Park City Utah Guide » deer valley resort

Park City Utah Fourth of July Celebration

Park City Guide — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:58:27 +0000

The Park City 4th of July festivities are many. Beginning on July 3rd, there will be plenty of activities from the resorts and city. Deer Valley Resort will have their Patriotic Music Celebration on July 3 provided by the Utah Symphony. The concert will be from 7:30-9:30 at the outdoor Snowpark Amphitheater. Tickets are $25 for general admission lawn seating. There will be a beverage and food concessions stand open during the concert or bring your own cooler. For more information go to Deer Valley Patriotic Celebration.

Starting at 7:30pm, The Canyons Resort will be having a free concert in the resort village followed by fireworks at 9:30pm. The Disco Drippers will be providing the live music. The venue will be open at 4pm if you want to set up your blankets and chairs early and grab a spot on the lawn. The Cabriolet and Frostwood lifts will be open from 4:00pm – 11:00pm.

The weekly Park Silly Sunday Market will be taking place in town on Saturday instead of Sunday to accomodate the 4th of July parade on Sunday. Sunday morning activities start early with the traditional pancake breakfast from 7am-10pm and 8am 5k Fun Run which benefits the Park City Ski Team. This is followed by the 4th of July Parade downtown starting at 11am. There will be 85 floats in tow celebrating Park City’s history, from “Silver to Snow”. The parade starts at the top of Main Street to the 9th Street intersection, over to Park Avenue and continues to City Park.

Stick around after the parade for music, food and plenty of activities in City Park. From noon to 4pm at the music pavillion, free music from Park City Concerts will be given by Motherlode Canyon Band, The Codi Jordan Band and Tim Wray & Fat Paw among others. There will also be plenty of food and drink and vendor stands selling various items.

Then starting at dusk, ~9:30pm the ultimate fireworks display will begin. They will be shot off at the base of Park City Mountain Resort from the First Time parking lot. You will be able to view the fireworks from all over town, but ideal locations are from the Park City golf course as well as the Aerie and Boot Hill areas. The Holy Water Buffalo Band will be providing live music starting at 8pm at the Corner Store.

So lots to do and enjoy this weekend. Looks like the weather will be pleasant too with mostly sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday, highs in the low 70s.

Park City Utah Spring Skiing

Park City Guide — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:51:32 +0000

What about Park City Utah spring skiing? One of the best times to plans your vacation and often some of the best skiing of the season. We have several storms during the month of April, dumping several feet of fresh powder on the slopes. Sure, down near the base of the resort the snow gets that familiar “mashed potato” type of texture during the afternoon warm-ups, but mid-mountain and up, the snow is still awesome after a storm, light and fresh Utah powder.

During the month of April, the slopes are a little less crowded, with the exception perhaps of Easter weekend. The temperatures are a little warmer so you do not need too many layers as in the colder months which makes things a little more comfortable. People enjoy eating their lunch outside at Red Pine Lodge at the picnic tables as if the snow was sand and you were having a day at the beach – yes, sometimes it even feels that warm but it is very comfortable at that altitude with low humidity and thin, dry air.

There are also usually discount package deals from most of the Park city hotels and resorts during the spring months. You may be able to save half off the regular high season prices during December, January and holiday periods. Note that typically, Deer Valley Resort closes up to one week earlier than The Canyons Ski Resort and Park City Mountain Resort. It’s just how Deer Valley rolls. If your stay is long enough, it is also a good time to visit Utah National Parks. Within in a half day drive from Park City, you can be at Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks, among others. These parks become crowded during the summer months and can have extremely high temperatures during the day, but during the spring, crowds are low and temperatures are pleasant.

So if you are debating what time of the skiing season to plan your vacation, do not discount the month of April. Now, we cannot make guarantees that April will offer you the best skiing of the season, but more often than not, it is not the worst time of the season for sure. I overheard someone on an airplane once talking to a couple of guys that were going to Utah to do some skiing in December. He said he went to Utah in November/December and the skiing was not so great. Not too surprised. Unless we get some huge snowstorms in November, the skiing can never compare to what it is like from January through April. They do some snowmaking at the resorts, but the machines can never cover all the terrain, especially not off trail, so advanced skiers especially will not be too impressed with the skiing conditions sometimes early in the season.

Next it is time to focus on Park City Summer Activities since the ski season is officially over here in Park City. Would you believe that Snowbird here in Utah, sometimes has stayed opened during the weekends throughout the month of May and sometimes into June?! They sometimes get a ton of snow too during the spring snowstorms. Anyway, there is plenty of things to do in Park City during the summer months so come on out and plan your summer fun mountain vacation!

Purchase Your Park City Discount Ski Pass Today!

Park City Guide — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:01:43 +0000

You need to purchase your Park City discount ski pass by the end of today because prices are going up tomorrow for Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort ski passes. You can wait until October 31st for purchasing Deer Valley Resort passes before their prices go up. Locals and non-locals alike can take advantage of the savings – but do it by today!

What Park City Pass did I Get (If You Care)?!

I ended up buying for myself the Adult Mid-Week Ski Pass from The Canyons. The funny thing is, it’s not just a “mid-week” pass. It’s also valid on Sunday’s too! Even though I live here, I have never purchased a season pass. In the past I have purchased a Canyon’s Cherry Picker 5-day pass, a 5-day pass at Park City and a 10-day coupon booklet at Deer Valley. This way during the season, I could ski at each one of the resorts without having to be tied down to only one place.

The draw back, of course, is that my skiing days were limited unless I purchased tickets at full price. Therefore, I always felt like I had to wait for the perfect days to ski to take full advantage of that one day ticket. I also felt like I had to ski or snowboard the entire day. Now with the pass, I can ski for a few hours in the morning or afternoon whenever I have the time to and not feel guilty.

Oh and one big benefit from getting a season pass is all the extra benefits that the 5-day and 10-day passes do not have. There are discounts at the cafes on the slopes, I can buy tickets for friends at a discount – up to four at $59 and one of my favorites – free lift access all summer long for mountain biking, hiking, disc golf or a lift to the Red Pine Lodge Restaurant. I always wanted to do more mountain biking at the ski resorts, so summer 2010 will be my chance! Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort also offers similar benefits when buying their season passes as well.

I’ll probably rotate through the resorts and get my pass at Park City Mtn. Resort next year. Don’t know if I’ll ever get a season pass at Deer Valley because I’m learning to snowboard and as you may already know – no snowboarding allowed at the big D. May still get a locals coupon book. It’s only $48/day for the Monday thru Friday booklet. Go here for more details: Deer Valley Locals Coupon Books

Anyway, follow the links below and if you are at all considering going skiing in Park City this year, get a discount pass now!. You don’t even have to get a full season pass. They have 5-day and 10-day ticket packages too – all at discount if you purchase by today.

Park City Mountain Resort Ski Passes – purchase by October 15th

The Canyons Season Passes – purchase by October 15th

Deer Valley Season Passes – purchase by October 31st

Park City Resorts Pre-Season Discounts – Comparison of Savings

Park City Ski Resorts Opening Dates 2009-2010 Ski Season – Deer Valley, The Canyons & Park City Mountain Resort

Park City Guide — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:55:42 +0000

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

Park City Ski Passes Pre-Season Discounts

Park City Guide — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:49:38 +0000

You have until October 15th to purchase discount Park City ski passes at Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons. Deer Valley extends its discount until October 31st. If you have the cash now, I would advise making your purchase ahead of time to take advantage of the discount because unless you can find a good stock pick, you are not going to be able to make up the difference in interest (certainly not in a savings account!) by holding onto your cash and purchasing later. I have listed normal rate daily discount ski ticket rates (PCMR & The Canyons have not posted their yet) to give you an idea of how many days of skiing you need to get in with a pass to start saving money. But it’s not all about saving money, is it?!

Park City Mountain Resort Pre-Season Discounts

Regular season daily lift ticket rates: $TBA (last year $83)
Price comparison before and after October 15th:
Adult Full Fast Tracks Season Pass: $1250 vs $1450 ($200 savings)
Adult Mid-Week (M-F) Pass: $680 vs $800 ($120 savings)

There are also pre-season discounts for Youth, College, Family, Senior, Military and Utah Locals passes. For more information and how to buy your passes go to Park City Mountain Resort Ski Passes.

The Canyons Resort Pre-Season Discounts

Regular season daily lift ticket rates: $TBA
Price comparison before and after October 15th:
Adult Full Season Pass: $899 vs $1099 ($200 savings)
Adult Mid-Week* Pass: $649 vs $749 ($100 savings) *Note: The Canyons mid-week pass allows you to use your pass even on Sundays!

The Canyons also offers discounts for youth, students, military, teachers, firefighters, police and Utah locals. I think one of the best deals, if you are on a tight budget but gotta ski, is their Cherry Picker pass. Five passes for $209 (prior to 10/15) which is $41.80 a ticket!
For more information about their offers and how to purchase passes online go to The Canyons Season Passes.

Deer Valley Resort Pre-Season Discounts

Regular season daily lift ticket rates: $86
Price comparison before and after October 31st:
Adult Season Pass: $1575 vs $1840 ($265 savings)
Adult Mid-Week: $795 vs $900 ($105 savings) Note: The Midweek Season Pass is not valid during the December holiday period: December 26 through 31, 2008.

Also are discounts for Senior, Teen, Child, Tot and Hospitality (still searching for what “Hospitality” passes are). They also give a discount if you purchase a second adult season pass at the same time: Adult-2 season pass is available when purchased with a minimum of one Adult-1 or Senior Pass for a spouse or dependent only. Please note that spouses and dependents qualify as per the IRS tax regulations.
More information on purchasing ski tickets go to Deer Valley Season Passes.

So what are you waiting for? Did you know there is snow in Park City right now? As I write this, I can see out my window the fresh, white snow-capped peaks getting ready for the ski season. What about you? Are you ready? Save cash, buy your passes now and use the savings for a good waxing and tune-up, replace your scratched-up goggles, a helmet (’cause it’s just foolish not to), or a night on the town in Park City when you get here!

Other ways to get Park City Discount Lift Tickets