Park City Mountain Resort Blog

Discounted Lift Tickets for Local Area Season Pass Holders

 
Thanks to amazing early season snowfall (over three feet in the last week) and perfect snowmaking temperatures (it's been really cold!), Park City Mountain Resort has the most November terrain open since the snowy November of 2004. We would like to invite local Park City Area pass holders to experience these excellent early season conditions with specially priced lift tickets.

Beginning Monday, November 29, pass holders from our neighbor resorts, The Canyons and Deer Valley Resort, can purchase $40 lift tickets at Park City Mountain Resort. Pass holders are required to present their 2010-2011 season pass at any ticket window located in the Resort Base Area to purchase. One lift ticket per pass holder/per day, excludes coupon book holders. These tickets are available for Deer Valley pass holders through Friday, December 3, 2010 and The Canyons pass holders through Thursday, December 9, 2010.

Park City Mountain Resort is currently operating seven lifts, 48 runs, two bowls and one terrain park. The terrain park includes 15 features and two jumps. A winter storm watch is in effect for the Park City area, calling for up to a foot of snow by Monday morning. Conditions on the mountain are fabulous. We encourage everyone to get up on the mountain and enjoy the snow.

An Abundance of Terrain Openings for Thanksgiving Weekend

We snuck out of the office first thing this morning to shoot this video about the terrain openings that we are planning for this weekend:

Here's a quick summary of our additional openings:

Thursday, November 25
7 additional runs served by PayDay Lift

Friday, November 26
Bonanza Lift - serving 6 additional runs
Summit House Restaurant: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Serving  limited lunch menu from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Saturday, November 27
Lifts: Silverlode, Pioneer, McConkey’s Thaynes - serving 27 additional runs and two bowls
Snow Hut Restaurant: 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Serving  limited lunch menu from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Lift ticket prices will increase on Saturday, November 27.

In addition to opening additional terrain at the Resort, Gorgoza Park will open for the Holiday weekend Friday, November 26 – Sunday, November 28.  Gorgoza Park will be open from 12:00 – 8:00 p.m.  Gorgoza will close November 29 – December 3 and will reopen seven days a week beginning Saturday,  December 4.

I hope to see you on the slopes enjoying the amazing early season conditions - Happy Thanksgiving!

Opening Day Brings Lots of Cheers and Snow

Mother Nature helped us welcome the start of the 2010-2011 winter season today with energetic skiers and snowboarders, diverse terrain and natural snowfall! Guests camped out overnight at PayDay, First Time and Three Kings lifts to receive the coveted "First Chair" t-shirts, as well as the bragging rights that go along with riding the first chair. The three lifts serviced five runs, including the early season terrain park with 16 jib features and a 25-foot jump. According to the National Weather Service, a winter storm warning is in effect until Wednesday, November 24, with up to three feet of snow expected.

Check out what the crowd had to say about Opening Day.

Welcome to the 2010-2011 Winter Season!

Park City Mountain Resort Welcomes the 2010-11 Winter Season on Saturday, November 20

Park City, Utah (November 18, 2010) – Park City Mountain Resort kicks off the 2010-11 winter season this Saturday, November 20, 2010. PayDay, First Time and Three Kings lifts begin turning at 9 a.m. sharp.

"Our entire Resort team has been working hard to ensure we deliver the exceptional on-mountain experience our guests have come to expect on opening day,” said Jenni Smith, President and General Manager. “We are excited to celebrate another incredible season with our passholders and guests."

The Resort is scheduled to have terrain off of three lifts available to guests on opening day. Runs include Bonanza Access and Homerun, which provides nearly two miles of terrain, serviced by PayDay lift; Turtle Trail, with learning terrain for beginners, serviced by First Time lift; and a variety of terrain park features on portions of Quicksilver and Three Kings run, serviced by the Three Kings lift. Additional terrain will be available as conditions permit. Lift ticket pricing on opening day is as follows:

• Adults (ages 13 and up): $55 full-day/$45 half-day
• Children (ages 7-12): $35 full-day/$25 half-day
• Children six and under ski free with a paying adult

To celebrate opening day, donuts, coffee and hot chocolate will be served in the Resort Plaza beginning at 8:00 a.m. In addition, the Resort will give commemorative t-shirts to each guest on the first chair of PayDay, First Time and Three Kings lifts.

Additional Park City Mountain Resort operations scheduled to begin on Saturday, November 20 include the following:

• Kristi's Coffee Café: 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Park City Mountain Rentals: 8:00 a.m. – 5 p.m.
• Legacy Sports: 8:00 am. – 6:00 p.m.
• Legacy Café: 10:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
• Legends Bar & Grill: 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
• Alpine Coaster: noon – 4:00 p.m.
• All ski and snowboard school services (except Power Clinics)

Park City Mountain Resort invites you to let the mountain conquering commence.

MEDIA NOTE: Video footage of snowmakers gearing up for the ski season can be viewed at http://bit.ly/dd4fyn or downloaded at http://Bit.ly/pcsnowmaking . Pictures from opening day can be downloaded at http://www.parkcitymountain.com/openingday beginning at 1 p.m. MST on November 20.

Snowmaking Video Update for Opening Day

Go behind the scenes to meet some of the hardworking snowmakers and see how much snow they have made for Opening Day 2010.

We are ready for Opening Day this Saturday, November 20th. Our snowmaking team has been working hard to get more terrain ready for Opening Day than ever before. Over $800,000 was spent this past year to improve our snowmaking, adding 13 new snowguns between Three Kings and Assessment. The new snowguns are more efficent, using the same amount of water with less power.

What does this mean to you? It means we have been able to run more snowguns around the clock while being more environmentally friendly than ever. We will be able to open terrain in the Three Kings area as well as the terrain you've come to expect on Opening Day; Homerun, Bonanza Access and Turtle trail. Rather than squeezing in features on Homerun, Terrain Park Manager Jeremy Cooper will be able to build on portions of Quicksilver and Three Kings run.

The mountain is full of white and we can't wait to get the lifts turning. Opening day is this Saturday, November 20th. We'll see you there!

America's Ski Clubs Choose Park City Mountain Resort

In a survey printed by The National Ski Club Newsletter, Park City Mountain Resort was tied with Big Sky for top destination of America's Ski Clubs for the 2010-2011 winter season. It's no surprise that seven percent of all ski club trips are headed to Park City Mountain Resort considering the accessibility and variety of terrain. Many ski clubs consist of expert skiers all the way down to novice. At Park City Mountain Resort we have runs that will cater to all levels of skiing and riding. In addition our Signature Runs give many people the chance to conquer their very first black diamond. "Growing up as a member of a ski club it makes me proud that so many other clubs have chosen my mountain," says Becca Sedler, PCMR's Marketing & Communications Coordinator.

About National Ski Clubs:

America’s ski clubs are located in all 50 states and the annually elected officers of just over 2,200 clubs have been reading The National Ski Club Newsletter since 1987. Those 2,200 or so clubs contain about 750,000 members. Approximately half of these clubs belong to one or more of 45 ski councils -- or umbrella organizations -- most of which are geographically centered (i.e., the Texas Ski Council, the Florida Ski Council, etc.) and 24 of those councils belong to The National Ski Council Federation.

Lift Evacuation Training Video

Have you ever wanted to go behind the scenes of a ski resort? Here's your chance. Tag along with Park City Mountain Resort's mountain patrol as they perform their annual lift evacuation training.

David Weiss of PCMR mountain patrol explains the process of rescuing an adaptive skier and their National Ability Center instructor.

This video was shot on October 22, 2010 on the Bonanaza chairlift.

Opening Day is Almost Here

Mother Nature has been hard at work helping us prepare for Opening Day. We've received another storm system this week at Park City Mountain Resort that has delivered the goods. Snow fell heavily for the duration of the day on Monday and the temperatures have been cold enough to put our snowmaking systems into high gear.

We are busy preparing to make the 2010-2011 Opening Day bigger and better than ever. An added incentive to year long bragging rights for first chair will be limited edition First Chair t-shirts. We're making 12 First Chair shirts. This means that the first people in line for the 6 pack chair on PayDay, the double on Three Kings and quad on First Time will all receive First Chair shirts. (Wristbands will be handed out to the first people in line at each chair to minimize any confusion.)

Be sure to arrive early to indulge in free donuts, hot chocolate and coffee. We'll be giving out a variety of goodies to those who show up early as well!

The countdown is on and we can't wait to see you on Opening Day!

PCMR Receives Green Business Award for Workplace Initiatives

Park City Mountain Resort continually strives to be an environmental leader in the community. Each year as we think about improvements, we take into account how we can offset our energy uses and reduce our carbon footprint.  The new lights and snowmaking systems that are in place for the 10/11 winter season are a big part of this ongoing initiative. This past year we introduced the Eco Zone, located in the Resort plaza, designed to educate our guests on what we have done as well as what you can do for climate protection, energy savings, and waste reduction.

This year we have been awarded Utah's Green Business Award for workplace initiatives by Utah Business magazine. This award was given for "practices at the workplace that engage employees and clients to act green. Companies that provide employees with an eco-friendly workplace by adopting energy efficient technologies and industry leading practicies."

Here are just a few of the highlights from Utah Business magazine's article on Park City Mountain Resort:

• Energy reduction initiatives have reduced the resort's carbon footprint by more than 8,800 tons of CO2
• Purchase of wind energy during the past 5 years has reduced our carbon footprint by 22,000 tons
• Our team building has received the Energy Star designation from the EPA for the past 2 years
• We've reduced our snowmobile fleet by 30 percent
• PCMR uses energy-efficient snowmaking equipment
• PCMR uses bio-diesel fuel exclusively
• The 1,500 watt quartz lights on PayDay run have been replaced with 150 watt metal halide bulbs.

It is an honor to be recognized alongside these champions in environmental sustainability. I applaud Utah Business magazine for hosting a luncheon to honor these companies that was not only informative, but also inspiring.

To read more about the Green Business Awards, pick up a copy of Utah Business Magazine's October issue. Are you doing something to save the environment? Let us know in the comment section below. Remember that Green initiatives help keep the slopes white!