Winter Park Pro Tips: Is It Worth It?

DISTANCE FROM DENVER: WINTER PARK RESORT IS ABOUT 1 HOUR & 20 MINUTES AWAY

Why I Booked a Winter Park Pro Tips Lesson

As I work to improve my skiing skills, I’m experimenting with various approaches. Last ski season, I tried the 60-Minute Pro Tips lesson from one of my favorite ski resorts nearby, Winter Park. The Winter Park Pro Tips lesson is an awesome deal. It’s $99 for a 1:1 session with one of Winter Park’s instructors. The lesson starts a half hour before the lifts are open to the public, sweetening the deal even further.

It’s important to note that this is not a beginner lesson. Participants should at least be comfortable riding blue level terrain.

I’m currently in the midst of my fifth full ski season out west. I learned to ski as a kid and enjoyed hitting the slopes near Pittsburgh, which I’m so grateful for. Of course, skiing wasn’t a prominent part of my life in PA like it is now in CO. I went enough to ignite a spark, but not often enough to build a ton of skill.

I’d say I’m a good skier, but not a great skier. I’ve grown in my ability and desire to ski certain types of terrain over the past few years, but sometimes I feel a bit stuck. In pursuit of growth on the slopes, I booked a Pro-Tips lesson last March.

The Day of the Lesson

On March 23, 2025, Jon and I went to Winter Park. Once I got to the meeting spot for the Pro Tips lesson, I realized I had actually booked my session for the following Sunday. Oops! Thankfully, the Winter Park team was super sweet and accommodating. The woman I checked in with told me they should have available instructors and wanted to make it work. Right off the bat, I appreciated how kind they were. They could’ve easily told me Tough luck; see you next week, but they made it happen for me that day. Much love to WP!

What the Winter Park Pro Tips Lesson Was Actually Like

I was paired with Gordon, an experienced skier who told me he has kids around my age. On our gondola ride, I filled him in on my skiing experience and biggest challenges. When we clipped into our skis at the top, he had me lean forward in my boots. This demonstrated the fact that despite my fear around taking a more agressive stance, my skis would support me.

Hitting the Slopes with Gordon

Once we started skiing, he evaluated my form and introduced a few drills. Lap number one took us down March Hare, Village Way, and Cramner. One of the first things he told me was to focus the turns on the bottom half of my body. To reinforce this, we did the picture frame drill. This draws the focus to rotating your skis with your legs and feet.

Gordon also advised me to put more weight on my downhill ski while carving. Although it can feel a little scary, this is the proper way to ski and is safer than putting more pressure on the uphill ski. He had me do the swords drill, which helps with balance on the outside ski. During our lesson, I was able to break out of my fear a bit.

Over the course of the lesson, my confidence grew. I felt pretty good as I was trying to put all the pieces together. On runs two and three, we skied Cranmer again, doing drills and working on dialing my form.

The Final Lap of the Lesson

On our fourth and final lap together, we opted for some black diamonds and skied Hughes and Little Pierre. We both agreed it would be good to put everything together on something a bit steeper. We briefly considered a mogul run, but decided to focus solely on steep terrain before adding bumps in the mix.

I enjoyed my last run with Gordon, who encouraged me and said that he saw improvements. I was also glad we tried something more challenging together to wrap up our session. At the end of our lesson, Gordon told me I would be receiving a recap email of our session.

Putting It All Into Practice

It was time for Jon and me to ski together. Although we weren’t doing anything too crazy or steep, Jon said he noticed a difference in my form and confidence. He thought I looked really good and fast, which helped my confidence even more. I was feeling strong. The snow that day was mostly nice with some fresh powder, but it was a bit lumpy in sections.

We later hit some tree runs. We skied some laps off Pano before skiing the High Lonesome trees, which I loved. They’re relatively easy trees, but so much fun and beautiful. (New fav run unlocked?) It was a bit harder to keep some of Gordon’s tips in mind for the trees, but that may require separate tips and focus areas. I got a little wonky at certain points during the day, as I do, but it’s not like I’m suddenly never going to be wonky again.

Is the Winter Park Pro Tips Lesson Worth It?

The Winter Park Pro Tips lesson isn’t a magic potion that suddenly made me an amazing skier after one session. That doesn’t exist. This offering is a great opportunity to get feedback from an expert, discover targeted drills, and boost your confidence. I loved getting this 1:1 attention, and at a good price. I certainly see the benefit!

I was really happy with how my session went overall. It allowed me to get more comfortable with things that scared me and made some pieces click in my brain and body. I could feel and see improvements on the slopes. Gordon was also very kind and encouraging. He’s a great instructor!

I would definitely recommend this offering to intermediate or above skiers looking to push past hurdles in their skiing. I’m thinking about booking more of these in the future. If the Pro Tips lesson is something you’ve been considering, and you have a hundred bucks to spend, I say go for it. I totally think it’s worth the money for what you get. It’s 1:1 time with an instructor and early access to the mountain. Who can be mad at that?

What’s Next on the Slopes

This season, I’ve been trying out Carv2, a piece of ski tech designed to give real-time coaching on the slopes. Keep an eye out for a “first impressions” post coming soon! 🙂