skiing often means slim pickings, the resort has invested heavily in snowmaking over the last few years. This relentless commitment to snowmaking has paid off in a big way. Because of this, the mountain crew was able to secure a crucial base layer on a key run, allowing them to usher in the start of the season ahead of schedule.
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Alterra Mountain Co. invested $28.2 million for improvements this season at Winter Park, including $4 million just for improved snowmaking. When Winter Park announced its massive snowmaking upgrade project last March, the average skier might have found it hard to grasp how throwing $4 million at some snow guns would actually make a difference.
Last year, snowmaking started on October 26. This year, the resort was able to begin October 8. Hurlbert says their goal has always been to have as much terrain open as possible by Thanksgiving, the first big milestone in the ski season, as this can be crucial for providing customer momentum to carry the resort through the whole season.
“They make the decision of where we point the guns and which runs we hammer,” Hurlbert said, likening opening runs to dominos falling. Snowmaking on the Park side can actually help us open the Jane side earlier. Not only will the extra snow allow Winter Park to open terrain on time, but areas with a solid foundation of man-made snow hold up better throughout the year, even into the warm days in March.
Since man-made snow typically has a higher water content than natural snow, it does a better job of insulating the entire snowpack. However, Hurlbert says that the extra ground water that snow making provides after ski season helps to inhibit forest fires as well as counteract drought conditions on the Front Range, as that’s where all the runoff goes. Plus, the actual snow making equipment is more efficient than ever, making the whole operation more sustainable.
Although Winter Park was one of the first ski areas in Colorado to implement a snow making system in 1976, the system remained ironically untouched over the next 42 years, other than the odd repair.
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For nearly 70 years, a popular way for Denver residents to arrive was via the Ski Train, which arrived at the resort's base area through the Moffat Tunnel. The resort consists of three interconnected mountain peaks - Winter Park, Mary Jane, and Vasquez Ridge - which share a common lift ticket.
Mary Jane, opened in 1975, has a separate base area and is known for its moguls, tree skiing, hidden huts, and generally more difficult terrain. It encompasses the above-tree line terrain of Parsenn Bowl.
Vasquez Ridge, opened in 1986, offers intermediate terrain and mogul runs. Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the resort was divided into seven "territories".
Winter Park is a year-round resort; the resort operates the lifts during the summer months for mountain biking, hiking and sightseeing. The Arrow chairlift also services an alpine slide in the summer, and the base area features miniature golf, a climbing wall, and other diversions.
During Winter Park's 75-year history, many individuals have made significant contributions to the development and image of the ski area. A commemorative sign, with a brief narrative about the individual's contribution to the ski area, has been installed along each historical trail.
The town of Winter Park was first settled in 1923 and incorporated in 1978. As early as 1929 hearty winter sports enthusiasts were getting off the regularly scheduled trains there to ski the trails that were being developed. Regular weekend service on a special ski train began in January 1938.
Winter Park was one of Colorado’s first skiing locations, beginning during the 1920’s. Construction of the Moffat railroad tunnel officially started in 1923, providing a link between the western slope and Denver.
Historical Development
By 1937, the United States Forest Service (USFS) built a ski jump with a few trails at Cooper Creek nearby the railroad. The following year, ski trains from Denver shuttled skiers to Grand Valley. In 1939, West Portal was renamed Winter Park and the first J-bar tow went into operation by December. Tickets for the first season cost one dollar with a total of 10,692 skier days.
By 1945, two additional rope tows were added to service upper mountain trails. The Eskimo Ski Club and Winter Park ski school were created in 1947 under a new ski area manager, Ted Cobb. A T-bar lift was added to Winter Park by 1948, which brought the lift system to 3 T-bars and 4 rope tows.
During 1950, skier numbers soared at Winter Park. By the end of the decade, they reached over 100,000 skier visits. The ticket price also rose to 3.50 dollars by 1959. For the 1957-58 season, the Comet and Meteor T-bars were installed costing 270,000 dollars.
Winter Park’s first chairlift was added in 1961. Initial surveys for the Mary Jane Ski Basin were also conducted this year as reported by the Denver Post.
Skier visits for the 1963-64 season reached 131,000 with ticket prices of 4.25 dollars. On mountain construction continued during the 1965-66 season with construction of the Snoasis on-mountain restaurant and the Looking Glass double chair.
During the late 1960’s marked the creation of Winter Park’s race team. For the 1970’s, Winter Park’s programs and facilities continued to grow.
By 1971-72, skier days reached well over 300,000 with tickets rising to six dollars. The Olympia double chair was also built by Riblet for this season.
Mary Jane officially opened for the 1975-76 ski season, costing Winter Park 4.6 million dollars to develop. By 1977, Yan Ski Lift Company installed the Arrow chairlift, Winter Park’s first triple. Snowmaking was also installed this season, which saved Winter Park from one of the state’s worst snow years on record.
For the 1981-82 season, West Portal Station was complete at the base of Winter Park. Tickets are now 18 dollars for an adult with an attendance of 750,000.
For the 1986-87 season, The Summit Express was installed at Mary Jane by Poma USA along with the High Lonesome quad chair. Along with those improvements, Poma detachable quad was installed on Vasquez Ridge, which created 13 trails and over 90 skiable acres.
Winter Park’s 50th anniversary was celebrated for the 1989-90 season. Skier numbers reached 924,000 during the 50th year with tickets now 30 dollars.
For the 1990-91 ski season, Poma installed the Zephyr detachable quad, replacing the Yan triple chair. The following summer, the High Lonesome lift was converted to a detachable quad. Winter Park broke one million skier visits for the 1992-93 season with prices reaching 36 dollars.
Additional lift improvements were made for the 1994-95 season with a new detachable quad installed on the Prospector line. In 1996, Jerry Groswold retired from the president position after 22 years and was replaced by Gary DeFrange.
Winter Park opened Vasquez Cirque during the 1997-98 ski season, their largest terrain opening of 435 acres. Two years later, the Eskimo chair was upgraded to a detachable quad chair and the triple was sold to Jackson Hole, WY.
For Mary Jane’s 30th anniversary, a six-passenger express chair replaced the Summit Express. This reduced the long lift lines that plagued the old lift.
Winter Park Resort Stats
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Average Annual Snowfall | Over 344.6 inches |
| Base Elevation | 9,000 ft |
| Summit Elevation | 12,060 ft |
| Vertical Rise | 3,060 ft |
| Total Skiable Acreage | 3,081 acres (1,246 hectares) |
| Designated Trails | 166 |
| Off-Piste Terrain | 1,212 acres (490 hectares) |
| Lifts | 23 |
| Snowmaking | 313 acres (127 hectares) |
With an 85-year history, Winter Park Resort is Colorado's longest continually operated ski resort. Previously voted as North America's #1 Ski Resort by USA Today Readers 3 times and Colorado's Top Adventure Town by Elevation Outdoors, Winter Park is your launching point to Venture Out.
Time to Gear Up. The time for waiting is over. This announcement is the official signal to dig the gear out of the attic, tune the edges, and start dreaming of those fresh tracks. Head to Winter Park tomorrow afternoon to lock in those first turns!