ECHO MOUNTAIN: All park, all the time
If you’ve ever skied in Colorado, chances are, you know the horrors of I-70 traffic. Getting caught at the wrong time can mean hours of steering wheel pounding, road raging frustration before it’s time to click in. Fortunately for Denver-Metro area rippers, there is a new alternative to the gridlocked trek to and from Summit County.
Echo Mountain Park, scheduled to open this December, is located just 45 minutes from downtown Denver off the Evergreen exit (conveniently miles before the infamous I-70 traffic begins).
Echo Mountain Park is the first Colorado resort dedicated exclusively to terrain park. The entire 50 acres of ride-able terrain will be covered with over 40 jib features designed by the world-renowned pipe and park builders at Planet Snow. The terrain will include a superpipe as well as jumps, rails, and boxes ranging from easy to expert in size and difficulty.
Planet Snow is responsible for on-snow masterpieces such as the High Cascade Terrain park, the Salt Lake City Olympics superpipe, Snowboarding’s US Open, The Vail Sessions and numerous other contests and photo shoots.
Colorado native Gerald Petitt purchased the ski area formerly known as Squaw Pass Ski Area in 2002 for roughly $700,000.
“We want to make [Echo Mountain Park] a unique place, not your standard ski resort… We’re going to put up lights and have a sound system on the whole mountain. The buildings will have a funky, urban style.” Petitt said in a recent Denver Post interview.
Echo mountain park will feature two lodges, one triple chair, and one rope tow. Lights will cover every inch of available terrain to allow jibbers to come play from 9am to 9pm. Even if you’re stuck in school all day or the dreaded 9 to 5 you will be able to get pleanty of on-snow action. There will also be a sound system operating at all times with speakers spread throughout the park.
“We’re really trying to do something different with Echo. We want to really stray away from the stuffy elite attitude, fancy log cabins and fake Swiss villages and just concentrate on making a quality park.” Says Echo Mountain Manager Doug Donovan.
In a time when elitist bourgeois is quickly becoming the norm for ski resorts across the country, Echo Mountain Park offers a welcome dose of accessibility.
For the latest news on Echo Mountain park check www.echomountainpark.com
