Ever Wondered How Colorado’s Ski Runs Got Their Unique Names?

Colorado boasts hundreds of ski runs - from beginner-friendly bunny hills to challenging double black diamond trails for seasoned experts, there's something for everyone who visits the state's iconic resorts.

As skiers and snowboarders make their way down the slopes, large signs with names and colors assist as route and difficulty identifiers. Ski runs in Colorado typically range from greens to double black diamonds, with blues landing somewhere in between.

In Colorado, skiers and snowboarders may come across signs for runs with names like Kuu's Curse, Jack Kendrick, Drunk Frenchman, Sober Englishman, and Skeeter's Run, but where do these unique names come from?

The names of Colorado’s ski runs have rich and varied origins, with some common themes mainly drawing from local history, geography, mining lore, pop culture, inside jokes, and people who played a hand in developing the resorts. Some of these ski trail names are obvious, while other seem much more random.

Because many of Colorado's ski towns were originally mining towns, a lot of ski run names reflect that time in history. Some of these runs include "Ore Chute" at Breck, "Silver King" at Telluride, "Prospector" at Copper, and "Bonanza" at both Steamboat and Eldora Mountain, which derives from the boom-era term for a successful mine.

Honoring people of the past by naming a trail after them is common too. Many of Colorado's ski runs are named for people involved in that specific resort's development or culture. This includes resort founders, ski patrollers, or even their pets. Some examples of runs with these types of monikers are "Baldy's Chute," named after Jim Baldwin who was a beloved member of the Winter Park Ski Patrol in the 1970s, and "Brennan's Grin" named after a ski patroller's smile displayed after achieving difficult feats. Other trail names pay tribute to important figures, like Retta’s Run, named for a volunteer with the adaptive skiing program who died of cancer.

Additionally, quite a few ski runs runs in Colorado were named in honor of the 10th Mountain Division from World War II.

At Winter Park Resort, there's a series of runs named after events and characters from Alice in Wonderland. According to Colorado Public Radio, the whimsical trail names including Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, White Rabbit, Mad Tea Party, and Cheshire Cat has to do with one of the founders' Steve Bradley's adoration for the fictional book.

Some of the more obvious names of ski runs have to do with Colorado's natural landscapes, flora, fauna, and terrain. For instance, this would be runs like "Falcon" and "Christmas Trees" at Arapahoe Basin and "Ptarmigan" at Copper.

"Naked Lady" at Snowmass Resort could be considered Colorado's craziest name for a ski run. This run got its name in the early days, after the sheriff's son brought a Playboy centerfold poster to work and taped it to a tree where the crew was working. The practical joke shocked trail crew chief Hal Hartman, so much so, he named the run after the incident.

The list of interesting ski run names goes on and on, and new runs continue to be developed each year.