Mary Jane Turns 30!
You've heard of her ravenous bumps and that she can make a grown man cry. Everyone wants a piece of her. Everyone wants to say they have skied Mary Jane. Her reputation started long ago as a "woman of pleasure" and now her reputation is deep powder, deeper bumps and the mystique of being "The Jane."
You can feel the energy at The Jane where "the ten-minute rule" (you wait ten minutes for your friends) disappears on a powder day. Everyone is antsy to get to their favorite runs, their favorite stash. There is always a party in The C Lot. The views are stunning, the bumps challenging and the stories go on and on. Not much has changed when it comes to Mary Jane.
The Mary Jane trail was named after a popular local lady of pleasure who, according to legend, acquired the land on which the existing trail now lies as payment from railroad workers and miners for her favors. Then in 1935, a group of Denver ski enthusiasts formed the Colorado Arlberg Club and began clearing the first manmade ski trail in the western part of the United States. That trail is part of the existing Mary Jane trail. Members of the Arlberg Club were instrumental in building and promoting the Winter Park ski area, although Mary Jane was not opened until 1975.
In keeping with the history of Mary Jane, many of the lifts and ski run names are from the local railroad history of the area:
Trestle. From the famous loop trestle on Corona Pass
Sleeper. Term for crossties along the railroad tracks
Arrowhead. Railroad ghost town on Corona Pass
Drunken Frenchmen. French-Canadian woodsmen who cut timber by day and drank by night
Sterling Way. Railroad engineer who rode to safety on a coal shovel after a winter train wreck on Corona Pass
Boiler. Where they put the coal to heat the engine for power
Extremely Colorado Makeover
Every girl needs a little makeover at 30 and Mary Jane is no exception. The famous bumps will never go away but tree bashing is now the new ultimate. As part of the pine beetle kill-reduction effort, natural debris was removed and selected areas cleared, making for even more excellent tree skiing and riding. (Note the new signs that are recycled from 60 dead trees affected by the infamous pine beetle.) Included in the $9 million upgrade is the refurbishing of the Club Car restaurant. Most noticeable of all the upgrades is a new six-pack chairlift that will replace the existing Summit Express quad. The six-pack can take up to 2,600 passengers an hour.
Happy Birthday Mary Jane
