Jan 29, 2008, 11:47 GMT
Winter Park, Colorado - 'Mary Jane' looks very inviting. Her snow white curves are scantily clad with green pine trees allowing them to glisten in the sun.
Every skier in the world dreams of curves like that but beginners should be wary as this 'lady' is not easily dealt with.
Mary Jane is one of the four peaks that make up Winter Park ski resort together with Winter Park Mountain, Vasquez Cirque and Vasquez Ridge.
It's about one and a half hours drive west of Denver in the US state of Colorado and has a network of 25 ski lifts and downhill runs.
The resort is free of the hectic ski circus familiar to anyone who has visited the Alps and has a road network linking the different mountains.
'Wagon Train is a tame ski trail,' says Jim Ellis as he winks an eye. 'Take the Tin Horn trail instead. That will get you the whole way over Vasquez Ridge.'
Ellis is one of Winter Park's 150 volunteer hosts who are easily identified by their black and yellow anoraks. Their function is to help guests get around the resort or in Ellis' case, to provide free ski tours.
Each of the resort's mountains has its own character, according to Ellis.
About 50 per cent of the trails on Winter Park Mountain, for example, are categorised as easy.
Both easy green category and difficult black category ski runs lead from each of the summit stations meaning beginners and experienced skiers can travel in the same lift.
This year marks the 60th ski season in Winter Park making it the oldest resort in Colorado. After Keystone, Vail and Snowmass it's the fourth largest resort in the state.
But despite that it's hardly known beyond Colorado's borders perhaps because the community of just 717 permanent residents is not directly located on Interstate Highway 70 but on the other side of Berthoud Pass in Fraser Valley.
Winter Park's short history began in 1925 when it was used as a settlement for lumberjacks, miners and railway workers building the Moffat Tunnel through James Peak.
People here are very proud of the town's origins and that is reflected in the atmosphere which scorns anything flashy or snobbish. It also means visitors get great value for their money when they come here.
You will not be bumping into any film stars as can happen in Aspen. Winter Park is more family oriented.
'Nobody is interested in whether I've got new skis or if my woolly hat matches the colour of my anorak,' says Jonelle Sandel who comes here from Denver as often as she can with her husband and two young daughters.
The Ski Train leaves Denver's Union Station every morning at 7.15 at the weekends during the high season from January to mid March. It travels to the station in the valley and returns when the resort closes making it very practical for day trippers.
Winter Park is considered Denver's local mountain, but it's often used by the US ski team to train.
Until a few years ago, there was not much in the line of accommodation to be found here. But construction is taking place on multi-storey chalets with balconies that will bring the number of residencies near the pistes to about 1,200.
The hardcore group of Winter Park fans have accepted the development as it has also brought a new six-seat lift: at 3676 metres, the Panoramic Express is the highest of its kind in North America.
But there have also been protests. Last year, uproar followed a decision to flatten one of Mary Jane's steeper trails. A repeat of such a move would lead to loud protests.
Winter Park's more extreme ski runs are notoriously steep and regularly selected as the best on the continent by ski magazines and that's the way locals want them to remain.
'Mary Jane really did exist,' says Jim Ellis. She was a lady of pleasure who allowed her services to the local men to be paid in land - the same land on which the Mary Jane trail is located today.
And thanks to its curves, the trail enjoys a reputation just as its namesake did in her day.
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