So this MLK weekend a big group of us head out west from New York to Park City Utah to hit the slopes. I am a snowboarder myself - though I used to ski for many years growing up. We booked this trip a while back, and were very excited to experience the Rocky Mountain snowboarding/skiing experience! It is generally much better than the East coast mountains. More snow, longer and wider trails, higher peaks, and a more variety of terrain and slopes. The east tends to often be icy and colder and the mountains are generally not as large and the trails not as vast. However this year we got screwed. Of course when we decide to head out west (I havent' been myself in years), it turns out to be the year that no snow has fallen. Seriously. Apparently this has been the worst snow season in the past 20 years! It hasn't snowed since November! Unbelievable. Half the trails weren't even open. Luckily there was snow making, and we did find a handfull of trails that were great and a lotta fun.... But clearly it wasn't the same, and to some degree I feel my experience was robbed!
Despite the lack of snow, the trip was a lot of fun. Half the fun is renting out a great house or condo, being with a bunch of friends, checking out the town, drinking, and having fun. We had a fun group, and Park City is certainly a great ski town. There is a cute village with one long street packed with restaurants and bars and shops, and it is very festive. There is plenty of "apres ski" options as well at the mountain with various restaurants and bars, so we kept ourselves entertained. As for the mountain, we went one day to Park City, the second day to Canyons. I actually liked Canyons better as a mountain. It had more peaks, more options, and you really feel like it was a larger area, where certain trails and lifts were disconnected from other parts, and all trails didn't lead to the same place. So it felt like you were boarding a vaster area with more options. They also had a gondola and heated chairlifts! Now that is a bonus. Although the apres ski options as far as restaurants, bars and the lodge they had to offer were not as good as Park City. They had a few places that seemed to be catering more to the "higher class" crowd. Probably what they are going for given there is a Waldorf and a Hyatt among the lodging options on the mountain resort. So Park City trumps Canyons on that front, but I liked Canyons better as far as trails go.
I just got word that it is snowing all week in Park City... Great....
Oh my, heated chairlifts! That alone made me jump up in delight inside. I'd invite my friends too sometime during summer, so we can take a sneak peek there.
Posted by: Shanae Buckner | February 14, 2012 at 08:16 AM