Upper Mtn Terrain, Bowls, Expert Skiing
The top of Winter Park sits at 12,060′ in a location where Rocky Mountains climb towards the Continental Divide less than 1 mile away. There are no trees at the top of Winter Park, and the environment will be colder and windier than down below. This is also where you will find some of the best skiing and snowboarding on the mountain. The Vasquez Cirque is the pinnacle of expert skiing at Winter Park.
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Most of Winter Park’s bowls and expert terrain are above treeline. Mary Jane is an honorable mention on this list.
Parsenn Bowl
The Parsenn Bowl is filled with intermediate and advanced-intermediate terrain. There are no black diamonds here. The lower portion of this bowl is gladed, while the rest is above the treeline.
The photos directly above and below were taken from just above Wildwood Glade. The Wildwood Glade trail is seen right in front, and the steeper face beyond that is the southern wall of the Parsenn Bowl. This photo below shows the top of the Kinnikinnic, Willett’s Way, Johnstone Junction, and the Forever Eva ski trails.
These tree skiing photos come from the lower Parsenn Bowl. This area includes intermediate ski trails like Edelweiss and Bluebell.
Vasquez Cirque
The Vasquez Cirque is Winter Park’s most challenging terrain. It requires a lengthy traverse in order to get to much of the terrain, but the remoteness of this area sets it far apart from the rest of the resort.
Above: the alphabet chutes can be seen, with the ‘A’ chute farthest to the left. The trails, Jelly Roll and Jr North, are seen on the far right of the photo.
An access gate into the Eagle Wind terrain is seen below, with the Vasquez Cirque in the distance. The Eagle Wind chairlift can be accessed from this gate.
Eagle Wind
The top of the Eagle Wind chairlift is located at 11,600 feet. There is 1,600 vertical feet of skiing here, and most of the terrain is located in gladed pine tree areas. All of the trails here are black diamonds.
From the top of the Eagle Wind lift, skiers can either had back down the Eagle Wind terrain or cross over into the Parsenn Bowl.
Mary Jane
Mary Jane is mostly known for its moguls and black diamond runs. Calling this the ‘upper mountain’ is a bit of a stretch. It is noteworthy enough to be mentioned here. There will be a whole page dedicated to Mary Jane here shortly.
Getting to the Top via the Panoramic Express
Start at the Mary Jane base area if you want to get to the top the fastest. Starting from the main base area will mean taking 1 extra chairlift ride.
No matter what, you will need to and eventually make your way to the Panoramic Express lift. This takes skiers and riders up through the Parsenn Bowl to where the Vasquez Cirque can be accessed. This chairlift starts well below treeline, but by the time you get to the top, the winds will have started gusting and you will be in a high alpine environment.
