I drove to Winter Park, Colorado last week just to get out of the house. Winter Park is a well known ski resort, and is extremely popular during the winter months. There is also a famous cross country ski center nearby. During the summer, it is also a popular destination for mountain biking. The scenery around the ski resort, where I took the photo on the left, is very pretty. However, I have to say that the town of Winter Park itself is damn ugly. All the restaurants and businesses are on a very tacky strip of US Highway 40, and behind them are charmless neighborhoods. I guess I am spoiled by Colorado ski towns like Breckenridge, Vail, and Beaver Creek, which are a joy to visit. And why did I wind up visiting this hellhole? Good question.
After driving around for a short time, I decided to get out of there as fast as I could. When I got to the top of Berthoud Pass - which was once a ski resort and even today is used by renegade skiers - I pulled into the parking lot and took the photograph on the right. Granted, it is a bucolic sight, but that is because you can't see the City of Winter Park from there. And by the way, a single day ski pass at Winter Park costs something like $170. If you ski at Berthoud these days, the cost is 0, although you might have to be rescued by the ski patrol, who most likely will be pissed when they finally find you. The moral of the story: everything has it's cost. You heard it here first.
No comments:
Post a Comment