The three Park City Ski Resorts opening dates for 2009-2010 season are as follows:
Park City Mountain Resort: November 21
The Canyons Resort: November 27
Deer Valley Resort: December 5
Now these dates are based on whether or not the resorts are able to get enough natural snow and/or able to use their snowmaking equipment to make enough snow. If the weather cooperates, it will be cold enough for continued snowmaking and hopefully will not warm up enough during the day so that the snowmaking stays ahead of the melting rate.
Deer Valley typically opens the latest to make sure conditions are good enough so that they do not disappoint skiers. Not to say Park City Mtn. Resort and The Canyons do not care, Deer Valley is just choosing to wait longer for their opening day for insurance that the conditions are good by then. If the weather is not cold and snowy enough by December 5th, well that would just make us sad to say the least.
Is it worth it to book a vacation to ski the Park City Resorts during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which starts November 26th (note The Canyons is planning to open the day after Thanksgiving on the 27th). I do not know, to tell you the truth. I have never skied here during Thanksgiving because I can wait and ski the best snow days since I live so close. A couple of years ago we had a friend who visited us during Thanksgiving and was looking forward to going skiing, but missed out because it was super windy and stormy the days he could go. He had to return home when the storm cleared. It’s up to you. If you are just dying to go skiing, especially if you are getting a season pass, they sure come on out. Just remember that the snow probably won’t be the best yet (although after that storm we had during Thanksgiving the snow was great) and it is a slight possibility that the resorts won’t even be open. But hey, even if you do book your trip there is still plenty to do in Park City besides skiing.
Do not forget to get your discount ski passes before prices go up. Refer to this post for more information: Park City Ski Passes Pre-Season Discounts
