PARK CITY & CANYONS
Travelling many miles over the Atlantic can be a daunting prospect but America has a number of excellent ski resorts to visit and for most intrepid enthusiasts the journey is considered a well worthwhile trip. One of the numerous ski areas competing for your hard earned, are Part City and Canyons in Utah. Park City Mountain Resort is now linked to Canyons by a gondola to form USA’s biggest lift linked ski area, (to be known in the future just as Park City) which competes now with Whistler and Vail in size. Deer Valley also adjoins Park City and separated only by a fence between two pistes and by separate ownership, with Park City and Canyons being owned by Vail Resorts and Deer Valley by Alterra. Any skier to the Park City area should certainly ski Deer Valley at least one day, at an extra cost, though snowboarders are still banned from here. Also Snowbird, Alta, Solitude and Sundance are all close by if you want to sample more of what Utah has to offer and more so on any powder day.
Park City’s historic Main Street is a compelling place to spend time, with colourful old buildings and lively bars and restaurants.It is about 45 minutes by road from Salt Lake City. It used to be a silver-mining boom town but now a sympathetic restoration programme has resulted in a pretty and atmospheric town, with a western theme with trams, galleries and whisky bars, mainly on Main Street.There is also a good choice of restaurants for any budget with the town being also close to the slopes and lifts.
Canyons is similar to many French villages in that it is purpose built, pedestrianised and relatively new, so though you will find some outstanding accommodation options, with those being far superior to any purpose built French villages, the village is relatively quiet, with just a few bars and restaurants and perhaps suits more families who want slope side convenience and don’t mind catching the free shuttle to the outlets for some retail therapy or to the more vibrant Main Street, in the evenings in Park City.
The arrival airport is at Salt Lake City and really is not high on our list of an American City to visit, but at least by landing here you are only a short 45 minutes away by shuttle which makes it one of the closest ski resorts to an airport anywhere in the world. A number of guests have also taken advantage of the short flight to Las Vegas and added 2 or 3 nights as an extra stay for the ski holiday, which we are happy to help plan. Accommodation options are mainly hotels, condos and private homes/chalets and though almost everywhere offers accommodation on a self catered or breakfast only basis we can offer a few catered chalet options for groups of 6 or more.
Most of the local easy and intermediate runs lie between Summit House and the base area, and are spread along the sides of a series of interconnecting ridges. Virtually all the local steep terrain is above Summit House in a series of bowls. You can get around most of the area on fast chairs, but there are still a few slow ones on the upper mountain though Vail Resorts in fairness are constantly upgrading lifts for maximum speed and convenience.Utah is also famous for the quality and quantity of its snow and often uses the strapline “The Greatest Snow on Earth”. An annual average of around 30ft is impressive and its easy enough to ski Snowbird, Solitude and Alta too, which offers an even higher average snowfall.
As regards the skiing, then for both for beginner skiers and snowboarders, Park City is an excellent area. Novices start on “Magic“ moving carpets and graduate up the slopes quite quickly. The gentle three-and-a-half-mile “Home Run” is a lovely long green to progress to. The Town chair can be ridden down for those not confident enough to ski back down, though if you are a party mainly of beginners we would recommend consideration of Beaver Creek or possibly Snowmass, both in Colorado as an option.
For Intermediates there are blue runs served by all the main local lifts, offering a good network of great cruising runs, with more difficult trails close by, for those looking for a challenge. The Pioneer and McConkey’s chairlifts are off the main drag and serve some very pleasant, mainly quiet runs. The runs under the Town lift have great views of the town. And, of course, there are the linked runs of Canyons and separate area of Deer Valley to explore…..Deer Valley being a must see and ski area too.
For the expert skier there is a lot of excellent steep terrain at the top of the lift system. McConkey’s Bowl offers a range of runs and gladed terrain. The highest bowls include some serious terrain – with narrow couloirs, cliffs and cornice. Lower down, there are some excellent black runs, plus a few satisfying trails in the trees. There’s good expert terrain in the Canyons area too. There’s cat- and heli-skiing available too.
For Intermediates there are blue runs served by all the main local lifts, offering a good network of great cruising runs, with more difficult trails close by, for those looking for a challenge. The ‘Signature Runs’ and ‘Adventure Alleys’ are good ideas and worth trying. Most trails are up to 2km and many have long, flat run-outs which makes those runs unappealing to snowboarders. The Pioneer and McConkey’s chairlifts are off the main drag and serve some very pleasant, mainly quiet runs. The runs under the Town lift have great views of the town. And, of course, there are the linked runs of Canyons and separate area of Deer Valley to explore…..Deer Valley being a must see and ski area too.
Park City has made major inroads on the slopes to attract snowboarders, by building some of the best terrain parks in the world….with some great un groomed terrain as well. The higher bowls offer treelined powder runs and with the Canyons area to explore on the same ski pass – for long a snowboarder favourite – snowboarders can’t fail but have a great time here. . We strongly suggest looking at Park City as a base for your next Ski Holiday in America and enjoy some outstanding skiing/boarding and American ambience.
