Park City ski resort

About Park City

Park City is one of the world's best-known ski resorts, springing to fame a few years back when it became the largest ski area in the United States.

Vail Resorts, which formerly ran the neighbouring ski area, Canyons, gained control of, what was then, Park City Mountain Resort in 2014, and invested more than €50m to build lifts and runs to connect and merge the two. This goliath ski area was named Park City Mountain, and thus a new North American ski powerhouse was born.

But beneath this vast ski area, Park City has managed to retain an air of a classic ski town. The carefully restored Main Street in the resort centre creeps uphill; with restaurants, bars and shops crowded along it. Though sometimes quiet during the day, after dark Park City is transformed into a bustling town with numerous thriving après-ski venues. This is especially true during January, when the resort fills with celebrities for Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival – Redford himself owns a ski area nearby (appropriately called Sundance).

For those still unsatisfied, visitors to Park City also have further terrain choice, with the well-groomed slopes of Deer Valley just a short bus ride away.

Location:

Park City Mountain Resort is located in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah in the USA; less than an hour's drive from the state's capital Salt Lake City.

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Slopes

On the slopes

The slopes at Park City Mountain are largely carved through woodland, with a few open snow fields right at the top of the ski area.

The merger with the Canyons resort more than doubled the extent of the slopes, and the area is now one of the planet's 10 largest. It also boasts mostly modern, fast lifts, as Canyons had expanded rapidly through the start of this century under its previous owners.

On the Park City side the area for beginners around the base lodge gives way to intermediate runs in and around the bowl above. One of the best options for those still getting used to their skis is the long blue from the top of the Pay Day chairlift. From this area, there's a scenic ski down across a bridge to the top of Main Street and the Town Lift chair in the centre of town.

For more experienced intermediates, there's plenty of cruising and a network of blues (and moderate blacks) descending from the ridges served by the Silverlode and King's Con chairs.

For experts the glades of McConkey's Bowl and the couloirs in Jupiter and Scott's Bowls are great places to explore. Those with a high enough ability can also tackle the Interconnect, a day's guided backcountry tour from Deer Valley through Park City Mountain Resort, Solitude, Brighton and Alta to Snowbird.

In addition, Park City Mountain Resort boasts seven highly-rated terrain parks suitable for everyone from novices to experts.

Deer Valley provides a very different experience to its now giant neighbour, this ski-only (no snowboarders allowed) resort has a reputation for well-groomed slopes and impeccable service from lift attendants.

Like most Utah resorts, snow reliability at Park City's ski areas is generally good and snow-making facilities cover around a fifth of the slopes. As a result, the ski season in Park City Mountain Resort is relatively long, running from mid-November until mid-April.