Park City Utah has been called the best ski town in the United States. It is lively but relaxed, easily accessible from Salt Lake City, and home to three world-class ski resorts: Deer Valley, the Canyons, and Park City Mountain Resort. The oldest and most popular of the three, Park City Mountain Resort, was founded in 1963 and has done much since then to make Park City the international ski destination it is today.
Before it became a famous ski town, Park City was one of the biggest silver mining settlements in the world. Walking past the historic saloons on Main Street, you can almost imagine the streets full of miners and cowboys. Today, Main Street is littered with varied restaurants, après ski bars, and good shopping opportunities. Uniquely, Park City Mountain Ski Resort has a lift, the Town Lift, which takes riders right from the bustle of downtown to the top of a mountain.
Once on Park City Mountain, skiers and snowboarders of every ability will find much to entertain them. Park City Mountain Resort hosted all the snowboarding events and the giant slalom alpine competitions during the 2002 Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City. The U.S. ski team continues to use Park City Mountain Ski Resort as a training ground.
You don’t have to be of Olympic quality to enjoy the slopes at Park City Mountain Resort. There is a large learning area above the base, accessible from the First Time and Three Kings lifts. Beginners can also find some nice gentle green runs scattered across Park City Mountain. A good long one is the trail that starts from the top of the Bonanza lift as Claim Jumper. Unfortunately, advanced skiers also use many of these green runs as cross-mountain routes, so they can sometimes be crowded and fast.
Skiers and snowboarders of average ability are spoilt for choices at Park City Mountain Ski Resort. Some of the best intermediate runs are the blue runs off the King Con high-speed quad chair and the Silver Star lift, but there are some nice groomed trails all around the mountain. Those off the Pioneer lift are sometimes quieter on a busy day.
Snowboarders will find Park City Mountain Resort particularly welcoming, especially compared to nearby Deer Valley and Alta resorts, where they are banned altogether. For tricks, head to the terrain parks: Payday, King’s Crown, Pick and Shovel, or Jonsey’s. These are lighted at night for after-hours fun.
Advanced skiers and snowboarders will love the bowls and chutes at Park City Mountain Resort serviced by Jupiter, Pioneer, and McConkey’s lifts. Some of these are challenging even to the most expert skier. Test your confidence and ability on the Blueslip Bowl off Pioneer chair, then head on to the faces off the Jupiter chair. You need to hike to get to Scott’s Bowl off this lift, but its wide-open runs make it worth the effort.
The most difficult slopes at Park City Mountain Resort are Portuguese Gap off the Jupiter lift, McConkey’s Bowl off the McConkey’s lift, and the Puma Bowl which requires a hike from McConkey’s or Jupiter lifts.
For moguls head to the black diamond runs off the Motherlode or Thaynes lifts. The best steep but groomed trail is Silver Queen, a double blue square run above the Park City Mountain Resort base area.
Park City Mountain Resort has ticket agreements with nearby Canyons and Deer Valley ski areas, so Park City is a great place for a multi-day ski vacation taking in several resorts. Salt Lake City is close, about 30 miles away on an Interstate highway.
