Park City 2010

Park City 2010

Thanks to the Filas family for letting us crash at the time share once again this year. After a year without skiing in the Utah desert, it was good to get back there. This year, we managed to miss not only the Sundace Film Festival by a couple of days, but we also managed to miss the majority of the snow. Ariving on a balmy Saturday night, the sky was clear and the lack of snow was apparent. I believe it may have been the first time any of us had seen the pavement on the streets in Park City, but before we left that would change. As always, skiing Park City reminds you of what the town once was and what it very well may be agian someday. Along the way the remains of the mining that took place here (top right) are a spectacle to be seen. However, its not just the mining equipment left behind that sparks the imagination. Skiing two days at the Park City Resort provided plenty of opportunity to take in the rest of the beautiful sights includign Jupiter Peak (top left), with its strictly hike to terrain, and the back areas serviced by the old two man Jupiter lift (right). Skiing the difficult terrain however proved to be even more of a challenge than in years past my the lack of good snow. With the base total in the range of 40"-50", and no new snow in previous memory, the ice and the rocks made even some of the more tame terrain challenging, but after two days of beautiful weather, the sun set and the wind picked up. By the time we ate dinner downtown, the storm had moved in and begun to deliver the good stuff that Utah is know for. Light and fluffy and it continued all night. Leaving the Irish bar, we truged back to the condo. Our third day on the slopes and it was set to be the last for a number of us. We woke early to a snow report of 13" new at Snowbasin Resort (left), which luckily was our destination. Although Park City is know round the world, along with Alta and Snowbird, the Snowbasin rivals them all for terrain and luxury. As a Sunvalley resort and a host to the winter games in 2002, the resort boasts a number of highspeed lifts and gondolas accessing some of the most fun big mountain terrain. Part way through the morning the clouds began to lift, which provided an awe inspiring view of the valley floor from atop one of the many ridgelines loaded with new snow(right). The five of us made lap after lap on the big slopes trying to get our fix of the fresh snow. As the hour approached to head back to Colorado for three os us, we decided on one last run,
and unluckily, this last run would prove to be too much for me and my exhausted legs, resulting in a full on face plant into the tip of my own ski causign the carnage pictured to the left. Atleast I got to return to work the next day with a good story.