In this week’s post, I will describe a ski resort I have not yet been to but am hoping to visit either this upcoming winter or spring break. Of course, as is the dream of almost all who ski or snowboard, my dreams for the upcoming season lie on the West Coast.
Park City, Utah is widely regarded as one of our continent’s best-groomed areas, with an extensive terrain park setup (hence the name) and a wide variety of trails. The mountain has a 3,200-foot vertical drop from the height of the tallest trail to the base of the resort. In addition, this ski resort was featured in the 2002 Olympic Winter games, giving U.S. skiers 14 Olympic metals (https://mtnhomeparkcity.com) The trail system is incredibly expansive, sporting multiple blue and black runs like ‘No Name’ and ‘Shooting Star’ that I’m incredibly interested in spending some time on.
In addition to the black runs, their back bowls, such as the Mt. Ogdon Bowl and the Sister’s Bowl, would certainly be an amazing experience, paired with stunning views across the mountain and the Rocky Mountain Range. These bowls are wide expanses of open terrain, shaped like a bowl, allowing skiers to express their creativity and enjoy the powder-like snow.
However, before I travel to Park City, I have decided that I must become at least somewhat proficient in the ‘freestyle’ aspect of snowboarding. I used to ride a skateboard before starting to snowboard, so I am confident in small tricks like jumps and ollies while riding down the mountain, but have not explored any actual terrain parks. I am planning on exploring the park setup at Seven Springs next season, as this year I worked on improving my overall board control and becoming used to mountains that were more impressive than North Carolina. I hope to learn a few basic tricks, as well as the technique to build off of when I want to learn more tricks on the equipment at the park. I then plan on exploring the park setup at Park City, which has six different terrain parks to try. I appreciate the fact that Park City has both beginner parks and intermediate/expert parks because I always become nervous about taking away from the experience of someone who is able to utilize the equipment better than me, and I believe that this distinction would help me feel more confident in progressing.
Overall, Park City, Utah is sure to create a fantastic experience that will keep me enthralled for many days. Hopefully, I am able to go either with my family or friends, but either way, this resort will certainly remain on my bucket list for the future.
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