Winter Park Ski Trip

You can tell by these pictures what a beautiful place Winter Park is. The scenery will take your breath away. It is definitely an experience that everyone should be a part of. It's fun for the whole family, and I am confident that whoever goes to Winter Park will enjoy it very much.

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This condo was nice, and it was only 2 miles away from the Winter Park Resort. Our condo had 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, a kitchen, and cozy living room with a fireplace. There was a centralized recreation facility with an indoor pool, 4 hot-tubs, a sun deck, picnic pavilion, children’s play ground area, and game room. It was right in the middle of a variety of restaurants which was nice. It worked out really well and I would stay at this condo
again.

For more information, go to: http://www.vacationsinc.com/condo_high_country_haus.htm

This place was sooooo good. I absolutely loved it. This restaurant offers seafood, steaks, chicken, pasta, and much much more. For appetizers we had crab cakes (which were fantastic) and coconut shrimp (which were very yummy). At our table, we had grilled chicken, gumbo, salads, a seafood combo plate, and fried shrimp. It was all very tasty and I can't wait to go back. The wait was not long at all and the people were super friendly. If you are in Winter Park, you cannot miss the opportunity to eat here.

This place was fantastic. It is a little restaurant that is family owned and it has great food. At our table, we had chicken fried steak (which was excellent), a variety of soups, salad, and grilled chicken. To top it all off, we had blueberry bread pudding and a brownie sundae. Everything was homeade and wonderful. The father-in-law of the owner/cook made sure that everyone was taken care of. For as busy as it was, we were seated quickly and the people were very, very nice. If you are in Fraser, you should definitely eat there.

This resort is terrific. The skiing and snowboarding was great and things couldn't have been any better. The snow and weather was perfect. If we had any questions at any time, there were always people there to help. We could just ask one of the thousands of ski instructors who were everywhere or the guys at the bottom of the mountain holding a sign that had a big question mark on it.

It was always good to be able to stop at Starbucks and drink some coffee while we rested. The food was great and the people were very nice. I have to say that I liked this resort the best. I very much enjoyed my time here and I hope to go back soon.

Definitely rent a car. If you choose not to, you have to catch the buses whenever the pick-up time is, which is sometimes inconvenient for everyone. If you rent a car, you can be on your own schedule. Another plus is that you don't have to haul all of your ski equipment down to the bus stop (which may be far away) and can keep all of your stuff in the car. Renting a car is the way to go.

For more information, go to: www.skiwinterpark.com/index

Before this trip, the only tubing I knew of was on water. It's even better on snow! It was a blast. This is how it worked: we rented a tube for $15 an hour and went to the top of the hill. Here, we sat in our tubes and pushed off the edge (sometimes with a little help), and then flew down the huge hill at what felt like 90 miles an hour. It was so much fun and you have absolutely no control! You just spin around and you can't steer yourself at all. Then, when we all held on together and went down, we went even faster! The best part about this is you are pulled back up the mountain, on what I call a "tube lift", to the very top just to do it all over again! It was so much fun and everyone should try this when they go to the mountains.

I would suggest taking a camera with you. And when I say with you I mean on the tube ride. My digital camera has video on it and I recorded us going down the hill, it is the funniest video I have ever recorded. It shows how much fun it really was and I wish that I could put it on this journal, but the pictures kind of show you how it all worked. You will never know how much fun it really is until you experience it yourself.

I have to write about these trails I took because they were my favorite. Let me introduce you to Mary Jane. Mary Jane has 70 trails and is made up of three mountains and has an altitude of 11,000 feet. She is famous for her bumps and tree skiing and riding.

Mary Jane is known for her levels of difficulty and unpredictable behavior. This is why she has a personality. Let me explain. The first time I went down Mary Jane, it was challenging for me with plenty of obstacles but nothing compared to the next day. The next day I went down the same trails and the moguls had tripled in size and it felt like a completely different run! It was like someone gave them steroids! Well, my point is that I wasn't expecting that when I headed down that trail again but that is why I liked it so much. Mary Jane's trails will never be boring to anyone because she is ready to challenge anyone at anytime.

There is no doubt that Mary Jane is famous. They celebrated her 30th birthday with a party called the "MJ30 Birthday Bash". From meeting her, it is easy to see why she has been ranked #1, 3 years in a row by Skiing Magazine for her bumps and #1 in North America for bump skiing.

Just don't be surprised if you ride down Mary Jane and get a few bumps and bruises because there is a reason her motto is "No Pain, No Jane". I have the t-shirt and I wear it proudly.

It is true what they say about Parsenn Bowl. You do pretty much start at "the top of the world" when you go to this place. It is like the perfect spot to be. There is a lot of open space and the powder is great. You truly do feel like you are on top of the world, and it takes your breath away.

One thing that I do have to warn you about is the mean lift, the Timberline. This lift is one of a kind. First off, it is a two-seater, so that tells you that it will be one of those wobbly ones, since there is only the weight of two people on it. Well, it didn't help me that I was sitting next to my 7-year-old sister-in-law, who weighed about as much as one of my legs. I also need to warn you that the exit off this lift is a little different. Instead of going forward off a lift like most of the other ones, this one basically "kicks" you off very quickly and you have no choice but to take a sharp left turn because there is no other way to go. If you are not an semi-experienced skier or snowboarder, try to practice a little more before coming up here and be sure you are good at getting off lifts. This lift is pretty scary in my opinion, but has a beautiful view.

If you are scared of heights, save yourself and don't come up here. This bowl is really made for experienced skiers and snowboarders, so if this is your first time skiing, don't try this just yet.

Since my 7-year-old sister-in-law had to ski in front of her dad in case she fell, I had to be in the very front leading all of us. Well, lets just say my new nickname is "Wrong-way." It didn't really help to have my MP3 player on while my father-in-law was yelling, "No! Don't go that way!" Most of the time I didn't hear him telling me which way to go, and when I did hear him, I would somehow still go the wrong way and totally misunderstand the signs in front of me (that is if I even read them). I should have just gone the opposite way that I thought I was supposed to go, and I think that it would have been right!