Ski: Sweet Mary Jane

(17 February 2005)

As the story goes she was once the town’s madam. Nowadays Mary Jane is providing an entirely different kind of thrill.

And at Winter Park – one of Colorado’s lesser-known resorts – Mary Jane lives on, with a face of the mountain named in her honour. Judging by some of the trails, you have to wonder what kind of a brothel she ran. You could choose a benign blue run, well groomed and with just enough of a pitch to make you feel a real hero. But veer off on to any of the steep blacks, dotted with moguls, and you’ll quickly see why so many souvenir T-shirts sport the slogan: ‘No Pain, No Jane’. She must have been some woman.

Ironically, today’s Mary Jane is a good example of Winter Park’s modern and family-friendly face. The mountain isn’t huge by European standards, but there’s a great variety of terrain on offer.

This year, for example, more than $2 million has been spent on improving and expanding beginner facilities further down the mountain, not only with more green runs at the base, but also with a dedicated novice terrain park – not bad for somewhere that used to exist solely for weekend skiers from Denver.

It may be quite a leap from local favourite to international resort, but that’s just what owners Intrawest – which bought Winter Park in 2002 – have planned. The Canadian-owned ski conglomerate spent another $2 million this season on guest services in the village, adding more shops and improving restaurants. While some of its cult local appeal might have been lost (Starbucks has just opened, for example), the resort still has huge potential, a fact that’s not been lost on Thomson.

Thomson Ski will be running its own charter to Denver from December-April, and will increase brochure space for Winter Park with the addition of the Zephyr Mountain Lodge, a set of high quality ski-in, ski-out condominiums at the base of the mountain.

Head of product Stefan Popovich said: “This is a great place for someone who’s skied Europe and wants to try the US. It’s not crowded and the prices in resort are fantastic. Skiers who never thought they could afford the US should try it now.”

If you want to see how Winter Park might look in a few years time, look no further than Copper Mountain, another Intrawest acquisition, about two hours’ down the road.

Built in the 70s, this was little more than a car park and a few condominiums before Intrawest stepped in – convenient but charmless. These days it’s a fully-fledged resort. If you’ve enjoyed skiing in Whistler or Tremblant in Canada, or even the new Arcs 1950 in France, then you’ll instantly feel at home in Copper Mountain.

As in Winter Park, timber and stone are used to give the impression of a traditional mountain village. It may feel a bit fake at first, but as resort architecture goes, it’s much better than the faux Tyrolean excess of nearby Vail, or the bleak concrete that blights so many purpose-built resorts.

Of course, it’s the skiing that really matters. Similar in size to Winter Park, Copper Mountain also has a split personality, although here it is far more structured. A resort spokeswoman said it was though Mother Nature had designed the mountain for skiers which sounds like a ghastly piece of PR puff until you realise it’s true – all the expert terrain is to the left, intermediates in the middle and beginners on the right – and a real boon if all you want to do is chop down the mountain all day without having to worry about taking any first-timers out on the way.

This is Thomson’s first season in Copper, and it’s proven popular thanks to a free lift pass deal – come for seven nights or more, and you ski for free.

Whether the resort will run the same deal next season is debatable – operators are trying to convince Intrawest – but Thomson has taken the chance and has included the free pass in its 2006 preview brochure, available to book now.

“We’ll honour the deal even if it doesn’t get into the main brochure. There has to be a reward for early bookers,” said Popovich.

Forgetting about 2006, the good news is that there’s still time to book for this season. Our mountain guide told us early April was his favourite time to ski here – just as it’s getting too late to ski in Europe, Copper will be getting some of its best snow, coupled with lower package prices and longer sunny days.