Winter Park Unlocked

Winter Park Resort is embarking on an evolution: Winter Park Unlocked.

Winter Park Resort has been changing and growing for more than eight decades while remaining a place grounded in authenticity and community spirit. Now, and in partnership with Winter Park Recreational Association (WPRA), the Town of Winter Park, Alterra Mountain Company, and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Winter Park Resort is starting to envision its next big adventure: unlocking what’s possible for a mountain resort of the future – a vision that stays true to who we are, honors authentic local character and community, connects residents and visitors alike, respects and embraces the natural world around us and ultimately enhances the experience for everyone, both on and off the mountain.

A project like the one we're imagining is complex and ever evolving. We're working with our partners and designers to be nimble, thoughtful, and sustainable in our approach – to make this already amazing place better, and to create a mountain resort and community like no other.

Jump to these topics: Early Stage Priorities | FA Qs | Stay Up to Date

Two skiers tossing fresh snow up off of their skies and laughing.

Enhance Our Authentic Community Character

Two children raise their arms up in joy and celebration as they stand at the summit of Winter Park near Sunspot Lodge

Provide Flexibility For The Future

Winter Park Express, operated by Amtrak, pulls into one of Colorado's best ski resorts Winter Park

Improve Connectivity

A group of friends pose for a selfie during their ski trip at one of Colorado's best ski resorts, Winter Park Resort

Create Vibrant Year-Round Experiences

A fisherman casts a line in the Fraser River located near Winter Park Ski Resort

Honor Our Natural Environment

Two friends cheers their drinks as they watch the sunset over Parry Peak at Winter Park Colorado, one of Colorado's best ski resorts.

Strengthen A Sense Of Inclusiveness

Enhance Community Character

Enhance our authentic community character, honoring who we are and have always been. Our plans are designed to create unique neighborhoods with their own distinct character and intersperse public spaces throughout where our community can gather, recreate, and connect with nature and each other.

Provide Flexibility For The Future

Provide flexibility for the future that encourages sustainable, responsible development, using innovative design that is adaptable, so we can focus our resources on what our guests, community, and environment need over time.

Improve Connectivity

Improve connectivity through new on-mountain connections, reimagined transportation, mobility, and arrival and parking systems, better connecting the resort to downtown Winter Park and other communities including Front Range residents and destination visitors, which all leads to more meaningful human connections with nature and with each other.

Create Vibrant Year-Round Experiences

Create vibrant year-round experiences that foster diverse opportunities for recreating, living, and working and is consistent with what the community envisioned in the Town Comprehensive Plan.

Honor Our Natural Environment

Honor our natural environment, creating a resort that improves our link to our natural surroundings. We will continue to keep nature at the forefront of everything we do through sustainable building practices, improved connection to public trails and green spaces, and better integration of the Fraser River.

Strengthen A Sense Of Inclusiveness

Strengthen a sense of inclusiveness through improved mobility in and around the resort, and through economic opportunities, housing, services and employment for a diversity of ages, incomes, and households.

Our Early Stage Priorities

We have identified four priorities that will lead our development plans. To start, we are focusing our development efforts on:

FAQs

What did the resort present to the Town of Winter Park at the most recent Planning Commission meeting?

The resort presented the Preliminary Development Plan (PDP) for review and approval.
This is the first step in a set of Planning Commission and Town Council hearings to review the PDP. There will be additional hearings and reviews through Spring 2025.
The PDP serves two purposes: 1) Describes the long-term vision for redevelopment of the Winter Park Resort base area; and 2) Establishes zoning standards for the Planned Development (PD) zoning district, covering the base area redevelopment.

Where are you in the development process?

Winter Park Resort has been working on base-area and on-mountain development plans and ideas for several years. As we further develop plans, we will share them on the Winter Park Resort website.

To begin construction, the proposed development plans must receive approval from the Town of Winter Park. In general, the approval process includes the following:

The PDP was initially submitted to the Town of Winter Park in July 2024. The Town reviewed the plan and sent it out to referral agencies to gather input. After analyzing the plan for compliance with the overarching Town Comprehensive Plan and feedback from the referral agencies, the Town staff provided comments to the resort.
Subsequent versions of the PDP responding to Town and agency comments were submitted in November 2024 and February 2025.
The Town have since recommended the February 2025 PDP for hearing by the Town Planning Commission. The Town has prepared a staff report which summarizes their analysis of the plan and recommendations.
Planning Commission will then review the PDP and make a determination regarding recommending the plan to Town Council for hearing.
The Final Development Plans (FDPs) are the next level of entitlement document and provide a great level of detail and final confirmation of zoning. Given the scale and long-term nature of the plan, the FDPs will be submitted on a phased basis for sub-areas of the plan. The FDPs follow the same review process as the PDP including Town review, Planning Commission public hearing, and Town Council public hearing.
The resort submitted the first FDP for the project in December 2024 covering the first development projects (“Phase 1A”) and is preparing to resubmit a revised version responding to initial Town comments.
Once an FDP receives approval from Town Council, subdivision plats and Major Site Plans (MSPs) are submitted to the Town to provide further detail on the design of proposed development projects.
The final step before starting construction is issuance of construction permits (grading, building, etc.)

The resort is working with agencies including utilities, transportation, and fire throughout the entitlements process to ensure their review and support of development plans.

The Winter Park Recreational Authority (WPRA) must also provide approval of development plans under the master plan for the resort base area.

We submitted our Mountain Master Development Plan (USFS MDP) to the U.S. Forest Service in spring of 2022 when it went through official reviews and public commentary. Since then, we have submitted specific plans for projects we plan to move forward with in the coming years. Only those specific plans are currently going through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.

When will development and construction begin?

As early as summer 2026, pending all necessary approvals.

Where does Connect Winter Park fit into the early stage priorities?

Connect Winter Park, the aerial transit system (town gondola), is included in initial plans and discussions, and we’re working collaboratively with the Town and other stakeholders to make it a reality. The first leg of Connect Winter Park planned to be constructed is the replacement of the Gemini Lift with a gondola.

What about the replacement of the Looking Glass, Vasquez expansion and the ski back trail? When will development of those begin?

Work on all on-mountain development could begin as early as summer 2026, pending all necessary approvals.

What about parking?

We recognize parking has been a challenge for many of our guests the last few years. We have prioritized public parking along with on-mountain and base-area improvements and included a new parking structure in the early stages of our development.

How will we access the mountain and existing amenities during construction?

The guest experience both on and off the mountain is paramount to everything. Development and construction will cause disruptions, but the Winter Park team is working diligently and thoughtfully to minimize those disruptions. We are already working on plans to help communicate and navigate the resort as Winter Park Unlocked comes to life. Sign up for our newsletter and keep up to date on the entire project.

Any updates on how much this is going to cost and how it will get funded?

This project will be funded through a significant private investment from Alterra Mountain Company. Because of the size and scope of this project and the significant public infrastructure needs, we are also exploring public financing tools. Those public financing mechanisms will fund those parts of the project that benefit the community such as upgraded infrastructure, public parks, public transportation, trails, preservation of the Fraser River, and others.

When can I expect to see future updates on this project and how can i stay in the loop?

We look forward to sharing more updates with you when we have them.In the meantime, bookmark this page and check back for updates, sign up for our Winter Park Unlocked email list, and check the Winter Park Unlocked section of our blog.