I was one of the first people to ride Amtrak's Winter Park Express train to a Colorado ski resort this season. Here's what it's like.

As a Denver resident, I know that if you're planning to ski in Colorado, you're likely going to sit in traffic to reach the nearby mountains.

There are plenty of things skiers and snowboarders can expect during a Colorado ski season.

They can anticipate striking mountain views and an adrenaline rush as they cruise down the slopes. They can predict paying hundreds of dollars for ski passes and ski gear. They can expect to experience why Colorado is one of the best places in the world to ski.

And, it's practically guaranteed that they'll sit in traffic.

Colorado Public Radio reports that I-70, the highway to popular ski resorts like Winter Park Resort, Breckenridge Ski Resort, Vail Ski Resort, and Copper Mountain Ski Resort has experienced more traffic for longer periods of time in recent years as the state's population continues to increase. 

But it's not just Colorado officials that report the delays. As a Denver resident, I've heard about countless traffic nightmares from friends. Some wake up as early as 4 a.m. to be the first ones on the lifts, while others sacrifice time skiing to wait out the traffic and arrive at the slopes mid-afternoon to ski just a few runs.  

I've also had friends share horror stories of getting stuck on icy roads with cars ill-equipped for snow and heard their frustration as they describe the never-ending line of red brake lights heading into Denver around 5 p.m. each Saturday in the winter. 

And if you live in Colorado, chances are you follow, or at least have heard of, I-70 Things, an Instagram account highlighting the highway's traffic, accidents, and "all the wild things on I-70." 

So, if you ski in Colorado, you're likely going to sit in traffic, too. 

One way to avoid that traffic is by taking Amtrak's Winter Park Express train.

The two-hour, direct Winter Park Express train ride leaves from Denver, Colorado, and stops at Winter Park Resort.

In 2022, USA Today named Winter Park the second-best ski resort in North America. The property is made up of 3,081 skiable acres, and skiers and snowboarders can explore the resort's terrain park, moguls, and black diamonds, according to the same source. Inside the resort's village, visitors will also find dozens of restaurants and shops.

While the drive on I-70 from Denver to Winter Park takes about an hour and a half without traffic, ski season means that driving time is typically longer. The Colorado Department of Transportation has reported three-hour delays along the highway during the winter and urges drivers to expect delays.

Beyond getting off the road and on train tracks, Amtrak advertises the Winter Park Express train as an experience. Riders may store their skis and snowboards for free, and once onboard, they can enjoy the train's large reclining seats, mountain views, and a lounge car with glass-dome windows. 

I boarded the train during its opening weekend.

The Amtrak Winter Park Express runs Fridays through Sundays from mid-January to late March and has a 540-passenger capacity, according to Westword.

Out There Colorado reports that the route first started in 1940 on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. According to Denver.org, it continuously ran up until 2009. Then, in 2015, Amtrak relaunched the ride for one weekend to celebrate the resort's 75th anniversary. It sold out, and in 2017, became a permanent seasonal route for Amtrak, Out There Colorado reports. 

The weekend of January 13 was the opening weekend for the 2023 season, and I was eager to experience the ride. I booked a seat on the train for Saturday, spent a night in Winter Park, and returned to Denver Sunday evening via the train. 

I bought my $118 round-trip ticket 11 days in advance. A few days later, I saw that the train was completely sold out.

According to Amtrak, a one-way ticket starts at $34. However, my Saturday departure ticket cost $64, and my return ticket for Sunday cost $54. At the time of writing, I couldn't find any tickets for the $34 price. 

The train makes one round-trip ride a day and leaves Denver's Union Station at 7 a.m. and is scheduled to arrive at Winter Park at 9 a.m., which is when the resort opens. For the return trip, the train departs Winter Park at 4:30 p.m., which is half an hour after the lifts close, and arrives in Denver at 6:40 p.m.

This means skiers and snowboards have a full day on the mountain. 

The train only offers coach class with open seating. Onboard, there's also a café and a lounge car with glass-dome windows and seats that are first come, first served. 

A few days before departing, I again checked Amtrak's website and saw that the train was completely sold out.

Like most ski days, my morning started early. The train departs from Denver's Union Station at 7 a.m., which meant I was heading to the train station bright and early.

My phone's alarm clock started ringing at 5:45 a.m.

I decided to take a commuter train to get to Union Station, and by 6:15 a.m., I was out the door and on my way there, where I would board my Amtrak train. 

It was an early morning, but I figured I would wake up around the same time if I was driving to Winter Park and wanted to try and beat traffic.

The moon was still out when I arrived at Union Station.

Dreary-eyed and half-asleep, I was thankful I wasn't behind the wheel of a car this early in the morning. 

As I looked for the train, a trickle of people dressed in snow pants and ski jackets guided me to the right platform.

Besides skiers and snowboarders heading to the same train as me, the station was practically empty. 

Volunteers stood outside the train to help passengers store their snowboards and skis for the ride.

The train is staffed by ColoRail volunteers, which is an organization working to establish, develop, and promote passenger rail travel across Colorado. 

I approached the train where volunteers were helping passengers store their snowboards and skis on the bottom level of the double-decker train. Each passenger can bring two carry-on bags (skis or snowboards count as carry-on baggage), as well as two personal items for free, according to Amtrak.

Amtrak's baggage policy states that each additional bag costs $20, with a limit of two extra items.

The train has five cars including four coach cars with two rows of two seats. The fifth car is a lounge with glass-dome windows and a café.

Each coach car is two levels. The bottom has a baggage area, bathrooms, and a section of seating. The top level is all seating.

According to Amtrak, the train's coach seats are "wide, reclining seats with a big picture window, ample legroom, and no middle seat." 

I boarded car one, and a volunteer pointed me to a seat.

According to my ticket, I was supposed to be seated in the lower-level section of the train, but when I boarded, I was directed to a seat on the upper level. 

Once on at the upper level, the volunteer told me that every seat on the train would be filled, so he sat me in a seat next to another solo traveler. As more people boarded the train, the same volunteer directed people to seats based on their group size. 

At my seat, I had plenty of space to store my backpack at my feet. There was also a footrest and tray table.

I noticed that the seat configuration varied between each train car. Some seats faced each other, ideal for a group of four, while others faced the back of another row of seats.

Once the train departed Denver, it seemed like every seat was filled, although I didn't think the train felt crowded thanks to the large seats and space between each row.

More storage space was above the seats.

The storage above wouldn't fit my overstuffed backpack, but I spotted other passengers using the overhead storage for jackets and smaller bags. 

As the train left Denver, the sun slowly started to rise.

Before boarding, I didn't realize that I'd be able to watch the sun rise over Denver from my Amtrak seat. It was one of my favorite parts of the entire ride.

Before losing cell service, I checked the traffic heading to Winter Park. Sure enough, there was a 25-minute delay, which meant driving wouldn't have been any faster.

As we started on our way to Winter Park, I was curious to know if we were indeed beating the traffic rush.

I opened Google Maps, and there was already a 25-minute delay, which I thought would likely grow as the morning went on. 

If I factored in traffic, parking, and the time it'd take to get a shuttle from the parking lot to the resort, I was positive the train ride was going to be faster. Once again that morning, I was happy with my decision to ride the train. 

Outside of the city, the train passed herds of antelope, towering mountains, and evergreen trees coated in snow — views I wouldn't be able to soak in if I was focused on a road.

The train passed through the city, then suburbs, and finally we were in the mountains. 

As I sat back in my seat, I savored the views of nature instead of a crowded highway. I spotted a herd of pronghorn antelope in the distance and thought I likely would've missed the creatures if I was zooming down a highway.

About 45 minutes into the ride, I went to the top floor of the lounge car, which had glass-dome windows. Below them were booths and chairs.

The seating in the lounge car is first come, first served. When I arrived, there wasn't a free seat open.

I initially thought I might wait a bit in the lounge car to see if anyone would leave, but it became clear that no one was giving up their seats anytime soon. It seemed as if the passengers had deserted their coach seats for a spot under the glass-dome windows. 

And I understood why. The curved windows create a special environment in a train car, I thought. Passengers could view everything from the rivers flowing by to the clouds high above — views that you can't fully see from regular, rectangular windows. 

I had my first taste of this luxury window style when I rode the same train tracks on the Rocky Mountaineer train last spring. The Canadian rail company offers floor-to-ceiling windows in all of its train cars on its route from Denver to Moab, Utah. Throughout the 15-hour train ride, I thought the massive windows helped me connect to the nature I was passing by.

And I found the same thing to be true for the Amtrak ride in the lounge. Although, this time I got to marvel at the winter views instead of spring landscapes. 

On the lower level of the lounge car was the train's café, which sold everything from hot coffee to bloody Marys.

As I climbed down the stairs and into the train's café, I spotted a fully-stocked room with pre-packaged snacks and both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.  

For passengers who hadn't had breakfast, there were packaged muffins, nuts, hot coffee, and tea. And for the passengers looking to start aprés ski early, they could order an $8.50 bloody Mary, $8.50 screwdriver, $7.50 beer, or $14.50 wine. The café also sold snacks like pretzels, candy bars, chips, and cookies. 

The same items were sold on the train ride home as well.

About two hours later, and after one short delay, the Amtrak train headed into the 6.2-mile-long Moffat Tunnel.

There was only one 10-minute delay during the train ride, which was caused by a freight train passing through a one-way tunnel. 

And as we headed into the Moffat Tunnel, which is a 6.2-mile-long tunnel that cuts through Continental Divide, our train conductor encouraged everyone to start gearing up — we were almost at the ski resort.

Once out of the tunnel and back into daylight, we arrived at the Winter Park Resort.

The Moffat Tunnel marked the end of the train ride. Just outside of the tunnel was Winter Park.

The train pulled to a stop right next to the resort and ski lifts. There wasn't much of a platform beyond a paved sidewalk and I didn't spot a train station or building belonging to Amtrak. Instead, there were a handful of gates opening up to the resort.

From the train window, I had views of the slopes.

When I boarded the train, I wondered how close the Winter Park train stop would be to the actual ski lifts. 

As we pulled up to our final destination, I thought I couldn't get any closer to the resort if I tried. About a three-minute walk away from the train were ski lifts, rental shops, and restaurants.  

Passengers who were riding the train back in the afternoon were able to leave their backpacks, bags, and belongings on the train if they wished.

Because there was just one train to Winter Park each day and one train back to Denver, the conductor told passengers that they could leave their belongings on the train if they had a return trip later that same day.

He also made sure to let passengers know that they wouldn't have access to their items throughout the day since the train leaves Winter Park to park on nearby tracks in between trips.

Since I was spending the night in Winter Park, I grabbed my backpack and all my belongings and disembarked the train.

I joined the crowds as we disembarked the train, gathered snowboards and skis, and headed for the lifts.

Just as volunteers helped load skis and snowboards into storage, they helped unload them for the train passengers. 

While I didn't spot any sort of system, it seemed efficient. About 10 minutes after disembarking, nearly everyone was off the train with their skis and snowboards, and heading to the slopes.

I hit the slopes for two days, and on Sunday evening, I returned to the train station.

After two full days of skiing and snowboarding, I was ready to head back to Denver and made my way back to the train station for my 4:30 p.m. departure. 

This time, I got to the station early to grab a seat in the train's lounge car.

I got to the train about 40 minutes early and was among the first people in line to board.

Since there wasn't a covered platform or building, I stood in the snow for about 10 minutes waiting for the train doors to open. 

About 30 minutes before the train's departure, the doors opened and people rushed to the lounge car to grab one of the coveted seats. 

Luckily, I didn't have luggage to check or skis to store, so I joined the people racing to the lounge. I snagged one, and a few minutes later, every seat was full.

As we departed Winter Park, snow started to fall hard. I was thankful I could avoid the icy roads and traffic back to Denver.

I met my roommate and a few friends at Winter Park, and once it started to snow on Sunday, some were eager to cut their ski day short to avoid snowy roads and traffic.

I, on the other hand, was able to ski for a full day knowing that I didn't have traffic or ice to worry about. 

The train departed on time and I soaked in a sunset, as well as views of the Denver skyline slowly lighting up in the distance.

At exactly 4:30 p.m., the train left Winter Park. As we reentered the 6.2-mile tunnel, I headed to the café to grab a snack.

Just like the ride to Winter Park, the ride back was smooth. In my lounge seat, I was able to soak in the floor-to-ceiling views of mountains and trees as snow fell and the sun set. Once it was dark, passengers could spot the Denver skyline twinkling in the distance.

As the buildings grew larger, I knew I was getting closer to home.

The train arrived a minute earlier than scheduled, and just like when I boarded the train, I disembarked in darkness.

At 6:39 p.m., we arrived back at Union Station.

I missed my commuter train back home by a few minutes, so I called an Uber instead. 

I watched as people grabbed their suitcases and winter gear. Some headed to other trains, others had friends and family members picking them up at the station, and others were like me, waiting for an Uber. 

From stunning scenery to skipping driving, I headed home with a handful of reasons why I was glad I took the Winter Park Express.

I arrived home minutes after my roommate, who left Winter Park to drive home at the same time I got in line for the train. 

While I didn't save much time, I was able to skip a stressful drive involving icy roads and poor vision, which she recounted to me. 

Instead, I got to admire Denver's skyline, meet new people, and recline in a comfy seat. Next time I plan to visit Winter Park to ski or snowboard, I hope it will once again be on this train.