Snowboarding in Winter Park

Winter Park continues to attract more 'boarders each season, and is one of the few resorts to publicise just how much 'boarder interest it generates - 160,000 'rider visits' worth of lift ticket sales. The resort has a reputation for wide open cruisers, the powder stashes of Mary Jane mountain and its two terrain parks. Special trail maps are published for 'boarders which contain terrain park descriptions, alternate routes to avoid flats, information on scheduled events, tuition opportunities and other rider-specific mountain information. At the tops of the chair lifts there are benches for riders to use whilst they strap back in, and signs specifically pointing to the most snowboard friendly terrain.

Winter Park's super pipe, measures 100 metres (330 feet) in length, with walls up to 6 metres (19 feet) high - big enough to hold nationally ranked freestyle competitions. The resort's snowmakers and groomers work together to create jumps, ramps, winding gullies and treetops for "big air" thrill seekers in the Park.

The beginners' terrain park is Mountain Dew Mad Hatter's whilst The Rolls, the third area, is periodically reconfigured to accommodate snowboard-cross competitions. New last season is the more advanced Cheschire Cat terrain park. Tuition is offered with courses tailored for all ability levels from beginner to pro by the Rider Improvement Centre. There is also a Snowboard Series of contests staged at Winter Park allowing amateurs the chance to compete in halfpipe and snowboard- cross competitions. Freestyles take to the air and compete for prizes and bragging rights whilst snowboard-cross competitors go through the starting gate simultaneously (up to four at a time) and then jockey for position through a course full of turns, bumps and jumps as they race towards the finish. It's the only snowboard-cross contest in Colorado designed especially for amateurs.