You can get to the Front Range mountain area in Arapaho National Forest one of two ways: by car over Berthoud Pass at the Continental Divide (11,314 feet) or by train through 29 tunnels. Either way, the entry into Fraser Valley is heavenly.

After a good night’s sleep, however, Winter Park, Colo., has a sobering effect. It’s not just the clean, fresh air, but the nature of the place itself: This is not a flashy, active singles vacation spot. It is, instead, a mild-mannered, family-oriented resort and day ski area. The saying here is: “You go to Aspen to look. You go to Vail to be seen. And you come to Winter Park to ski.”

Skiers have been coming to Winter Park since 1930, when the city of Denver purchased the land and developed its own “backyard” ski slope. Its original name was West Portal, because of its location at the west portal of the Moffat Tunnel, which was completed in 1927.

The valley itself was discovered a century earlier when it was a favorite hunting ground of the Ute and Arapaho Indians. In 1905, the transcontinental railroad laid tracks through the valley, linking Denver with Salt Lake City. Today, it is a corridor for Amtrak’s Chicago-California service and The Rio Grande-Denver’s weekend Ski Train that drops passengers right at the base of the mountain. The Winter Park Ski Area is still city-owned and, when its 10- year plan is completed in 1995, it will be the largest inter-connected ski area in North America.

Currently, there are 1,301 acres of skiable terrain, with 112 trails and 20 lifts. Uphill lift capacity is 30,600 skiers per hour. Fifty-five percent of the skiers are from out-of-state. On sunny days, Southern accents seem to be in full force on the runs, which go by names out of Alice in Wonderland: Mad Tea Party, Jabberwocky, March Hare, Cheshire Cat.

The appeal to youngsters goes much deeper. The Children’s Center, which opened in 1985, is a state-of-the-art facility created to meet the needs of baby-boomers’ babies. The center has programs for children ages 1 to 13, a ski-school, ski-equipment rentals, day care, play rooms, a kitchen and a parent’s viewing deck overlooking the bunny hill.

—

Among the regulars out on the slopes are the “irregulars” — sit-sleds and outriggers (short skis mounted to a movable crutch). The people wearing colored bibs are visually and hearing impaired. Hal O’Leary says whenever he sees a crowd of empty wheelchairs outside his office, he feels he is accomplishing something.

O’Leary, 48, is director of the Winter Park Handicapped Program, which he helped found in 1970. Started as a pilot program, it is now world-renowned and a great motivator for the disabled and their families.

“Our purpose is to create independence and to rehabilitate an individual through recreation,” says O’Leary, who, with staff and volunteers, gives 2,500 lessons annually.

“Skiing enables the handicapped person to enjoy fluidity of motion that he otherwise would not have,” he says.”Our instruction instills a confidence and positive self-image with the disabled, which encourages them to try other things and make the most out of their lives.”

—

Not everyone is interested in developing ski skills. For them, there is downhill tubing in nearby Fraser. Here the only equipment necessary is a semi- tractor-size inner tube and warm clothing. The only skill necessary is “maintaining gravity.” Open evenings, under bright lights, the hill attracts residents and visitors. When all 125 tubes are rented, the people swarming down the hill resemble fallen bowling pins.

Winter Park also offers ice skating, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. The community’s fleet of buses shuttle skiers the six miles between Fraser and Winter Park as a public service, stopping at lodgings, malls and restaurants. It’s a quiet stretch along Highway 40, in this valley with a year-round population of 1,400. President Eisenhower often came here to fish and visit his friend Axel Nielsen at his ranch.

Three miles from Winter Park, just outside the city limits, is the 80-acre Morningstar Ranch, where John Scott and partner Annie Oium lease an old barn next to a turn-of-the-century log cabin.

“It has character,” Scott says of the barn, where he serves up a classic chow-down and festive hoe-down show with Annie at the washboard and stump- fiddle, singing songs. Their “Dinner-at-the-Barn” business has two seatings each evening, preceded by a sleigh ride through pristine forest under starry skies, the sleigh pulled by a match-team of Belgian draft horses. The fresh, alpine air whets the appetite for the dinner, and afterward, Annie’s singing brings down the rafters.

— Mark Chester is a free-lance writer and photographer who lives in San Francisco.

IF YOU’RE GOING

Getting there: Winter Park is just 67 miles outside of Denver. But the ride over the pass, with its many switch-backs, can sometimes pose a psychological road-block to the driver not used to winter driving. Construction of a four- mile Berthoud Tunnel beneath the pass is in the planning stage, but may not become a reality for a few years. The tunnel would cut off 20 minutes of driving time from Denver.

Transportation: Denver’s Stapleton Airport is 90 minutes away; ground transportation direct to Winter Park is available. Contact Winter Park Central Reservations, 1-800-453-2525, which handle air, rail and lodging packages.

Train to Winter Park is available through AMTRAK, 1-800-872-7245. There is also the Ski Train (Rio Grande & Denver RR), which takes two hours and operates on weekends, 1-303-296-ISKI.

Accommodations: Packages for three nights, double occupancy, range from $150 to $264 per person. Call Central Reservations, 1-800-453-2525.

Condominiums: Iron Horse Resort Retreat offers ski-in, ski-out lodging facility. Call Village Resorts Central Reservations, 1-800-542-4253 or 1-800-621-8190.

The Mountain: The season runs from mid-November to mid-April, with annual snowfall of 353 inches, more than any other Colorado ski resort. Winter Park, Mary Jane, Vasquez Ridge and the new Parsenn Bowl areas comprise the Winter Park Resort, with the longest run a combined 5.1 miles with a total vertical drop of 3,060 feet. Terrain: 21 percent beginner; 58 percent intermediate; 21 percent expert.

Information: Winter Park Resort, Box 36, Winter Park, Colo. 80482, 1-800-453-2525.