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.

A Vision For The Future

Our master development plan will endeavor to:

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.

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Unlocking oUr Next Evolution

We are embarking on a multi-year, multi-phase project to transform and enhance our base, mountain, and connection to our community.

An aerial image of the Village in the base area of Winter Park Ski Resort

An Enriched Village Intertwined With Nature

At the heart of this plan is developing distinct neighborhoods to preserve our unique and authentic character with green spaces integrated throughout, transforming previously disturbed land back into natural environments. To highlight our natural environment, we plan to preserve the Fraser River, improve access, and transform the river into a focal point of our resort. In addition this plan will significantly improve our guests arrival experience and expand options for lodging, dining, and shopping throughout the base.

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An aerial image of the Vasquez Main Mountain area, three skiers are descending into some glades

Expanded Terrain & On-Mountain Facilities

Winter Park Resort is well known for its diverse terrain across more than 3,095 acres. On-mountain plans are intended to enhance our current terrain, improve connectivity, and expand intermediate terrain to meet guest needs. These plans include a reimagined learning area, expanded intermediate and advanced terrain into Vasquez Main Mountain, additional snow-making upgrades to open more early-season terrain, and improving and upgrading existing on-mountain restaurants and day lodges to better serve guests.

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An aerial image of the town of Winter Park, Colorado

Improved Connectivity To Town & Beyond

A key piece of Winter Park Resort’s and the Town’s redevelopment plans is envisioning how to better connect Winter Park Resort to downtown Winter Park and to other communities including the Front Range. Plans include an aerial transit system, Connect Winter Park (town gondola), that connects the Town to the mountain and resort base area, mountain passenger rail service in partnership with public and private agencies, a new ski-back trail that further connects the resort to the Town, and enhanced access to public trails and open space.

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FAQs

It looks like Winter Park Resort recently submitted a development-related document to the Town. What is the document and why was it submitted now?

Winter Park Resort recently submitted its Base Area Preliminary Development Plan (PDP) to the Town of Winter Park.

The PDP is an official document that outlines the key elements of the base area development plan including public spaces, roadways, parking and other program elements that are part of the vision for Winter Park Unlocked. The PDP is conceptual in nature and gives the Town and community a framework for development.
The Town of Winter Park has a defined process for submitting a PDP and gaining approvals for development or redevelopment to happen. Submitting the PDP is an early required step in the process.

When will development and construction begin?

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 website.

To begin construction, the Winter Park Resort base-area PDP must go through all approval processes with regulatory bodies and local governments. The Winter Park Recreational Association (WPRA) will also need to review and approve the PDP. In general, the approval process includes the following:

PDP is submitted to the Town of Winter Park.
The Town reviews the plan and sends it out to referral agencies to gather input. After analyzing the plans and the feedback, if the Town finds them in alignment with the overarching Town Comprehensive Plan, the Town will issue a staff recommendation.
This recommendation is then brought to a public hearing where a recommendation is made to Town Council.
Then, Winter Park prepares a series of Final Development Plans (FDPs). The FDPs go back to the Town for additional review. Review of the FDPs would follow the process outlined above for the PDP, including additional rounds of public comment.
Once an FDP receives approval from Town Council, site development permits (grading, building, etc.) could be submitted and construction could begin.
We anticipate this process to take roughly a year or more.

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.

Do we know 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.

How long do you expect construction to take? Will you complete it in phases? How will you continue to be a good neighbor to the Town community during construction?

Plans of this size and scope take multiple years to complete and will be completed in phases. Having just completed our critical workforce housing project, we’re shifting our focus to the guest experience, which includes key initiatives around the arrival experience, parking, and mobility in and around the resort. As the plan becomes more defined, we will post updates on this webpage and proactively work with the Town and the community to share information. Once construction begins, we will follow all Town requirements to limit the impact to the community as much as is reasonably feasible.

Does this mean the town gondola will really happen?

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, but there is still more work to do.

What about parking?

We recognize parking has been a challenge for many of our guests the last few years. Any future development plans and discussions will address parking and transportation. The plan includes public infrastructure such as parking structures and transit options to mitigate pain points related to parking and transportation.

How will you make sure any new development keeps the character of the resort?

We take our heritage and legacy seriously. New development and redevelopment are intended to help capture what makes Winter Park such a special place. We’ve done multiple rounds of research and listened to feedback from our community and guests. We’ve also made it a priority to better integrate the Fraser River, green space, parks, and trails into the whole project. We’re also addressing and updating aging infrastructure and facilities to better serve the local community and guests.

When can I expect to see an update on this project?

We’re in the early stages of working with our stakeholders and planning, and 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.