Winter Park Resort opened for its 68th ski season on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2006 with 57 inches of snowfall so far. If October is any indication they are in store for another epic season. Last month was record setting with several storms moving through, one dropping more than 2 feet of snow!

Winter Park Mountain is now open top to bottom with a 29 inch base at mid mountain. 9 lifts (including Zephyr Express, Eskimo Express and Prospector Express) and 20 trails are already up and running. Open ski trails include the ever popular Cranmer, March Hare, White Rabbit and Jabberwocky, plus Discovery Park, aimed at beginner skiers and boarders. Dog Patch Terrain Park is also open for those wanting to hone their freestyle skills, More runs are expected to open for thanksgiving later this week.

“UK skiers and snowboarders tend to forget about skiing until Christmas time, but early December is a great time to ski in North America.” says Helen Gienke, a Brit who has now settled in Winter Park. “The snow is great, the slopes are empty and lift queues rare until Christmas…”. Helen runs Chalets USA, the only luxury independent chalet company in Winter Park, whose chalets, including Chalet Bluebell, open their doors on 2 December ‘06 to make sure guests can take advantage of the early snow and peaceful slopes.

Winter Park has gained a world-class reputation for its skiing, consists of 5 inter-linked mountains and is the third largest ski resort in Colorado after Vail and Aspen. This previously little known resort has the highest average snow record of the major Colorado resorts with an average snowfall of 359 inches of snow per year – over 30 feet.