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Add a Day (or more!) of Skiing to your Denver Stay with the Winter Park Express
Expanded service for the 2025 winter season, including the 2024 December holidays
Just 66 miles from Denver, Winter Park offers an exciting, family-friendly ski experience. The resort boasts seven unique “territories” and three peaks, covering 1,247 hectares of varied terrain for every skill level. Highlights include Mary Jane’s renowned moguls, the challenging Cirque for steep terrain lovers, and Eagle Wind’s quiet, tree-covered runs. Intermediate skiers will enjoy Vasquez Ridge’s crowd-free slopes, while thrill-seekers can try the Terrain Park’s half-pipe and rails.
Boasting 300 sunny days annually, the renowned Colorado champagne powder, and a welcoming ambiance, a visit to Winter Park for a day—or a longer stay—is a must-do for winter sports enthusiasts.
Beginning in the 1940s, the Winter Park Express was a weekend warrior that shuttled Denver kids of the Eskimo Ski Club to Winter Park for their weekly ski lesson. It was a symbiotic relationship that helped cement the sport of skiing and earned Winter Park the title of the oldest continually operational ski resort in the U.S.
Eventually, buses replaced the train – but it was revived in 2014 to celebrate Winter Park’s 75th anniversary. The resort collaborated with Amtrak to bring back the ski train for a single Saturday, and due to the tremendous response, by 2016, the ski train had become a regular winter weekend service during ski season.
The journey to Winter Park from downtown Denver is a picturesque two-hour ascent. En route, the train passes through 29 tunnels, including the Moffat Tunnel, which cuts through the continental divide.
To kick off the 2025 season, the Winter Park Express has further expanded service to five days a week and is offering expanded holiday service: December 20-22 and December 27-29, 2024. Regular service will run Thursday through Monday, from January 9 through March 31, 2025.
Tickets went on sale on November 4, ranging from $19 to $39. Children 2-12 are eligible for 50% off base fares. These prices are 43 percent lower than previous years’ fares and will be available beginning today.
The Winter Park Express offers visitors passing through Denver or attending business meetings in the city the opportunity to add a day on the slopes to their stay. The train departs Denver at 7 a.m. and arrives at the resort at 9 a.m. The return trip departs Winter Park Resort at 4:30 p.m. and arrives in Denver at 6:40 p.m.
The expanded service also includes a stop at the Fraser platform, five miles west of Winter Park. That means the Winter Park Express will more effectively serve non-ski passengers wanting to travel from Denver to the Fraser Valley, whether for business or recreation. Passengers can also load the train in Fraser for the return trip to Denver.
Bring your skis and snowboards as a carry-on for no additional charge. While onboard, you’ll enjoy a trip in Coach class featuring wide, reclining seats with a big picture window, ample legroom and no middle seat.
The train also features a bi-level Sightseer Lounge – the social hub of the train – offering panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains from upstairs and café service with snacks and drinks for sale downstairs.
Tickets between Denver Union Station (station code: DEN) to Winter Park Resort (station code: WPR) and Fraser (station code: WIP) can be purchased at Amtrak.com/
Lift tickets, other passes and equipment rentals can be purchased directly from the Winter Park Resort website.
Ottawa residents who are Ikon Pass holders at Mont Tremblant can benefit from Ikon Pass Travel Assist in planning a ski escape to Winter Park.
For more information, visit www.winterparkresort.com
Photo: EBrumm
