ALL ABOARD THE COLORADO SKI TRAIN!
Reopened rail line takes skiers from Denver to slopes
A legendary portal through the Rocky Mountains beneath the Continental Divide is once again making it possible for skiers and snowboarders to take a train directly to the ski lifts.
Denver is the only major American city where you can step onto a train downtown and ride directly to the slopes. Other ski trains usually require a shuttle bus of some kind to cover the final miles, but Colorado’s Winter Park Ski area sits adjacent to transcontinental Union Pacific railroad tracks emerging from the Moffat Tunnel.
Bored through the mountains in the late 1920s at 9,000 feet above sea level, the 6.2-mile-long Moffat Tunnel significantly shortened the distance for trains, and the route remains in heavy use today for freight and daily Amtrak California Zephyr service.
Formally known as the Winter Park Express, the weekend-service ski train ferries passengers from the reborn Denver Union Station to Winter Park in the morning, then returns that evening. A similar service operated for 69 years but ended in 2009 over concerns about insurance and profitability.
The new train — two locomotives and nine passenger cars — can carry more than 500 people each way, helping reduce some of Colorado’s legendary Interstate 70 vehicle congestion. The inaugural run I rode in January arrived nine minutes early, a major contrast to the traffic tie-ups 50 miles from the resort. The trip takes about two hours, leaving Denver in pre-dawn darkness and arriving at Winter Park just as the lifts are opening for the morning. Rides start at $39 each way.
The train passes through 29 tunnels, including the nine-minute-long Moffat Tunnel as it climbs out of Denver to Winter Park. On its first day, the train charged through new-fallen snow, sending clouds of ice crystals swirling in its wake as the sun rose over the plains to the east.
“Best Christmas present ever,” said Kelly Garcia as she rode up from Denver. “I feel like it’s a Harry Potter train, honestly.”
Train managers hope to draw young customers who live in downtown Denver and might not have cars of their own. Garcia, who got tickets to ride from her family as a present, said she and her friend, Emily Gore, planned to ski, snowtube and otherwise enjoy the winter wonderland so different from their college campus at Western Kentucky University.
“This is honestly the prettiest thing I have ever seen,” said Gore, 20, taking a break from Snapchatting video of the journey to her friends.
Also among the inaugural riders: Colorado Gov. John Hicken- looper and his family. Hickenlooper got off the train as thousands of other skiers and snowboarders remained stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the interstate. The interstate closed again for hours the next day due to heavy snowfall and traffic. The train returned to Denver a few minutes ahead of schedule.
“This ski train is the only place in America, the only place in the world, where you can get out of your hotel bed, walk over to the train station, get on a train, and the train lets you off at the ski lift,” Hickenlooper said. “It’s as good as it gets anywhere in the world.”
Tourists can fly into Denver International Airport, take the new A-Line train from the airport to the station, and step aboard the ski train for an all-rail journey.
“It’s fantastic, not only for the locals who don’t like to drive on I-70 but for the out-of-staters who want to come in and have a good experience,” said Susan Eikenberry of Lakewood, Colo.
Trains will continue roundtrip runs from Denver Union Station to Winter Park on Saturdays and Sundays through March 26. Additional round trips are scheduled for Presidents Day, Feb. 20.