Welcome back to Skiing Through Life! In my last post I’ll be sharing the largest ski resort the US has to offer with over 300 trails. Park City Mountain Resort, located in Park City Utah is one of the most well-known ski resorts to the average person. Park City hosts some of the biggest ski races of the year and is home to the Sundance Film Festival.
Level of Difficulty
While skiing at Park City, it may be a bit difficult for beginners to adjust. This mountain is tailored for intermediate and mostly advanced skiers with only 8% of their trails being
beginners trails and over 50% of the trails marked as advanced. 41% of the trails are intermediate runs, so if skiing for the first time, especially as an adult, this may not be the best mountain to try to teach yourself to ski. If you’re an advanced skier, this mountain is perfect for you with so many black diamond runs. The mountain also has 8 different terrain parks which is almost unheard of at other mountains. Their longest run is 3.5 miles which you’ll definitely be feeling in your legs the next day if you decide to take on that trail. With 7300 acres skiable terrain, this monster of a mountain is certain to excite higher-level skiers.
Family-Friendliness
Although there are so many advanced trails, Park City is certainly family-friendly. As one of the top places in the country to take ski lessons, Park City has a program for every level no matter what the age. One of the stand-out programs Park City offers is a family lesson where the whole family can get ski instruction time together. Park City also offers children lessons, adult lessons, and of course, private lessons. The Park City resort also includes a Little Adventures Children’s Center at Canyons Village. This center provides child-care for children 6 weeks old to 6 years old. It’s a state-licensed year-round facility and it provides arts and crafts and other activities. The center is also located near a gondola which can take kids up to a snow play hill during the winter.
Apres Ski Activities
During the day, this resort provides many fun activities such as riding the alpine coaster or the flying eagle zipline. They also offer historic mountain tours which go into detail about the resort’s mining, skiing, and local history. In Canyons Village, scenic, 30 minute sleigh rides are offered that include big blankets for the ride. I looking for more extreme activities, snowmobile tours are also offered next to Canyons Village and these tours will take you on a ride through the Red Pine Canyon. When you get hungry for dinner, there are multiple places at which you can stop. In the Park City Base Area, there’s Legends Bar and Grille, in Canyons Village, there is The Farm, Red Tail Grill, and the Umbrella Bar. Most of these places will serve food such as sandwiches and hamburgers.
Weather/Snowfall
With being located out West in Utah, Park City certainly receives a lot of snow. In 2017, the resort got most of its snow in mid-March. The snow started around early December ad even continues into April which is always great for Spring skiers. Last year, the resort received 167 inches total of snow with their heaviest snowfall happening in March at 14 inches. Surprisingly, April is their second snowiest month compared to the main winter months. At one time they even had 63 inches of snow at the top of their mountain! As mentioned before, Park City is out West so powdery snow is almost always a guarantee when you compare conditions to the icy slopes we have here on the East Coast. To find out how much snow your resort might get this year, click here.
Accessibility
Within the US, Park City is probably the closest resort to a major international airport. Salt Lake City International Airport is just 40 minutes away from the resort making this mountain extremely accessible. Like most airports, this one has car rental services and Hertz offers an increased amount of specially equipped vehicles for winter driving. The resort can also reserve a shuttle for arriving guests that will bring them to and from the airport after a short call with their reservation specialists.