BEST SKI TOWN IN AMERICA

 

For my money, Park City is the best ski town in America. There are three world-class ski areas in town and another five within an hour. Main St. features lots of shopping, restaurants, and bars, not-to-mention a chair lift to the slopes at the Pak City Resort.

We were staying at the Star Hotel at the end of Main St., so we really didn’t even need a car. We could take the trolly anyplace in town including to the chairlift that runs right down to the foot of Main St.

Star Hotel
The Star Hotel has to be the best value in accommodations in Park City because the price of a room includes breakfast (bacon, eggs, French toast, fruit and cereal) and an all-you-can-eat dinner that includes all-you-can-eat entre, ice cream, cake, etc. We had some interesting meals including a Mexican casserole and all the roast beef and mashed potatoes you can pack away. Candy and snacks sit out and are available all the time. The rooms are Spartan and the baths are located down the hall but the price is RIGHT. We met some of the other guests there and really enjoyed talking to them. Our hostess, Carol Rixey described staying at the Star Hotel as being “just like staying at Grandma’s house.” For a modest price ($76-$125 per night) guests on a budget will find this is an economical and convenient place to stay. For reservations call (435) 649-8333 or Toll Free: (888) 649-3333.

Skiing
We were up early and headed to the Park City Resort. We picked up skis at the rental shop and hopped on the high-speed quad. We both had Volkls. I had a pair of Superspeed and Tex had their AC4 model. After a few runs, I was very disappointed with my skis. They drove like a truck! They weren’t very snappy and took a fair amount of effort to turn. I talked to a number of ski instructors and other staff about these skies and everyone I talked to had nothing but bad things to say about them. I decided that you really had to ski these skis at HIGH SPEED to get them to perform, so at lunch, I tuned them in for a pair of AC4s and was much happier. The AC4s were quick edge-to-edge, snappy, good in the powder, on the groomers and also good in the bumps.

The Park City Resort is a BIG ski area. They have 100 trails and have a 3,100 ft. vertical. The trails cover 3,300 acres, spread over seven peaks and nine bowls. The trails are ranked as 18 Novice, 44 Intermediate and 38 Expert. We tried to hit them all. They have a Superpipe (Eagle) and three Terrain Parks: King’s Crown Superpark, Pick ‘n Shovel, PayDay (lighted) and Jonesy’s. The Longest Run is Homerun which is 3.5 miles long. They have 14 lifts: 4 high-speed, six-passenger chairs; 2 high-speed quads; 4 triples; 4 doubles; and Magic Carpet in children’s learning area.

The weather was really great. We got a few inches of powder and the sun shined every day. It was PERFECT ski weather and there were even a couple of cute ski bumetts checking tickets. The View of the trails from the chair was spectacular.

Exploring the Mountain
Tex and I explored Park City in a very methodical manner. We checked out all the mid-mountain trails, warming up on Jonesy’s and then picking up the Bonanza chair (a high-speed six-pack but I call it a flying couch) again for another run. We soon discovered an expert trail called Silver Queen that was wide and steep and led back to the Bonanza chair. We took Crescent down to the Ski Team lift and while riding up that chair, looked over all the expert trails that are fed by that chair and started to ski each of them in turn. They were all steep and bumped up. We did Silver King, Willie’s Run and Erika’s Gold.

Now, there was a restaurant just above the Ski Team lift, so we went there for lunch and had a couple of really great hamburgers. It was a sit-down restaurant with excellent service.

After lunch, we hit Muckers. We took a run on Double Jack and it was in great shape with just enough bumps to keep us in shape. The next run was down Fools Gold. After that, we tried Glory Hole and liked that slope so much that we returned for a few more runs. We made the mistake of telling a few other skiers how good the snow and bumps were there and we had to move on. We rode up on the Motherlode lift and then headed down Prospector to the Silverload chair(a six-pack It seats six people) and the ability of this chair to move people, keeps the lines manageable.

We were at Park City for three days and really honed our skiing skills on this mountain. We found that there were a lot of trails that we really liked. We got over to McConkey’s and did the bumps on Sunrise and Buckeye several times. We also took a couple of runs down Tycoon and had lunch in the Mid-mountain Restaurant. We rode the Pioneer lift back to the main part of the mountain and skied some of the trails we had liked the day before. We kept riding the King Con lift and made a few runs down the trails that are serviced by that lift. At the end of the day, we found ourselves at the Jupiter lift but it was getting late, so we made a mental note to check it out the next day but never got around to it.

I’ve skied Park City a few times and every time I ski there, I have a really good time. There are trails that really challenge me, including some that kick my butt. You have a wide range of trails to choose from at this mountain and no matter what your skiing level, you will not be disappointed.

Ian Fehler
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