While Mary Jane is famous for its bumps, it also boasts smooth glades and chutes off of the Summit Express and Challenger lifts. Catch them on a powder day and you'll feel like a hero. Overall, the Mary Jane terrain is ideal for experts and advanced-intermediates, plus it's easy to negotiate with no flat runouts.

A note of caution: While the Winter Park side is better suited for beginners, it can be a challenge for riders because it has some flats and runouts. Take the Zephyr Express and Eskimo Express lifts to avoid most of them. Although you have to endure some flats, the Pioneer Express lift also offers some interesting intermediate terrain for riders, notably Upper Sundance to Buckaroo. On the way back to the Winter Park base, just be sure to take Parkway Trail or Larry Sale to avoid Turnpike at all costs—ALL COSTS. It's longer and flatter than Kansas.

Parks and pipes
For several years running, Winter Park’s parks have received a top-10 ranking by the readers of TransWorld SNOWboarding, and the resort continues to feed the freeriding frenzy with a superpipe and five terrain parks. Rail Yard Terrain Park on Allan Phipps trail is the place for experts. It's packed with 25 rails--including a couple 30-foot banked C rails and a 15-foot trapezoid--and 16 components such as kickers and spines. Dark Territory, Rail Yard’s limited access area, is an ever-evolving sites with unique features like two jump lines, a variety of rails, boxes and manmade jibs.

The 450-foot superpipe is 50 feet wide at the base and has 18-foot walls. From the outdoor decks of Snoasis, guests have a great view of skiers and snowboarders catching huge air on the bottom three jumps.

The Starter Park, located below Snoasis, is designed for the beginner-jibber, featuring small boxes. Dog Patch, located on the east side of the Eskimo Express, is an intermediate park, which is excellent for building your skills. Dog Patch East, located just east of the original Dog Patch, offers a variety of non-traditional jib features.

PARKS AND PIPES AND FREERIDE