ski rentals/lift tickets for Park City
 

Can someone help with first timer's questions? We will be arriving late (midnight) from SLC airport and staying on Empire Avenue. Both kids will have their snowboards and be raring to go the next am. Is there someplace close to where we're staying that I can rent my equipment (haven't skiied in 25 years so I don't need top of the line)?
Also, is there anyplace to get any discounts on lift tickets ahead of time - online, somewhere in PC that morning, airport, etc.?
As it's Christmas week, all my money has gone toward transportation and lodging so any breaks at all will help, along with bringing lots of PB & J! Speaking of, is there a grocery store near there?
Thanks so much for any help and advice.

Hi Di,

OK:

There is a ski rental place right at the airport, but they may not be open that late.

Otherwise, there are multiple ski shops right at the base of all 3 ski areas. Cole Sports, Christie Sports, Jan's, and others have shops at each. I would advise going REALLLLLLYYY early because ski rentals at Christmas are an absolute zoo. Find out ahead of time how early they open and see if you can reserve rentals in advance! Unless, with getting in that late, you are willing to just ski 1/2 day PM the first day.

Other, less expensive rentals will be located in and around town, but away from the resorts. One is Breeze ski rentals.

Discount lift tickets can be bought at some SLC ski shops, at Smith's grocery store in Kimball Junction (open 24/7), but I don't know about their ticket sales hours. Arriving at midnight and trying to get discounted lift tickets for the next morning presents a problem.

Check out www.skiutah.com. There are multi-day, multi-area tickets available. Sorry, I don't have details. Since I live here, I don't buy those.

There are a couple of "errand" companies in Park City that will get ski rentals and lift tickets in advance for you. They are listed at: www.parkcityinfo.com. Most of them charge about $25/hour for errands, including advance grocery shopping.

Re: grocery stores, the Smith's at Kimball Junction is on your left almost immediately after exiting I-80. Turn at the first light.

There is also an Albertson's in town on Park Ave. If you do not have a car, the free shuttle bus stops there.

Hope this helps!

Thanks very much, dayle, it does help. If I can't get tickets ahead of time, maybe I'll just get the boys (they're 15) their tickets and leave them snowboarding. (That should be ok, right?)Then, I can come down into PC and get my rentals, go to the store, etc. I am planning to take a shuttle of some kind from the airport (have to find one that won't leave us stranded after midnight) so I won't have a car. I'm fairly SURE that 1/2 day the first day will be plenty for me anyway! One more question,if you don't mind, should we spend all 3 days we have snowboarding PC or should we go one day to The Canyons? Without a car, aren't those pretty much our options? Thanks again.

Hi di,

Your plan sounds very good! How old are your boys? Do you have cell phones? It might be a good idea to have them take a "mountain tour" while you do the errands in the AM. Most ski resorts offer an overall mountain tour for free and have a meeting point at the base. Gives them an idea of how to get around the mountain and runs in each area. When families split up, cell phones can be invaluable, I think especially in your situation.

Park City Mtn Resort could definitely keep you busy for 3 days. It's a fun mountain. The Canyons is not my favorite place, but lots of people like it very much, so if you feel like it go! You will be able to take the shuttle everywhere.

You should call rental places at the mountain, and make a rental reservation. There are several at the base of the mountain, but the rentals disappear that week. We went last year Christmas week, and the 1st 2 shops we stopped in had nothing in our size. The third did. Every shop we walked in asked if we had a reservation. I had no idea that we could even make such a reservation.

It was also convenient to rent on the mountain because they let us store our shoes at the shop during the day, and leave our skis there at night so we didn't have to transport everything back and forth. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the shop, but I'm sure most do the same.