WINTER PARK — Gary DeFrange remembers that spring afternoon in 2009 when he watched the former Ski Train disappear into the Moffat Tunnel for the last time. It was the end of a nearly 70-year run of weekend train service between downtown Denver and Winter Park ski area.
He vowed to get that train back.
“I really had no idea how complicated that is,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many people told me ‘You’ll never get a train.’ ”
More than seven years later DeFrange, the longtime captain of the Denver-owned ski area in Grand County, stood in the same spot. Heavy machinery growled behind him, tearing down a berm separating the ski area from the Union Pacific train tracks. Within months, a heated, 950-foot heated cement rail platform will be ready for skiers arriving from Denver on the new Winter Park Express Amtrak double-decker Superliner train.
With the platform about 30 yards from the Gemini lift, downtown Denver is now ski-in, ski-out. (Of course, there’s a two-hour train ride in between those steps, but why sweat the details?)
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Toni Leuthold, hands skis to a skier as she helps unload skis and snowboards after the arrival of the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
RJ Sangosti, The Denver Pos
The Ski Train to Winter Park in 2007.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Bob Holme, an employee with Winter Park, helps off load skis and snowboards after the arrival of the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
Jim Nau, electrician for the Rio Grande Ski Train, cleans off the windows of the Engine of the Ski Train for the winter season's first run up to Winter Park in 2008. The train, a Denver tradition since the 1940's has 17 cars with trips up to Winter Park Saturday and Sunday's through March.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skiers and snowboarders head towards the ski area after getting off of the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Conductor Robert Doney prepares to shut the train doors to depart Winter Park after dropping off skiers and snowboarders riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Brent Lewis, The Denver Post
Denver's Union Station with the Winter Park Express ski train on Saturday, March 14, 2015.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Conductor Robert Doney prepares to shut the train doors to depart Winter Park after dropping off skiers and snowboarders riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skiers and snowboarders gather their skis and boards after getting off of the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
The Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train arrives through Moffat Tunnel at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Nick Kehrer, a maintenance worker for Winter Park, puts up 20 flags for the arrival of the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skier Rachel holds little baby Kerry, 3 months, as the two prepare to head towards Winter Park after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014.
Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file
Val Hovland, right, laughs as young Emily Griffin, 4, says all the poles she tries to carry are too heavy as they head towards Winter Park after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. Behind them are Hovland's husband Ram Sreerangam with young Kavi Hovland, 2 on his shoulders. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file
Skier Scott Bertolin of Boulder, head towards the ski area after picking up his skis with his family after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skier Gabriella Bertolin, 6, of Boulder, head towards the ski area after picking up her skis with her family after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skiers head towards the ski area after picking up their skis after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014. For the first time since 2009 the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train made two trips from Denver's Union Station to Winter Park Ski area. The two trips sold out in a matter of hours and officials at Amtrak hope to work out a way to have the ski train come back on an annual basis.
Brent Lewis, The Denver Post
Jack Rich unloads gear from the train Saturday, March 14, 2015 at Union Station in Denver, Colorado. This was the return for the first round trip for the Winter Park Express ski excursion train since the train was shut down in 2009.
Brent Lewis, Denver Post file
Skiers walk past the Ski Train after coming back from Winter Park on March 14, 2015, at Union Station in Denver.
Brent Lewis, The Denver Post
Ron Mical, Train Master, drops poles off in the pile of gear Saturday, March 14,2015 at Union Station in Denver, Colorado. This was the return for the first round trip for the Winter Park Express ski excursion train since the train was shut down in 2009.
Andy Cross, The Denver Post
An old pair of wooden skis is mounted on a wall in one of the train cars of the Ski Train. The train, a Denver tradition since the 1940's has 17 cars with trips up to Winter Park Saturday and Sunday's through March.
After 18 months of intensive negotiations between Amtrak, Winter Park and rail-owner Union Pacific, and some not-subtle lobbying by Colorado’s U.S. senators, the governor, Denver’s mayor and rail fans across the state, the ski-train revival was made official on Thursday.
The 500-passenger Amtrak Superliners will leave Denver Union Station at 7 a.m. and return at 6:40 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday from Jan. 7 through March 26, and on three Monday holidays in January and February. One-way fares start at $39 and kids riding with ticketed adults pay half. Tickets go on sale Aug. 30 at Amtrak.com/WinterParkExpress.
The toughest point of negotiation was designing, approving and building a rail platform at the ski area that can accommodate wheelchairs.
“A lot of the regulations have changed,” DeFrange said, noting that back in the day, skiers used step boxes to exit the train onto dirt and rocks.
The $3.5 million platform project — funded by a $1.5 million grant from the state department of transportation, $100,000 from Denver, $100,000 from the Town of Winter Park and the rest from Winter Park ski area operator Intrawest — includes upgrades to the train station in nearby Fraser, spreading the impact of the train beyond the ski area.
“There’s an incredible amount of excitement about this,” DeFrange said.
Winter Park ski area gains a huge profile boost as the only ski area in the country with direct rail service from a major city. The ante is upped by rail service to Union Station from Denver International Airport, which means travelers from afar can get to the ski hill — no car required. But the Winter Park Express also will benefit anyone who travels Interstate 70 in the winter. Officials estimate a full train will remove as many as 500 automobiles from the congested mountain corridor for every round-trip.
“It’s going to help everybody,” DeFrange said. “But more importantly, you are creating memories. Everybody who has called me and was on the old train talks about ‘I want my kids to have this experience.’”
That old train. The stories are plentiful. School buses once traversed metro Denver every winter weekend before dawn, gathering skier kids who would ride the train and back to Winter Park. It was a sort of rite of passage for Denver skiers for several decades.
“So many happy people on that train. Happy families and kids everywhere,” said Harry Safstrom, a train lover who volunteerd on the former Ski Train for nine years and still works on the mountain as a ski host. “As a host, I always hear: ‘When is the train coming back?’ Now I have an answer.”
At $78 for a round-trip, tickets are not cheap — especially for a family that could drive up for the day. But Amtrak and Winter Park officials feel the $39 one-way tickets will stir demand. The cost is in line with historical pricing, said Matt Hardison, Amtrak’s head of marketing and sales.
But that historical pricing didn’t work for Phil Anschutz, the Denver businessman who shut down his Ski Train in 2009 after losing money in the face of soaring insurance costs — a required $100 million policy came out to about $17 per passenger — and steadily increasing coal traffic on the 62-mile high country route that travels through the historic Moffat Tunnel. Amtrak has a national insurance policy that is spread across a vast rail network and coal traffic is declining. Amtrak also is using its efficient double-decker Superliner cars.
Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post
Skier Rachel holds little baby Kerry, 3 months, as the two prepare to head towards Winter Park after riding the Amtrak Winter Park Resort Ski Train at Winter Park, Colorado on March 15, 2014.
“We are doing things a little bit differently than Mr. Anschutz,” Hardison said.
So, if the Winter Park Express works, could Winter Park someday add a special twist, with a “ski and ride” pass?
Too early to tell for sure, said DeFrange, with a wry grin showing he’s already pondered how that kind of pass product would elevate his marketing game.
“I think it’s plausible,” Hardison said. “But the reality is, we need to learn what the demand profile looks like and get a sense for the market.”
In a resort scene increasingly dominated by Vail Resorts and its industry leading Epic Pass, ski areas that win are those that stand out with something different. Steamboat has its cowboys. Telluride its box canyon and European-style views. Squaw Valley its steeps. Crested Butte its funky town. And Winter Park has a train.
That’s well worth the roughly $1.8 million Intrawest is paying to build a new rail platform, DeFrange said.
“We think this is a really good business decision,” DeFrange said. “It’s an incredible differentiator. You can add new features to your pass, but you can’t start a new train tomorrow. It’s a lot of money to be putting into capital improvements, but we think it’s well worth it.”
Voters in the Town of Winter Park last year approved funding for expanded bus service between the resort and town, relieving Intrawest of the duty. With more shuttles between town and the base village, the train service “is the perfect fit for our transit program,” said Catherine Ross, director of the Winter Park – Fraser Chamber.
Ross expects the winter train to bolster Winter Park’s appeal for both urban residents and destination travelers.
She heaped praise on her town’s leaders, Denver, Amtrak, Winter Park and Union Pacific for working together.
“Having joint vision makes it so exciting to see things happen this way,” she said. “In a world where people don’t always get along, it’s great to see this as an example of people working together and really making something happen.”
