Park City Mountain Resort Blog

Free Summer Concerts in Park City

Summer is in full swing here in Park City and there’s plenty of great concerts on tap to enjoy. While our small town is renowned for our dining and art scene, the menu of outdoor concert options and local music are also a standout. And the best part - drumroll please - many of them are free and very kid-friendly!

If you're planning a trip to Park City or simply need a new way to entertain the kids on a Saturday evening, check out our Snowmamas Guide to Free Summer Concerts in Park City.

Fourth of July in Park City

The Fourth of July is one of the best days of the year to spend in Park City, Utah. Our town’s unique mining history always seems to come through and there are a host of fun and exciting activities and events to satisfy all ages. And to add more to the fun this year, Park City is one of the only communities in Utah to have festivities on the 4th – so if you live somewhere that is celebrating on the 3rd, please come on up!

This year, the weekend will start with local radio station KPCW’s 30th Birthday Party on the Town Lift Plaza. The “Summer Bash” starts Friday at 5pm and features music, food, drink and kids activities – the entertainment is free and all food and drink purchases go to help support KPCW.

On Saturday, the festivities continue with the Park Silly “Saturday” Market, which moves from its traditional Sunday time frame in order to accommodate the 4th of July parade. I highly recommend the Silly Market and have been to all but one so far this year.

On the big day, things kick off early with the traditional pancake breakfast at City Park starting at 7am. You may want to show up a little later if you’re planning on doing the Park City Ski Team 5k Fun Run, which starts at 8am, call Cole Sport at 435-649-4806 for more info. It’s always nice to fill up with some ‘cakes after putting in a few miles. After that, head up either along Park Ave or Main St to snag your spot to watch Park City’s famous 4th of July Parade with over 70 floats celebrating Park City's history "From Silver to Snow", which starts at 11am. Keep an eye out for the Park City Mountain Resort float which was specially constructed by our wonderful Mountain Hosts. Then, mosey back down to City Park where there will be live music, food, drinks and more throughout the afternoon.

Finally, be sure to stick around until ‘dusk’, probably around 9:30pm, when we’ll have fireworks shot from the base of Park City Mountain Resort. The fireworks are shot from the First Time Parking Lot and some of the best viewing locations are along the Park City Golf Course, the Aerie hill area, and Boot Hill.. And if you want an extra patriotic flavor to your fireworks viewing, tune into KPCW on 91.9 FM during the fireworks for some 4th of July themed music during the show.

Of course, our summer activities will be open all weekend long, with extended holiday hours. So, have a great time, Happy Fourth of July and let me know in the comments if you think I missed anything!

Bert The Conqueror TV Show to Feature Alpine Coaster

The Travel Channel is set to premiere a new show on Wednesday, June 16th at 8 PM MST called "Bert The Conqueror." This new show features Bert, best known as a comedian, Bert travels the country meeting the passionate people who participate in these backyard adventures, experiencing the annual traditions that rally small towns and screaming his lungs out on thrill rides across the country. In the premiere episode Bert will ride Park City Mountain Resort's Alpine Coaster alongside Park City locals and visitors. This episode will also feature Utah's Lagoon theme park as well as The Human Sling Shot in Hobble Creek.

Earlier this Winter when the Travel Channel asked Park City Mountain Resort to be a part of the show we sent out an open call to the community to come and ride the Alpine Coaster. Thank you again to everyone who came out and supported us.

Watch the trailer below for a sneak peek and be sure to catch the premiere tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 16th at 8 pm MST on The Travel Channel.

Park Silly Sunday Market

Guest Post by Jewels Harrison

The Park Silly Sunday Market team is ramping up for our 4th season on historic Main Street and personally, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing this will be our home for the next 7 years. We're not sure if you've heard about our Zero Waste accomplishments from 2009, but we hosted over 90,000 visitors and sent only 2.5 - 50 gallon trash bags to the landfill. Everything else got recycled with the help of Park City Mountain Resort. You guys rock!!

Even though our preparations for 2010 were delayed by contract negotiations with PCMC, our whole team has noticed a feeling that this is definitely going to be our best season yet, hands down! We are super excited about the feng shui of the market venue this year. We have added the Marriott Plaza at 7th Street to create a little elbow room and have some very nice additions that you won't want to miss.

Casey Metzger, owner of Top Shelf Bartending Services, is going to be running one of my favorite areas of the market AND we have added a very nice element this season, The Bloody Silly- Bloody Mary Bar! This thing looks like a spaceship! It is a build your own bloody mary bar with nearly 50 different ingredients. A great way to start off a Sunday morning! High West will be back with their already infamous HW Lemonade and you won't want to miss the chef presentations each week. St. Regis will be holding a chef competition on the main stage every 4th Sunday that will be sure to please all you foodies. (It's making me hungry just thinking about it.)

We are also working with Mountain Town Music to book live music on the stages! As always, the event is FREE and every week is uniquely fun and exciting with kids activities, performance art, locally grown veggies & arts and crafts. Look for great Silly Sunday promotions happening up and down the entire street and weekend get-away packages on our website. You can sign up to receive the weekly schedule of events at ParkSilly.org.

So, celebrate Sundays by starting off the morning with a beautiful hike or mountain bike ride at Park City Mountain Resort and end it on Main Street to celebrate with all your friends!

See you at the market!

Jewels Harrison
Park Silly Sunday Market co-creator & Executive Director

10 Ways to Cure Mud Season Boredom

Winter season is over and summer activities don't start for another two weeks.  That's right, it's mud season. How do you cure your boredom when your ski boots are hung up for the season and the trails aren't quite ready for mountain biking? You could sit at home and stalk your friends and strangers on Facebook or you could get out and explore what the community of Park City has to offer. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. Browse the Wasatch Back Student Art Show at the Kimball Art Center. This is an annual exhibit featuring work by young artists from Summit and Wasatch county schools, grades K-12.  The gallery is open from  Saturday, May 1, 2010 - Friday, May 28, 2010. Go to www.kimballartcenter.org for more information.

2. Read Mary Beth Maziarz's book "Kick-Ass Creativity" and fuel your creative energies. You can purchase her book at Dolly's Bookstore.

3. Indulge yourself by eating Sundance food at Park City prices. There are plenty of local specials and 2-for-1 dinner deals being advertised in The Park Record. Get 'em while they're hot!

4. Do some spring cleaning and sort through your wardrobe. If you haven't worn it in the past year, it's probably time to get rid of it. You can donate your old clothes to St Lawrence Thrift Store or try to make some cash selling them to a consignment shop such as The Exchange on Main St.

5. Start preparing for mountain bike season. Get in shape for mountain biking by joining a spin class at the gym. Additional strength training will reduce the chance of injury in a crash. You should also have your bike tuned up and check that your helmet fits properly.

6. Be a tourist in your own town and visit the Park City Museum on Main St. It has recently been renovated and expanded to allow a wider display of historical artifacts.  Learn the history of silver mining as well as the roots of Park City skiing. The museum is open Mon-Sat 10-7 and Sunday Noon-6. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children aged 7-17 (Under 6 are free).

7. Make your household greener. With just a few tweaks you can save energy and help the environment. Here are a few easy ones to get you started.

• Replace your lightbulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).
• Line dry your clothes rather than using a dryer.
• Unplug electronics when not in use. Even when they are off, the power cables pull current from the outlet.
• Switch to a portable, solar charger for your small electronics.
• Buy locally grown food.

8. Go fly fishing at the Provo River. Located just outside of Park City, Provo River is a blue ribbon trout fishery.

9. Spend the day at Swaner Nature Preserve. A tour of the Swaner EcoCenter is free for kids 18 and under and only $4 for adults. Don't forget to bring your camera!

10. Visit Park City's many art galleries. Or join up for the Gallery Stroll on Main Street, taking place the last Friday of each month.

Is there something we missed? Add you own ideas in the comment section below.

Getting Ready for Summer Operations

There is no denying that it looks and feels as though Winter has made a comeback to Park City Mountain Resort. Many of you are asking why we haven't been able to resume operations to allow you a few more turns on the mountain we all know and love. We've had Facebook comments and Twitter replies saying, "You closed too early!" I must admit that the onslaught of snow has made sitting behind a computer quite agonizing when all I want to do is play in the snow and remind my snowboard that I haven't forgotten about her.

However, we must not forget that Park City Mountain Resort is a fully-operating, summer, destination resort. We are scheduled to open for summer activities on Friday, May 28th and boy do we have our work cut out! Our grooming team has been hard at work since the day we closed for Winter. They are tasked with clearing all the snow from the bottom of PayDay lift so we can begin setting up the base area activities such as the Legacy Launcher, Human Maze, Climbing Wall, Miniature Golf and Little Miners Park. In addition to this, they are also working on clearing snow from the Alpine Slide, Alpine Coaster and the access roads on the mountain.

We're adding racks to Town Lift and PayDay Lift to allow mountain bikes. Also, readying the PayDay mid-station for ZipRider and Alpine Slide patrons to unload requires a large volume of work. Not to mention the general lift maintenance to keep our lifts that run all Winter and Summer long in prime condition. Starting on Monday we will have a full team of Summer Ops working around the mountain to ensure Park City Mountain Resort is ready to open on time for summer.

I have never experienced summer in Park City and I for one, can't wait to ride the ZipRider and Alpine Slide. I also plan to upgrade my beach cruiser (and tassels) and try out my mountain biking skills on Park City Mountain Resorts many trails. So maybe I must say a sorrow farewell to Winter, but there are many adventures waiting just around the corner.

Thanks For a Great 2009-2010 Winter Season

Thank you to all of our visitors, season pass holders, team members and everyone else who helped make the 2009-2010 Winter Season at Park City Mountain Resort such a success. Our 2009-2010 Winter Season has come to a close, but as always you made sure to make Closing Day a memorable affair. We hope you enjoyed the special end of season powder that we ordered just for you! Park City Mountain Resort is already working on improvements for next Winter season and getting ready to open for Summer on May 28th. See you soon!

@nanopowder Depressed because it's the last day of the 09/10 season
Rainbow Bright
Hawt Dawg
Pyramid at the top of Bonanza
The hills are alive with the sound of Closing Day
Ladies of RSO
Pick 'N Shovel was the place to be yesterday!
Sulley and Captain Kirk having a perfect day at PCMR.

Thank you to our Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers for providing these photos.

Annual Easter Egg Hunt Photo Gallery

The 2010 Easter Egg Hunt in the Kids Korrall at Park City Mountain Resort is a wrap! The Easter Bunny paid us a visit and kicked off the festivities for the eager, young children. We had kids lining up earlier than ever, plotting their strategy for the hunt. It was a dash for the eggs, but we saw nothing but smiles as the kids filled their baskets. After the hunt children and families took photos with the Easter Bunny and shared the Easter cheer.

Once again the kids Easter Egg Hunt was a success! Don't forget there are eggs hidden all around the mountain as well as two golden eggs containing a 2010/2011 Season Pass. Happy Easter from Park City Mountain Resort! See you on the slopes.

Easter Egg Hunt at Park City Mountain Resort

Park City Mountain Resort’s annual Easter festivities are scheduled to take place Sunday, April 4, 2010. The events include a special egg hunt with a visit from the Easter Bunny beginning at 9 a.m. sharp for children ages 6 and under in the Resort’s Kid’s Korral.  Pastries, hot chocolate and coffee will be served to participants.  Older children and adults are invited to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt on the First Time face.

The annual “Hunt for the Golden Egg” will take place all over the mountain with two golden eggs containing 2010/2011 season passes.  Non-golden eggs containing prizes including 2010 Summer Activities, 2010/2011 lift tickets and other prizes will also be hidden on the mountain.

Clues for one of the golden eggs are being distributed through Park City Mountain Resort’s pages on Facebook, and Twitter. We hope you'll join us for these activities and don't miss the Easter Bunny skiing around the resort and visiting with guests throughout the day.

See photos from Easter 2009 at Park City Mountain Resort

National Ability Center's 22nd Annual Ability Ski Challenge

National Ability Center's Ability Ski Challenge 2010. Teams of four, along with a Legend and a host from the National Ability Center compete for ski racing bragging rights. All proceeds from this event benefit the National Ability Center at Park City Mountain Resort.