{"id":19851,"date":"2019-11-02T11:13:28","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T17:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/?p=61239"},"modified":"2019-11-04T10:58:44","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T17:58:44","slug":"winter-park-starts-80th-season-with-earliest-ever-opening-day-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/winter-park-starts-80th-season-with-earliest-ever-opening-day-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Park starts 80th season with earliest ever opening day (VIDEO)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7707808564232\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-61239-818\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000445-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000445-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | A skier takes one of the first runs of the season at Winter Park Resort when the mountain opened on Saturday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A skier takes one of the first runs of the season at Winter Park Resort when the mountain opened on Saturday.<\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000445-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A skier takes one of the first runs of the season at Winter Park Resort when the mountain opened on Saturday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000321-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000321-1024x797.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | The sun peeks over the mountain as skiers and snowboarders take their first runs of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The sun peeks over the mountain as skiers and snowboarders take their first runs of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.<\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000321-1024x797.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The sun peeks over the mountain as skiers and snowboarders take their first runs of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000380-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000380-1024x570.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | A telemark skier carves up one of the trails at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>A telemark skier carves up one of the trails at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.<\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000380-1024x570.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A telemark skier carves up one of the trails at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000216-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000216-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | The first chair lift breaks through a banner signifying the opening of Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The first chair lift breaks through a banner signifying the opening of Winter Park Resort on Saturday.<\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000216-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The first chair lift breaks through a banner signifying the opening of Winter Park Resort on Saturday.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000227-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000227-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | The three people on the first chair lift of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>The three people on the first chair lift of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort.<\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000227-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"The three people on the first chair lift of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000553-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000553-1024x989.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000553-1024x989.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000519-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000519-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000519-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000494-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000494-1024x679.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com | \" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"7\">\n<p><strong><\/strong><br \/>Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.skyhinews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/0000494-1024x679.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/winter-park-starts-80th-season-with-earliest-ever-opening-day-video\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/winter-park-starts-80th-season-with-earliest-ever-opening-day-video\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Hundreds woke up early Saturday morning to be some of the first on the slopes at the 80<sup>th<\/sup> opening day at Winter Park Resort.<\/p>\n<p>It was Winter Park\u2019s earliest opening ever when the first chair broke through the traditional opening banner at 8:30 a.m. to cheers from employees and visitors alike.<\/p>\n<p>Marketing manager Jessica Galioto-Grebe experienced her fourth opening day at the resort. She said the early beginning this year made a difference for the crowd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the energy is different; it\u2019s really vibrant,\u201d Galioto-Grebe said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"about:blank\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" data-rocket-lazyload=\"fitvidscompatible\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AqQPDgQHqWY\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AqQPDgQHqWY\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>The park announced its opening <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/winter-park-resort-announces-earliest-ever-opening-date\/\">Wednesday<\/a> and crowds flocked to be part of the historic day.<\/p>\n<p>Tom Graham was one of the first skiers down the hill. It was not the first skiing he\u2019s done this season, but he\u2019s never been one of the first ones down the mountain on opening day before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been a great October,\u201d Graham said. \u201cIt\u2019s my sixth day skiing. I\u2019m looking forward to an awesome season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While Graham had already made a run down the mountain, others waited for their first lift up, including Luke Verrochi, who just moved to Colorado from New York.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just excited; I haven\u2019t been skiing since last year,\u201d Verrochi said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been to Winter Park.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Verrochi said he was impressed by the amount of snow and the number of runs available. Skiers and riders had access to fan favorites, including Parkway, Lower Village Way and Sorenson Park in Parkside.<\/p>\n<p>Guests also celebrated opening day with giveaways and $1<br \/>\nCoors Light specials at the Derailer Bar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just really exciting,\u201d Galioto-Grebe said. \u201cThe 80<sup>th<\/sup> year is a milestone for us, so to have an opening that\u2019s the earliest in our<br \/>\nhistory is really monumental.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Winter Park had targeted a Nov. 13 opening date. While the 40 inches of snow Grand County has seen the past month certainly helped it to open early, the park also credits the historical opening to $4 million in recent updates to its snowmaking system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a mix of Mother Nature giving us some love and some<br \/>\nnew snowmaking system improvements we\u2019ve put in the last couple years,\u201d Galioto-Grebe<br \/>\nsaid.<\/p>\n<p>In the Mary Jane territory, progress is underway on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/winter-park-resort-plans-upgrade-to-sunnyside-lift-in-mary-jane-territory\/\">new Sunnyside Lift<\/a>, a high-speed six-seater to open this season.<\/p>\n<p>To celebrate the resort\u2019s anniversary, lift tickets will be<br \/>\n$40 per person with a minimum of two people Nov. 16.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/winter-park-starts-80th-season-with-earliest-ever-opening-day-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A skier takes one of the first runs of the season at Winter Park Resort when the mountain opened on Saturday.Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com The sun peeks over the mountain as skiers and snowboarders take their first runs of the 2019-20 ski season at Winter Park Resort on Saturday.Eli Pace \/ epace@skyhinews.com A telemark skier [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-15 11:46:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19891,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19851\/revisions\/19891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}