Suggestions for ski trip to Park City
 

After spending the last 5 or 6 years skiing with 2 families in Telluride, Colorado, we are thinking of skiing in Park City (or somewhere nearby) this year. In Telluride, we have rented various condos in town that are within short walking distance to both grocery stores, restaurants, the gondola base, etc... We have kids ranging fro 4 - 14 so need to be close to lifts, as well as food places. Any suggestions? Most likely, we will be going during our kids spring break which is 3rd week in March.

P,

Your condo options for Park City Mtn Resort and Deer Valley are endless. There are many complexes right at the base of the mountain, or in the case of DV, all over the mountain (which is why I don't ski there any more).

With young kids, it is nice to be close the the condo for many reasons. However, Park City has a free shuttle bus system that will take you anywhere you want to go. Base to Main Street, grocery stores, other ski areas (DV and Canyons), outlet stores, Utah Olympic Park, etc.

Start here: www.parkcityinfo.com. Very good web site with links to lots of the property management companies. Ask them to give you a location map for the condo in relation to Main Street and other ski resorts.

As I said, lots of options, but if you want to go during spring break time, better get some res NOW!

Dayle -- Thank you for your reply. I've heard very good things about the canyons.... which area do you prefer and could we get away with not having a car if we just stayed in the Canyons or Deer Valley (but in a nice condo in each of the towns). I know every place is crowded during spring break but we haven't had that much of a problem in the past with Telluride (with the exception of getting into some restaurants on the spur of the moment.) Is DV better than Canyons? Which do you recommend as far as ease in being able to find a nice luxury condo that is within a short walk to the lifts and to graocery stores and restaurants?

Many thanks for your input.

PScott

Couple things to keep in mind. Park City is in the middle and fairly close to Deer Valley but some distance from the Canyons. IMO, the Canyons are so so much prefer DV and Park to the Canyons BUT you did not indicated the type of skiing that you are interested in and are some of the kids snowboarding. I think DV still prohibits snowboards. I think you should stay in Park City.

Also you are coming late for Spring skiing and with the lower altitudes of Park City it could be very marginal. We always ski the first week in March and there has been some years when it was marginal at that time.

P,

If you want luxury condos, you will have no problem. Plenty to be had a Deer Valley and Canyons, same with Park City.

During normal years, the skiing at Park City is great up until April. During April it gets to be spring skiing, with slushy conditions at the bottoms of all the resorts.

Out of the 3 areas here (I live in Park City), I prefer Park City. If you are talking about UT skiing, I'm a die hard Snowbird skier. Lots of people really like DV or Canyons. It's just all personal preference and since they are all very close together, just try them all! You don't have to stay at one and ski only there! Canyons is 10 minutes from Park City - Park City is 5 minutes from DV. They are actually closer together than the 4 Aspen ski resorts.

Staying in the Park City area would be my recommendation. Some of the condos, especially at upper DV (the Silver Lake area) are a LONG drive to anywhere else. DV is dead at night.

The Canyons is kind of off by itself with a small, manufactured "village" area at the bottom. Pretty dead most of the time.

Historical Main Street is the center of it all.

If you want to be at the base of Park City Mtn Resort - try the Marriot Mountainside. Very nice condo hotel right at the base. You can walk to Main Street from there, or if it's really cold and you have the little ones with, take the free shuttle. Extremely simple.

The one area in Park City, I would not recommend staying is in Prospector Square. Too far away from everything and a heavily commercial area. Not the ski resort atmosphere.

Hope this helps! If you narrow it down to some lodging choices, I can tell you if they are in a good location.

PS - important note. If your family has enjoyed the type of skiing in Telluride, you might prefer skiing in either Big or Little Cottonwood Canyons more than Park City. These canyons are glacier formed, steep, V-shaped canyons with lots of chutes, bowls, and steep, north facing runs. A lot like Telluride.

The Park City areas have always seemed a bit more like the majority of the CO resorts to me. Skiing more in the aspens, on more rounded mountains with longer, cruiser runs.

Yes, there are always areas with more advanced runs like Aspen Highlands and the upper bowls of Snowmass. Just speaking in general terms, to clarify before fm jumps in as the "expert".

You can have lots of fun skiing at a new mountain! Discovery is a blast. If I were you, I would go to a new place every year! Enjoy!

I also reccommend Park City. I think you will want to have a car. If not, you will need to use a shuttle from the airport and then your family would be stuck in Park City the whole time. There are lots of things to do close to Park City. Your kids may enjoy taking a day off from skiing and go over to Heber and go on the Heber Valley Railroad train ride. With the way the weather is now (warm and not much snow) there are no guarantees there will be much snow by spring break. Your family could have a good time in Park City snow or no snow.

You are correct, Dayle, I am going to have to make a comment. It is your opinion but I would not describe Park City area as like the majority of the Colorado resorts unless your were referring to the town. Then I would agree with you. In fact Breckenridge and Park City has much the same look and feel except that Breckenridge is flat. However, the ski terrain of the major Colorado resorts is much different from DV, Park City or the Canyons, Colorado terrain is closer to Alta and Snowbird.

And I am sure you meant to reference Vail when you mentioned the Upper Bowls at Snowmass since there are no bowls at Snowmass.

Thanks to all for the suggestions and info. We do NOT have any snowboarders in our group and because husband blew out knee two years ago, the majority of us will ski blues and greens only. Actually would prefer a place with no snowboarders but that is not a must. Since we will only be there 5 nights and really only have 3 days of skiing (we usually take a break in the middle to try something else with the kids), it looks like Park City or DV is our best bet. If we knew we were (most likely) going to stay put at whatever town we pick (DV or PC) and we wanted to find a nice condo near grocery store, restaurants and gondola (or whatever we will have to take to get to the ski rental/ski school place), where would you all suggest? And one last question, if we got a convenient condo, (and stayed put) should we skip the car?
Thanks again to all of you for all the input!
Pscott

Hi again P,

It might help you to look at the map of the Park City area. There is only 1 town and that is Park City. There are 3 ski resorts all within approx 5 miles, Deer Valley, Park City Mtn. Resort and The Canyons.

The only grocery stores are in Park City - The Market (off Kearns) and Albertsons (off Park Ave.), basically across the street from each other.

Restaurants are everywhere, most of them are on or near Main St. in town. "Town" means the historic park of Park City, the center of which is Main St.

If you only ski 3 days, you will probably have enough runs at any one of the areas to keep you happy. But why limit yourself? With 3 days, I would try out at least 2 areas.

Hope this helps!

PScott:

We plan on going to Telluride this year.

Can you recommend a place to stay. We are a ski group so would like to have access to the town for post ski fun.

John

fm,

No, I did not mean Vail. I meant Snowmass. The specific area I'm thinking of is perhaps more correctly called a cirque, double black skiing that drops off from the highest Snowmass lift (used to be a poma, don't know if it still is). I believe the run served by the poma was called Rocky Mtn High and had a memorial to John Denver at the top.

Some fun easy powder skiing while we were there. Unfortunately the cirque was closed to skiing and was mighty tempting.

John --

With Telluride you have a couple of different options to consider. You can stay in the town and will have all the grocery stores and restaurants you want all within walking distance pretty much (or you can take the Galloping Goose bus trolley that makes its rounds through town), or you can ride the Gondola up from town to the base of the mountain where there are some very nice (but very expensive) condos and hotels OR you can ride the Gondola further up the mountain and stay up in the Mountain Village area in very nice condos (or rent a house). We stayed up in the Mountain Village condos (altitude was 10 or 11,000 ft. and caused a few of us problems.) The next year we decided to stay down in the town of Telluride (altitude 8750) vs. mid-mountain (altitude 9750 or so), and have been much happier. We have found condos within a 4 block radius of the Gondola, grocery store, liquor store and many restaurants and bakeries. I will warn you however that for all the lovely aspects to Telluride, the altitude has caused different members of our parties over the years problems. My sister and her family came out two years ago and she threw up the entire time she was there and only skied on the morning of the day they were leaving. Last year, my husband (who had never had a problem in 6 years) passed out outside a restaurant the night we arrived after much walking around town. Other members have had headaches and insomnia. If you or any of your party think they may have altitude problems, you all will probably want to stay down in the town (which I prefer anyway.) You will NOT need a car at all once you get there if you stay in a condo within walking distance of the Gondola and Grocery store. I don't know if you are looking for hotel, condos, or private homes but if it's a condo you want, I can probably give you the name of a few.
PScott

P,

Based on your comments about staying in town at Telluride, I would definitely recommend staying either near Main Street or at the base of Park City Mtn Resort. They are just a few blocks apart, you can walk or take the shuttle whichever your prefer.

There is a lift that goes to Main Steet called the Town Lift. There is a very nice Marriott condo hotel right there. You can ski back.

You can also ski right from the Marriott Mountainside at the base of PCMR, plus there are several other condo complexes within a very short walk. Ski school is right there.

Staying at either lower or upper DV or the Canyons will feel a bit isolated for you (based on your preference to be in town).

Dayle --

Thanks again for your kind advice. Am researching PC condos and am hoping to find one on Main or near the lift. Am having a bit of trouble with many already booked or some wanting a week (we are only staying 5 nights). Oh well, I will continue on with my search. If you know of any good private condos or other condo names you can think of that fits the bill, pls. pass along.
Many thanks!
Pscott

PScott:

Great Info! I might need to consider the town condos for sure! I am comming off Heart Issues and I do not think that my cardiologist would look to kindly to my staying up over 10,000 feet!! Bad enough he is questioning my skiing this year!! But.....

Could you rec a condo, mid price, that is in/near the gondola? We usually rent a few depending on the club turnout for the trip. 2-3 bedroom condos would suit our needs.

And while you are so kind to share that info, could you rec some great Breakfast/Dinner options in town!

I skied Park City about 15 years ago and I cannot help you with the latest updates on that area!!

John

John --
We have stayed in the Ballard House many times over the last few years and it is just two or three short blocks from the Gondola. It is mainly 1 or 2 bedrooms, with only one 3BR unit in the whole building. I would say that the prices are mid-range for Telluride (check out San Sophia lodging), and it has been my favorite place primarily because it is within a 5 minute walk of just about everything we needed (grocery store, drug store, liquor store, Gondola, and many nice restaurants). However that being said, the one 3 BR unit wasn't great for people with a young family or those who have trouble going down the narrow spiral staircase to the 3rd bedroom and there wasn't a closet in the downstairs bedroom.) However, it's a fairly large unit and if someone wants privacy and doesn't mind the stairs (there is also a door leading outside to the hall downstairs so you can come and go as you please), it is not bad for the $. Last year we stayed in the River Club which was very pricey but lovely. And although if I had had my drothers, I would have stayed in the Ballard House again, things worked out for a reason and when my husband passed out (outside the restaurant), the River Club sent a car to get him and took us back to our unit. Then they took me to the local pharmacy to buy some bottled oxygen which helped him feel better faster. (I highly recommend that option if you have people that are feeling dizzy or nauseous because of the altitude.) We would not have had the luxury of the driver with the Ballard House so I appreciated the fact that we were in a place that helped us out in our time of need. (The River Club will drive you around town wherever you need to go in their Tahoe's if you don't feel like walking, you just call the Concierge.)
We have had other friends stay in other condos around the town which are in the moderate range (I think they were on Willow near the other end of time), but they definitely had a bit of a hike each time and used the Galloping Goose (the town shuttle) quite a bit. If you really want to be near the Gondola just make sure the description says how far they are from the Gondola vs. referring to the Coonskin lift or lift #7 (which are at the far end of town and are at the base of the black or advanced blue runs).
If you type Telluride Lodging into google, you will come up with all sorts of options (stay away from Etta place though as it is also at the far end of town and have heard from many dissappointed people that were not advanced skiers and thought they would be skiing in/out.
As for food, Baked in Telluride has great pizza and all sorts of baked goods and is right next to the grocery store. (You can get Breakfast, lunch and dinner food there at a reasonable price). Sofia's is a good mexican food place, Smuggler's Pub (good Pub food right across the street from the Ballard House). If you want to splurge try Cosmopolitan (in town near River Club), Sheridan Chop House (on Main Street), or Allred's (which is midpoint on the Gondola). Allred's has spectacular views (so get there before dark if you can) and wonderful food.
Hope this info. helps.
Pscott

P,

How are you looking for a condo? Prop mgmt companies, vrbo?

There are a few right on or near Main Street and many at the base of PCMR.

You might also try the web site for the local paper, The Park City Record for owner listings.

I'm sure there are plenty with less than a week requirement, but is that Easter week?

Dayle -- Yes, we are planning on a skiing trip of 6 days (5nights) somewhere between March 14 and March 23rd). I did not realize, until you mentioned it, that March 23rd is Easter. That may explain why lots of things are booked and seem very expensive. I have been looking at VRBO quite a bit but have not decided on anything yet.
Thanks for your additional suggestions.
Pscott

P,

Yes, that certainly explains it! Easter is a big demand week, especially when it is relatively early.