Courtesy Carl Frey
Less than two weeks after Winter Park Resort opened its Mary Jane territory for the season, the resort is debuting its upgraded $6 million Sunnyside Lift.
Sunnyside chairs, which now seat six, will begin heading up the mountain at 9 a.m. Thursday, according to a Wednesday announcement from Winter Park.
“The improvement on the Sunnyside Lift gives skiers and riders quicker access to the wide and varied terrain of Mary Jane,” the announcement said.
With the opening of Sunnyside, trails expected to open up include Edelweiss, Bluebell, upper Columbine and part of Roundhouse.
The upgrades to the Sunnyside Lift include increasing seating capacity from three to six per chair and increasing the speed of the lift. According to the resort, the new ride time is by more than half, from eight minutes to less than four.
Altogether, the resort expects the upgrades to increase uphill capacity by 2,400 people per hour.
If the Mary Jane and Winter Park territories aren’t enough, Winter Park Resort will open part of the Vasquez territory along with the Pioneer Lift.
OpenSnow.com is predicting snow storms will roll back into the county on Thursday evening into Friday bringing up to 10 inches.