East coast heading west

[Traci6359]

Hello fellow, divas,
East Coast Ski are here. I’ve been skiing for 50+ years and have never been out west. I know it’s a crime!
I have a daughter who lives in Denver so now I’m making a trip out and plan on doing Winter Park by snow train. First question, if I leave on a Monday, should I just rent a car as I’m coming back Thursday to Denver? Or is the snow train the way to go? My next question is, when I get off the train with all my gear is there a place I can lock up the rest of my stuff?
I’m staying at Valley High hotel. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[marzNC]

Welcome! I'm a traveler who has skied WP a couple times when I've driven to Colorado during early season. When I was at WP in December 2025 it was the first time I went into the building that is next to the WP train station. There isn't really any place to store luggage. Only regular pay ski lockers.

I asked a Mountain Host how people get luggage from the train station to their lodging. For people who stay in WP resort lodging, his guess is that WP knows to expect them and sends a van for pick up. For others, Uber/Lyft exists in Winter Park/Fraser.

Note that there are two stops for the WP train. One at the resort and one in town. Probably easier to get off in town, go to the motel and drop off luggage, then take the public bus to go skiing.

The road up to Winter Park has several major hairpin turns to get up and over the pass. Even with just a little snow on the road, the time it takes to get for I-70 to WP can easily double.

Unless you are very experienced driving in snow, taking a shuttle or the train to WP is probably a good idea. My ski buddy did a ski club trip to WP a year or two ago. They arrived in Denver during a blizzard. Needless to say the driver knew how to get to WP going a back way when an accident caused a major slow down on I-70. We drove from Dillon a couple days in mid-December on dry road. The day we left Dillon to head east, there had been a few inches of snow. Even though the snow ended before sunrise, there was an accident on I-70 West near the exit for WP that had a major impact on traffic flow. CoDOT actually closed a section of I-70 completely for a few hours during the worst of the storm around midnight.

 

[Traci6359]

Thanks for your input. I’m almost positive I’ll be taking the snow train.

 

[contesstant]

I watched a documentary on the snow train. How fun! Please take pictures and report back with how it is.

 

[santacruz skier]

I'm intrigued by the snow train to WP as well. I have taken several ski trains in Europe - St Moritz to Davos/Klosters as well as the ski train to Zermatt comes to mind.

 

[marzNC]

I'm intrigued by the snow train to WP as well. I have taken several ski trains in Europe - St Moritz to Davos/Klosters as well as the ski train to Zermatt comes to mind.

No comparison between how trains run in Europe and the USA. In particular the scheduling. For skiing in Europe, there are multiple trains a day to the bigger resort areas.

While a traveler can make use of the Winter Park Express, it's designed more for locals doing a day trip. Can't fly into DEN and get on the train the same day, even if arriving relatively early in the morning. That's why taking a shuttle bus/van is more common.

Winter Park Express

The ski train will be back for the 2025 - 2026 season.

www.amtrak.com

 

[santacruz skier]

No comparison between how trains run in Europe and the USA. In particular the scheduling. For skiing in Europe, there are multiple trains a day to the bigger resort areas.

While a traveler can make use of the Winter Park Express, it's designed more for locals doing a day trip. Can't fly into DEN and get on the train the same day, even if arriving relatively early in the morning. That's why taking a shuttle bus/van is more common.

Winter Park Express

The ski train will be back for the 2025 - 2026 season.

www.amtrak.com

View attachment 25896

Ah you’re right. There are several trains a day to get to a euro resort. If you miss one, just take the next one.