Winter Park Resort, CO, Seeking Public Comment on Terrain Expansion, New Gondola & Lifts, and Removal of Historic Lift

Winter Park Resort, Colorado, is proposing several projects to 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.

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This phase of the resort’s master development plan proposes 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. However, an environmental analysis of the proposals has not yet been submitted. It’s expected in spring 2025.

“Winter Park Resort proposes to develop a dedicated, on-mountain learning center at Discovery Park along with new aerial and surface lifts, trail grading, and ski school facilities. Elsewhere, Winter Park Resort proposes to expand overall snowmaking coverage, conduct trail improvements through vegetation removal, remove dead and dying trees in the Jelly Roll Glades area, and construct a new restaurant on Vasquez Ridge to replace the existing Sundance Chili Hut. Finally, Winter Park Resort proposes to remove the existing Looking Glass chairlift and expand terrain onto Cooper Creek summit via a new chairlift (with access roads and utilities) with associated snowmaking coverage.”

– USDA Project Notice Release

One of the most significant proposals is constructing 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, enhancing the on-mountain dining experience.

Winter Park also proposes replacing the existing Gemini Express chairlift, which connects to the base area, with a 10-passenger gondola. Additionally, the resort plans to replace the Endeavor, a three-person chairlift, and the Discover, a two-person chairlift, with four-person lifts, improving uphill capacity and reducing lift lines.

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The resort also seeks to expand its snowmaking coverage in the Mary Jane and Winter Park zones. This would involve 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.

Furthermore, Winter Park proposes 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, enhancing the skiing experience and improving safety.

One of the most ambitious proposals is to remove the existing historic Looking Glass chairlift (one of the oldest operating chairlifts in Colorado) and expand ski terrain onto Cooper Creek Summit through a new six-person chairlift. This would create six new trails ranging from beginner to intermediate levels, requiring the installation of approximately 6,584 feet of snowmaking pipeline to cover 21.3 acres of terrain. The chair would load at a new station at the bottom of Buckaroo.

The public comment period on these proposals is open through June 15, and anyone interested can submit their comments electronically on the project website.

Proposed Action

Discovery Park

Several lift installation projects, along with tree removal, grading, a new ski school, learning center facilities, and utilities, are proposed. Proposed projects include:

• Replace the existing Gemini Express chairlift with a 10-passenger gondola with a capacity of 3,600 people per hour
• Replace the Endeavor fixed-grip triple chairlift with a detachable quad lift (this would increase the Endeavor’s capacity from 1,540 people per hour to 2,400 people per hour)
• Upgrade the Discovery fixed-grip double chairlift to a fixed-grip quad chairlift (this would increase the capacity from 1,120 people per hour to 1,600 people per hour)
• Install three conveyor (surface) lifts adjacent to the top terminal of the proposed Gemini gondola
• Remove approximately 2.8 acres of trees along the proposed Gemini Gondola/Gemini Express alignment
• Grade approximately 6.2 acres adjacent to the proposed Gemini Gondola top terminal and 5.8 acres on the Porcupine/Bobcat Ski trails
• Construct a new 16,000-square-foot facility primarily for Ski School operations.
• Construct an 8,000-square-foot gondola storage building adjacent to the top terminal of the proposed Gemini Gondola.
• Install electricity, sanitary sewer, fiber optics, water, and natural gas to serve the proposed facilities.

Cooper Creek

Several projects are proposed for the Cooper Creek area of Winter Park Resort. These include lift installation, new beginner ski trails, new access roads, a new snowmaking water line, and high voltage line and fiber optic cable installation. Specifically:

• Install a new detachable 2,800 people-per-hour 6-passenger chairlift (Cooper Creek South/Lift 51) at the bottom of the Buckaroo ski trail, downhill from the Olympia Express chairlift, utilizing the Wagon Train ski trial. The lift would extend 2,700 feet northeast to the top of Cooper Creek summit, requiring approximately 0.8-acre of tree removal and 0.6-acre of grading (Winter Park Resort would decommission and remove the existing Looking Glass chairlift)
• Construct a new 5.6-acre beginner ski trail (Trail 51A) from the top of the Cooper Creek South chairlift back to the Jack Kendrick ski trail.
• Construct a new 3.6-acre beginner ski trail (Trail 51B) from the top of the Cooper Creek South chairlift back to the Mock Turtle ski trail.
• Construct a new 2.5-acre beginner ski trail (Trail 51C) near the top of the proposed Cooper Creek South lift and partially down the proposed lift line.
• Construct a new 3.1-acre low intermediate ski trail (Trail 51D) adjacent to the middle of the proposed lift line of the Cooper Creek South lift to the Tin Horn trail.
• Construct a new 3.5-acre low intermediate ski trail (Trail 51E) adjacent to the middle of the proposed lift line of the Cooper Creek South lift to the Tin Horn trail.
• Construct a new 2.9-acre low intermediate ski trail (Trail 51F) adjacent to the middle of the proposed lift line of the Cooper Creek South lift to the Tin Horn trail.
• Construct two new access roads, one approximately 2,100 feet long and the other approximately 680 feet long.
• Install approximately 6,584 feet of snowmaking pipeline on Trails 51A, 51B, 51C, 51D, 51E, 51F, and the existing Tin Horn (1.5 acres) and Whistlestop (4.4 acres) trails covering approximately 21.3 acres of terrain in total.
• Install approximately 4,750 feet of underground high voltage line and fiber optic cable from the top of the Prospector Express chairlift down the Rendezvous ski trail and up proposed Trail 51A to the Cooper Creek summit. Underground high voltage is also proposed to be installed from the Mid-load terminal of the Pioneer Express chairlift to the bottom terminal of the proposed Cooper Creek South chairlift, and removal of the existing overhead communications line in the Explorer Express and Looking Glass chairlift areas.

Trail Improvements

Proposed improvements in Mary Jane and Parsenn Bowl would:

• Remove 4.3 acres of trees from the Flowerland Trails in 21 different areas in the Bluebell, Columbine, Roundhouse, and Wildwood Glade ski trails
• Grade approximately 1.5 acres within Bluebell, Columbine, and Lower Roundhouse ski trails
• Remove trees from an additional 1.5 acres along both edges of the existing Fireberry Glade ski trail and 0.6 acres on the Primrose Glade ski trail for a total of 2.1 acres.
• Remove dead and dying trees along Cirque’s Jelly Roll egress trail to improve access.

Vasquez Ridge

The proposed improvements would include constructing a new restaurant to replace the existing Sundance Chili Hut, which is currently located at the top of Vasquez Ridge. The proposed facility would be approximately 10,000 square feet and be located southwest of the Pioneer Express top terminal. It would include the following improvements:

• A 3,000 square feet deck
• Seated food service, restrooms, and other mountain operational support
• Additional utilities for operation, including sanitary sewer and natural gas comprising approximately 7,600 feet of sewer and natural gas pipelines with a connection to existing utilities located on the Cranmer ski trail; the utility trench would follow the existing mountain road and a small portion of the Village Way ski trail