Photo of Backcountry Skiing Routes in Winter Park

The Best Backcountry Skiing Routes in Winter Park

Explore Backcountry Skiing Routes

Winter Park Resort is Colorado's longest continually operated ski resort featuring over 3,000 acres of award-winning terrain.

Winter Park Resort is Colorado's longest continually operated ski resort featuring over 3,000 acres of award-winning terrain including groomers, terrain parks, bumps, steeps, trees, and most definitely deeps. Winter Park Resort averages 329 inches of snow, much in part to its ideal location amidst the Rocky Mountains. Just 67 miles northwest of Denver, Winter Park Resort is the closest major destination resort to Denver International Airport and offers its guests an abundance of activities and events for the young and the young at heart.

Top 12 backcountry skiing routes in Winter Park

Village Way Uphill

This is far from the only easy uphill route at Winter Park, but it makes a great intro to skinning at this huge resort. This route could be your go-to for your first time here, or for testing out new gear....

Corona Way to Parsenn Bowl Uphill

Corona Way and Edelweiss make a link-up of groomed blues to Lunch Rock at the top of Super Gauge Express. From there you can choose a blue or black run down, or keep going higher toward the top of Parsenn Bowl....

Vasquez Ridge Approach

Vasquez Ridge is an under-appreciated territory near the back of the resort at Winter Place. With only a handful of named runs showing on the map, and with multiple lift rides required to reach it, this intermediate zone remains unexplored by most....

Pano Lift Line

Pano Lift Line is not on the map, but it is a heavily used intermediate-level trail that is usually ungroomed. The trail is slanted, but you can duck in and out of the trees, and it’s fun – especially on a powder day with all the chairlift audience hooting and hollering (the mutual celebration can get kind of loud on a big pow day)....

Hughes Uphill

There's a plethora of routes you can skin uphill at Winter Park, but this one makes a go-to for many regulars. It’s a direct route from the base to Sunspot, offering a steady workout on the up and fantastic runs down....

Mary Jane Uphill

This blue run will take you efficiently from Mary Jane base to the top of Olympia lift, and the whole rest of the resort opens up from there. If you reach the top of Mary Jane and aren’t yet ready to end your day, you could ski down into Vasquez Ridge Territory and get another lap on that side, or you could keep skinning up the cat track toward Lunch Rock and go as far you like into the bowls, provided everything is open....

Parry's Peek Uphill

Parsenn Bowl is a harder-to-reach territory beyond Mary Jane, home to open faces and bountiful tree stashes. Parsenn can sometimes reward you with fresh tracks all day, especially because sometimes it’s open for uphill when the lift isn’t turning....

Phantom Bridge Trees

Phantom Bridge Trees - Phantom Bridge Trees is a large section of woods between Phantom Bridge and Railbender trails. The trees in here are fairly tight and it’s steep, so it gets moguled out between storms....

The 40 Gate

Experts only! Hug the rope line on Parry’s Peek until you see an obvious gate on the right. As you descend into the trees, keep fading to the left. This area is not patrolled - carry a beacon, probe and shovel, and if you get injured, pray for cell phone coverage....

Sleeper Uphill

This is a go-to uphill route for experts on the Mary Jane side, climbing an easier black diamond that can access a bunch of tougher ones for the downhill. Skinning all the way up Sleeper unlocks all the classic expert terrain off the Challenger lift, and if you extend your uphill on Rollins Ridge you’ll have even more options....

Sleeper to Village Way Uphill

This extended uphill route begins on the Sleeper trail, which is the most efficient way to the top of Mary Jane Territory. Continue onto Side Track or Rollins Ridge to reach the summit, and there examine your motivation to go farther....

Topher's Trees

Topher’s Trees is a double-black area of tight trees between Trestle and Roundhouse, accessed by any of the upper Mary Jane lifts. The easiest way to get there is to take Trestle down to just before the first steep hill, and then take a right into the woods (you’ll see tracks)....

A view of the area