Denver Parks and Recreation Teams with Winter Park Resort to Bring Thrills to Ruby Hill Park
January 20, 2007 - Winter Park Resort in partnership with Denver Parks and Recreation has opened the first-ever skier and rider urban rail yard, Ruby Hill Rail Yard,
Saturday, January 20. Demonstrations by Winter Park athletes helped 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 pumped out over 750,000 gallons of water in the week prior to opening, creating over an acre of manmade
snow sitting three feet deep on Ruby Hill’s natural bowl-like terrain. A temporary addition to Ruby Hill Park, 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 c
ompletely 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.”
The Ruby Hill Rail Yard features
six rails of varying configurations and levels of advancement. The opening day activities brought out the latest equipment from Burton, Never Summer and Vans. Denver youth were encouraged to participate in testing the equipment. Guest speakers for opeing day festivities included 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.
Ruby Hill Park, 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 the January 20 opening, Ruby Hill Rail Yard will be open daily from 5 a.m. – 11 p.m.