Park City Mountain Resort Blog

US Snowboarding Team Trains in the Eagle Superpipe

The Eagle Superpipe has seen its share of "celebrities" this week as the US Snowboard Team, including Shaun White, Louie Vito, Gretchen Bleiler and more, have been training. Below are some pics shot by Burton Team Manager Gabe L'Heureux. Visit our Flickr stream to see more photos.

 

Today's blue skies are the perfect background for capturing great images of the team in action. If you're in town, head over to the bottom of the Eagle Superpipe to see the action for yourself.

If you can't make it on the mountain today take a tip from Mike Jankowski, U.S. Snowboarding Halfpipe Head Coach, on his Twitter Stream. "Check the link to the Park City Superpipe webcam to see some live action in a little bit: http://bit.ly/8Y1K4V.

A Stormy New Year

Nothing like a bit of snow to change our little world. We're in the midst of a few storm systems at last (hence I'm posting at 4 in the morning). Our 24 hour total is 8 inches which the wind has pushed around into pillows a couple feet deep. Gotta say I enjoyed some of my best powder-type turns of the year yesterday. We're bringing a herd of rookies in this morning for their first snow safety shooting mission. Doubt we'll make any huge or even significant avalanches today, but there will be plenty of what we like to call "educational soft slabs." A great learning opportunity for the new folks.

The new snow has allowed us to push our open terrain out a bit. Yesterday we opened the Portuguese and Rhino areas of Jupiter. Can't quite open all the way to Scott's yet, need another good foot of new to cover the rocks there. As part of our morning mission, we're going to start shooting the Peak today. If these little storms continue to slide across over the next few days as forecast, we may (he says MAY) be able to get Puma Bowl and Pinion Ridge to P-zone open for the weekend. We also hope to get enough to cover the new Front Side glades and open the Ski Team Ridge runs soon too.

I hate to keep beating a dead equine with the Stick of Dumb, but I saw some poor judgement yesterday. Folks charging very risky lines in the thin Jupiter snow. One hapless wanderer took a lovely body slide over the M-Rock in Main Bowl. I think he was trying to huck the cliff and caught an edge on the geology. Not too bright given current conditions. Again, think before you go and remember, if it's a hump it's a stump, if it's a bump it's a rock.

Hone your skills with our new January Ski and Snowboard Camps and Academies

We're introducing three brand new ski and snowboard programs during the month of January that I think are really cool for those of us that need some help to learn some new skills or just to get through the mid-season slump. Check them out:

Our NEW 3-Day Ski Academy gives you all the benefits of our 5-Day Ski College, but in a shorter time frame. You still get the repetition of skiing multiple days with the same coach, but during this time, you’ll also make permanent changes in your technique and have fun in the process. Space is limited, so make your reservations early. This program is for level 5 skiers and up (parallel turns on gentle blue terrain) and adults ages 21 and up. Participants will be placed in groups to match your ability level. The 3-Day Ski Academy is offered January 8-10 and January 29-31, 2010, reserve now by calling 800-227-7254.

Want to learn the basics of snowboard freestyle and how to ride our Terrain Parks? Our Adult Learn to Freestyle Camp was created for adults wanting to learn basic freestyle, and will give you the confidence to safely ride in and around our park areas. Our Coaches have the skills and experience to safely guide you in your expansion of skills and terrain. Space is limited, so make your reservations early. These camps are for riders that are strong blue terrain riders level 4 and up (linked turns on all blue terrain) and adults ages 21 and up. Participants will be placed in groups to match your ability level. The Learn to Freestyle Camp is offered January 29-31, 2010, reserve now by calling 800-227-7254.

Looking to learn from someone who understands women’s specific differences? Come ride with one of our female coaches in a group of all women in our Women's Snowboard Camp. Our coaches have the skills and experience to help you reach your full potential, in a comfortable setting. You can be an experienced rider or one just getting started. Space is limited, so make your reservations early. Our Women’s Snowboard Camp starts with green terrain riders level 3 and up (linking turns on green terrain) and adults ages 21 and up. Participants will be placed in groups to match your ability level. The Women’s Snowboard Camp is offered January 29-31, 2010, reserve now by calling 800-227-7254.

All of the camps are $495 and include lift tickets ($315 without lift tickets). Call us today at 800-227-7254 to reserve your spot as space is limited!

Job Opening: Interactive Content Editor

Do you have a knack for telling a story in the digital web?  Do you use tweets, videos, text, blogs and apps to communicate with friends and colleagues? Are you passionate about sharing stories than will engage consumers in the tourism/ski industries? Want to join this quirky team and make our "team meeting" videos even better? We may have the perfect job for you!

The Interactive Content Editor will work closely with the marketing team to produce and manage persona-based digital content (videos, blog posts, photos, etc) across Park City Mountain Resort’s web properties including www.parkcitymountain.com, www.pcride.com, www.snowmamas.com, and other social networks.

Visit here to view the full job description and apply for the Interactive Content Editor.

Holiday Tips

On my drive into the office this morning, I was impressed that there was an appreciable increase in the volume of traffic around Park City which reminded me that we created a video last year with a bunch of great tips on how to best experience the mountain during our busy times. Check it out, and please let us know in the comments if you have any other tips that you'd like to share:

Jupiter Update

It's taken a week of challenging work, a couple hundred pounds of explosives, and many ski laps; the good news is........

Jupiter Chair, Main Bowl, and the West Face will open tomorrow morning when the resort opens. While we did pull out several more large and small slides, but fear not there are still plenty of good lines to be had. We have a closure up along the west boundary of Salmon Falls, so no Twin Isles, Land o' the Giants, Portuguese, Rhino, or Scotts. Coverage is just too thin in those areas. PLEASE obey our closures and enjoy what is open.

On the subject of respecting our closures, today some knuckle-head took it upon himself to duck two ropes on Pioneer ridge and hike to the top of Puma. Our guys saw him and stopped him before he could put his board on and do something stupid. We were actually shooting in the Jupiter area at the time and he could have easily ended up near or under one of our shots. Needless to say (I hope needless 'cause you all could guess this), we took his pass and his riding days here are over.

I'm gonna say this one more time then go home and enjoy Christmas eve with my wife and puppies. Come on up to Jupiter for Christmas this weekend to reap what we have sowed. But PLEASE remember to use good judgment and stay safe. It's still way too early to get hurt and end your season.

Holiday Events - with Video and Photos!

Once again, our Santa on the Town Lift Plaza event, this past Saturday, was a fantastic success. My 2 1/2 year old daughter had an amazing time and I know that lots of other people took home many priceless memories as well. Here's a video from PCTV documenting the fun, and look below for a few photos of some of the crucial behind the scenes work that our Lift Maintenance department does in putting together Santa's sleigh. Finally, don't miss our 46th Annual Torchlight Parade this Thursday night down PayDay run, activities are scheduled from 5:30pm-6:30pm - it's another classic Park City event that everyone should see!

Updates on operations over the coming days

Lots of thing are happening here at the Resort, here's a quick summary as well as what's opening over the next few days:

Friday, December 18, 2009

• Eagle Superpipe opens for the season
• Mid-Mountain Lodge will be fully operating
• Legends Bar and Grill New Hours
  Friday & Saturday - 11:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
  Sunday - Thursday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

• 5-Way Café - 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• King Con lift will open with King Con Run, Broadway, Hotspot, King Con Ridge, Temptation and Rosebud
• King Con access off Crescent lift will open
• Eagle lift will open
• Silver Star lift will open for uploading and downloading
• Park City Mountain Rentals will be opening the bag check, ski valet and Summit Demo operations
• Santa arrives at the Town Lift Plaza - activities run from 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Thursday, December 24

• 46th Annual Torchlight Parade down PayDay Run - activities run from 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Friday, December 25, 2009

• PayDay Pizza - Apres 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Night Skiing begins

The Stick of Dumb

On Friday evenings we, the patrol, gather at our local pub for some end of week decompression. As part of this "safety meeting" we have a tradition of presenting one patroller with the Bad Judgment Award, otherwise known as the Stick of Dumb.

The Stick of Dumb is nothing more than a broken ski pole with grips on both ends decorated with tassels. The patroller in question must ski with it on his or her pack until the following Friday. A sort of memento or reminder of his or her actions. At the following Friday's "meeting," he/she is responsible for presenting the award to another patroller who has made that week's bad judgment. This week, the honor went to one of our rookies who failed to exactly follow Colin's instructions when we were out on a boot-packing mission. It's always bad judgment not to listen to the instructions of our Snow Safety Department.

Our recent large storm and subsequent terrain openings have me thinking of bad judgment. We finally were able to open some of our steeper terrain off areas like McConkey's, Thaynes, and the Font Side. Understandably you, the skiing/riding public have been dying to get at these spots for your first powder fix of this young season. As we opened McConkey's yesterday morning I watched the thundering herds fly down the bowl at maximum warp. Though we deem something open and skiable, the cover is thin and now is not the time to go charging down runs like it was mid-season on 6 feet of snow. Please use a little caution and "ride light" as we often say in the backcountry. There's plenty of season ahead; it's way too early to earn your own bad judgment award.

A quick morning powder 'mission'

I met Thomas at Crescent lift at just after 9:00am this morning and headed up for a quick mission to get some turns and photos in (in that order, or course). We saw that snow safety work still being conducted on the Crescent Ridge runs so we headed directly over to Pioneer lift where we hooked up with Todd and made several sweet runs before heading down to Silverlode for one more and then back down for a really fun hour and a half jaunt. But, enough of this, check out the 'goods':