Park City, Feb. 8-13 (aka, Hey, Slidergirl!)

[Pequenita]

I've never skied Park City....what's it like? What run(s) do I need to go down? Where's the nearest supermarket, or should we get a delivery instead? Are there any deals on lift tickets? Oh, and one of the women I'm going with needs to rent skis -- is there a shop someone can recommend?


A friend of a friend is offering a sweet deal on slopeside lodging, and I booked my ticket to SLC last night. Oddly, the airfare was $20 lower last night than it was on Monday night, but then went back up again today!


Thanks in advance for everyone's thoughts!

 

[Slidergirl]

Hey Pequenita!

I'll digest your questions and get back to you in some more detail. But, quickly:

Welcome to Park City!
1. Food. We have 2 supermarkets in town, both easily accessible by our free city bus system (if you don't want to drive). There is the Fresh Market (newly renamed from Albertson's) on Park Avenue and The Market, on Kearns Blvd, where the State Liquor Store is. I go the The Market. I just like their selections of items. It's an independent market, so they have more latitude in the brands and products they carry.

2. Rentals. I would recommend either Cole Sport or Jan's. They are our 2 locally-originated stores. Or, even go with the rental department at PCMR. I've seen other rentals from some of the other spots around, and more than enough times that I'd like to have seen mis-adjusted bindings (too big or too small) when people try to put on those skis. To me, that just says they don't pay enough attention to their jobs.

3. Where to ski??? Well, that's a big question. It depends on the abilities of all of you. We have all kinds of runs, from a top-to-bottom really cool green run (if nothing else, it gets you warmed up), tons of blue groomers, glade skiing (including some new stuff just opened this week), bumps, original World Cup SL and GS runs, bowls (albeit not as huge as the other side of the Wasatch), and multiple terrain parks. One thing you can do before you leave is to go to the PCMR website and check out the "Personal Mountain Tours" feature (It's under "Mountain Conditions"). It will chart out a day of skiing based on a couple of questions you answer. I tried it out and it's kind of cool. Armed with this and a trail map, you could have a really good time.
PCMR also offers a guided Historic Tour up in the hills. You ski with one of our Mountain Hosts to different sites around the resort, from memories of the mining past, to things from the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. They are free tours and are offered twice a day.

3. discount tickets. OK. I'm not too savvy on these, and I'll try to investigate some more. One place I know of is Canyon Sports. The only problem with them is that they are in downtown Salt Lake City (near the Sheraton), so you'd have to make a stop there once you arrive, on your way up to Park City. But, you'd save about $21/day with them. NOW - let me know how many of you are coming up. I might be able to get you a free day , which will definitely save you some money.

I hope this helps you out right now.

 

[Pequenita]

It's a great start -- thanks so much!

 

[Christy]

Stephanie, the discount tickets are everywhere. Canyon Sports has many locations, though the Sandy store was out of the Deer Valley tickets at the location we tried, so it's worth your time to identify the most convenient location, then call first and make sure they have what you want. The Avis rental counter gave us a coupon for discount lift tickets from Utah Ski and Golf. Our hotel in Sandy (Best Western) sold discount lift tickets and I think all the hotels in Sandy did, so I'm betting most hotels do. Oh and we ended up buying discount tickets from someone in the parking lot at DV who bought too many.

 

[Slidergirl]

Beware of buying any tickets for PCMR in the parking lot. Most of the time, they have been stolen. Once we discover a ticket has been stolen, it's code is "hotlisted" and will be uncovered when we, the ticket scanners, attempt to scan it. It will count as a fraudulent ticket, and you and the ticket will be taken to the ticket office. Depending on how innocent and sorry you appear to the supervisor, you will either have to buy a new, full price ticket, or you will be given a hefty fine for fraudulent use of a ticket. It does happen. I had a family from Salt Lake come up for the day. Their tickets scanned as hotlisted. Turns out they bought them (tickets given to employees to give to friends) on a local website cheap. The tickets belonged to a former employee (fired) and the ticket office had hotlisted any she had left. I felt bad, because they family really did look like they were taken in instead of intentionally using bad tix. They only had to buy new ones, but for a family of 4, that was a steep price to pay.
I'll see if I can come up with some places up here in PC that do the discount tickets so you won't have to do the drive to Salt Lake. Wish me luck!

 

[Christy]

Yikes! Good cautionary tale.

 

[dloveski]

Come on up to Brighton for a day, I might be able to hook you up. Or if you go to Deer Valley---or Canyons---let me know, if I have some notice, I might be able to join up.

 

[jt5]

We were in Park City last march for a short stay. We skiied PCMR one day and Deer Valley two days. We loved the ease of getting around Park City .....the free bus system is great!! We walked to the grocery store from our condo and went downtown (by bus) for shopping/dining in the evening. We enjoyed Deer Valley for it's beautifully groomed trails and friendly employees!! PCMR was also a great mountain, but we chose to return to Deer Valley for our third day of skiing.

 

[Slidergirl]

I love our free city bus. I try to suggest it to guests as much as possible. For most of the town, especially where visitors would be staying, there is always a bus stop close by.
Skiing DV vs PCMR: I totally understand. There is something about the place that just clicks with some people. It used to be that way for me. Just not dealing with snowboards is one big plus.

 

[dloveski]

I gave up a free day at DV today, because.....

of work.

 

[Pequenita]

Thanks everyone. I've never always been in LCC/BCC when I've skied Utah and didn't even realize that DV and the Canyons were in Park City. I'll follow up today with the friend (who's more of an intermediate skier) who is my connection to the condo and see where exactly it is and where we'll be skiing. I know the condo is 200ft from some lift, but I've no idea for which resort! Yeah....I've rarely been this clueless for a ski trip before.

Slidergirl, I'm most interested in knowing whether there are any iconic runs that I should go down. I can get myself down almost everything, although it's not always (read: rarely) pretty. I saw that map function that you mentioned and will check it out.

 

[Slidergirl]

I can't say that PCMR has any runs that I could call iconic. I can say that the major double black area is off of the Jupiter chair. Even Oakley has named one of the sunglass models after Jupiter. The runs that were used for the Olympic Winter Games are closed to the public, but the superpipe used is open to all. The new Kings Crown terrain park is quickly being recognized as one of the best. Everyone has a "favorite run" - I'll ask around and see what comes up. One of my favorites is Willy's Run, a black, right after it's been groomed. It's steep, but with the grooming, lets you make really cool GS turns.

 

[Christy]

I'm most interested in knowing whether there are any iconic runs that I should go down. I can get myself down almost everything, although it's not always (read: rarely) pretty.

If you're planning on having a car and skiing other resorts, a ski patroller highly recommended the downhill runs used for the 2002 Olympics at Snowbasin. He said just looking down from the men's start is humbling and that the run is thrilling. The women's is a bit lower. Both are marked on the trail map.

 

[Pequenita]

If you're planning on having a car and skiing other resorts, a ski patroller highly recommended the downhill runs used for the 2002 Olympics at Snowbasin. He said just looking down from the men's start is humbling and that the run is thrilling. The women's is a bit lower. Both are marked on the trail map.

Ohh....I love Snowbasin! We're not going to be renting a car, though. I think we're doing the shuttle from the airport to the condo, which I'm told is in Park City and near a town lift? The town map on the PCMR website doesn't have great resolution, so I still don't have my bearings. Google maps is a little better - at least, there's a business called "Town Lift Cafe", so maybe the condo is near there! Actually, I just want to find out where the town lift goes....

I'm also looking for a yoga studio...

Also, does anyone know if Southwest airlines/PCMR participate in a "ski free the day you arrive" promotion? I'm going to cross post the question on pinto and Christy's trip reports....

 

[Pequenita]

Another question, this one liftopia related -


Does anyone know how tickets purchased on liftopia actually get to you? I haven't bought them yet, so maybe it's easily explained once I go through the checkout process, but do you just pick them up at the window? Can you pick them up all at once, or only day by day?

 

[Slidergirl]

Pequenita,
I'll ask at RSO how the Liftopia tickets work. I see them here all the time. They are printed on PCMR stock, so I'm guessing that you get some sort of voucher to turn in at the ticket window. But, I'll check.

One thing for all: IF you fly out on Southwest and want to do the Quick Start - be sure to print out TWO boarding passes. SW will take one from you, so you'll need the other one to get your free ticket. They don't do the two-piece boarding passes like others.

 

[Pequenita]

Pequenita,
I'll ask at RSO how the Liftopia tickets work. I see them here all the time. They are printed on PCMR stock, so I'm guessing that you get some sort of voucher to turn in at the ticket window. But, I'll check.

Re: liftopia - yeah - I've figured out that there's a printout that the purchaser gets, and we bring that w/ ID to the ticket window. I wish it were more clear on the purchase website before you buy the things, though!

Thanks so much!

 

[Slidergirl]

Here's what I found out on the Quick Start and Liftopia tickets:
Quick Start: You can get those process at the Town Lift ticket office. Everyone will have to do their own.
Liftopia: Those you will have to go up to RSO at the main resort center. Everyone will have to do their own - be sure everyone brings ID!!

One thing to remember: The tickets might have 2 bar codes on them. Some do, some don't. I can't remember if the QS or Liftopia tix do. If they do, PLEASE take off the bottom bar code (it's perforated) and store it in a safe pocket - it's your 2nd chance if you happen to lose the top part of the ticket. I had a guy lose his ticket today - he had the bottom bar code, so he could go back to the ticket window and get a replacement.

Kitty

 

[KerSki]

Lift Tickets

I always get mine at Ski n See. They have a ton of shops, so no matter where you're staying, there's one nearby... which is great when I rent and ski in PC and then finish my trip at Snowbird, I can drop off my skis on the way down the mountain and leave them at the nearest shop. A lot of the ski shops all over Utah have discount ski passes. I think some don't sell for all the resorts though. So, you'll want to go to a shop that has them all. Pretty sure ski n see does.

This is such a fun forum! Go ladies!!!

 

[KerSki]

Big Fan...

Come on up to Brighton for a day, I might be able to hook you up. Or if you go to Deer Valley---or Canyons---let me know, if I have some notice, I might be able to join up.

I'm a huge fan of Brighton night skiing. If you've never done the night skiing thing before, you have to give it a try. I'm hoping to go up on Valentine's night.. it's really romantic with the lights and the calm feeling up there. So beautiful!!