Media Contacts:

Matt Sugar
Director of Communications
Winter Park Resort
C: (303) 356-4002
O: (970) 726-1524 / Tiffiany Moehring
Director of Marketing and Communication
DenverParks and Recreation
C: (303) 880-1827
O: (720) 913-0633

FIRST EVER URBAN SKI AND SNOWBOARD RAIL YARD OPENS IN DENVER, COLORADO

WINTER PARK, COLO., January 18, 2007 - Winter Park Resort in partnership with Denver Parks and Recreation is proud to announce the grand opening of the first-ever skier and rider urban rail yard, Ruby Hill Rail Yard, set for Saturday, January 20 from noon – 4 p.m. Demonstrations by Winter Park athletes will help kick off the event with free snowboard equipment made available for local youth interested in trying a new sport or fine tuning already learned techniques.

Snowmaking equipment has pumped out over 750,000 gallons of water since last Saturday creating over an acre of manmade snow sitting three feet deep on Ruby Hill’s natural bowl-like terrain. A temporary addition to RubyHillPark, the Ruby Hill Rail Yard is expected to last until the end of February, weather permitting.

A pilot project between the City and County of Denver Parks and Recreation Department and Winter Park Resort, Ruby Hill Rail Yard is designed to fit into the city’s urban recreation needs as well as Winter Park Resort’s multicultural youth initiatives. Given the unique relationship/ownership of Winter Park Resort by the city, Ruby Hill Rail Yard will serve as a free rail park to the city’s diverse youth as well as a future site for freeride events.

“Ruby Hill Rail Yard provides Winter Park Resort and the City and County of Denver with a tremendous opportunity to reach out to the city’s multicultural youth and provide them with a completely new and innovative play-ground,” said Bob Holme, Youth Marketing for Winter Park Resort. “No other city in the nation has worked with a ski resort to provide its youth with an urban rail yard such as the City and County of Denver has and we hope Ruby Hill Rail Yard inspires others to be as innovative.”

Saturday’s opening of Ruby Hill Rail Yard will feature six rails of varying configurations and levels of advancement as well as the latest equipment from Burton, Never Summer and Vans.Denver youth are encouraged to participate; minors 17 years and younger interested in testing equipment must be accompanied by an adult. Guest speakers for Saturday’s festivities will include Denver City Councilwoman Kathleen MacKenzie, Mike Barney, Director of Recreation for the Department of Recreation at the City and County of Denver and Bob Holme, Youth Marketing Manager for Winter Park Resort.

RubyHillPark, located between West Florida and Jewell Avenues and between South Platte River Drive and Quivas Street. Those interested in attending Saturday’s grand opening event can access Ruby Hill Rail Yard from the park’s entrances on West Florida Avenue. Following Saturday’s opening, Ruby Hill Rail Yard will be open from 5 a.m. – 11 p.m.

For more information on Winter Park Resort visit or call (970) 726-1564. For media inquires about Ruby Hill Rail Yard visit or contact Matt Sugar at (303) 356-4002.

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About Winter Park Resort
Winter Park Resort is Colorado’s longest continually operated ski resort featuring over 3,000 acres of award-winning terrain including groomers, terrain parks, bumps, steeps, trees, and most definitely – deeps. Last season, Winter Park Resort received 365 inches of snow much in part to its ideal location amidst the Rocky Mountains. Just 67 miles northwest of Denver, Winter Park Resort is the closest major destination resort to DenverInternationalAirport and offers its guests an abundance of activities and events for the young and the young at heart. For more information on Winter Park Resort, including events, activities, live images and vacation packages, visit

About Intrawest:

Intrawest is a world leader in experiential destination resorts.It has interests in ten resorts at North America’s most popular mountain destinations including Whistler Blackcomb, a host venue for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.The Intrawest network also includes Canadian Mountain Holidays, the largest heli-skiing operation in the world, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Florida and Club Intrawest—a private resort club with nine locations throughout North America. In addition, Intrawest develops real estate atits resortsand at other locations across North America and in Europe. Intrawest is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. For more information, visit