Travel Diary: A Weekend Skiing in Park City, Utah

I love everything about winter, so it's probably no surprise that I love getting out on the slopes. I've been going since I was a child, so when I met my husband and learned he had never been before, I was hoping he'd love it. Fortunately for me, while he did not enjoy his first two attempts at snowboarding, he ended up loving skiing just as much as I do -- probably more! To the point that for his birthday this year, he wanted a ski trip. So after spending a few days debating when and where, we scheduled a trip to Park City at the end of January. 

I skied until switching to snowboarding in college, and switched back to skiing when my husband started learning to ski, since that seemed like a good opportunity to do so because I was tired of having to strap in and out and snowboarding was feeling harder on my body as I got older.

Last year, we decided to purchase the Epic Pass, since several of our friends had it. Our thinking was that having the Epic Pass would not only potentially save us some money on lift tickets, it would actually incentivize us to ski more often in order to make the most of the (pricey) pass. There are several different kinds of Epic Passes, but we (kind of accidentally) purchased to get the unlimited pass rather than the local pass. We picked Park City because neither of us had ever been there and the flight prices and travel time were better than some of our other options (like Sun Valley in Idaho). 

The trip itself was pretty easy. Because we're trying to take a lot of trips now to make up for not having traveled when we were younger, we try to save money where we can, so we had layovers both ways -- thank goodness for airport lounges! 

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tips and advice:

  • So the weekend we picked was actually Sundance Festival, which has its pros and cons -- the slopes are usually relatively empty during the festival, but the restaurants, bars, and hotels are busy. Sundance actually ended up going virtual the weekend we went, though the slopes still felt pretty spacious!
  • With certain resorts, you're able to pick up your rental equipment in advance or have them sent to the hotel, but unfortunately that wasn't an option for us due to how late we were arriving and the hotel's availability, respectively. 
  • We aimed to arrive at the ski resort parking lot both mornings by 8am, which worked out well for us because the parking lot was honestly 75% full by then! 
  • The weather and temperature can be misleading, depending on conditions like wind and snow. I get hot easily while skiing, and I really overestimated how cold it was going to be and ended up stripping off the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing over a sleeveless shirt, as well as the fleece inside my jacket. We rented a locker the first day, so I left them in there.
  • Double-check what kinds of trails you're considering in advance -- on our second day, I tried to take us down some different blues than the day before, but I didn't realize they were moguls (which aren't my favorite). 
  • One interesting thing to me is that when I went skiing when I was younger, I don't remember helmets being very common on the slopes. However, the last few times I've skiied, most people are wearing them, and the few who aren't really stand out. I have to say I'm so thankful that attitudes towards helmets have shifted, as skiing can be very dangerous. If you ski or snowboard, please be sure to wear a helmet. (My mother is a worrier and the older I get, the more I worry, too.) 
  • It's always worth reading the skiing responsibility code. In my opinion, skiing is a lot like driving -- yes, if someone runs into you from behind, it's their fault, but there are things you can do to be a good defensive skier and to reduce the chances of collision or injury.

itinerary:

  • We left D.C. after work on Friday evening and arrived in Park City late that night; skied both Saturday and Sunday; and flew back to D.C. on Monday morning. 
    • Friday - Arrival day! Upon checking in and grabbing a snack from the nearby Del Taco, we made sure we had all our gear ready for the next day, then went to bed since we wanted an early start the next morning. 
    • Saturday: Since I was renting gear, we left in time to arrive by 8am. The lifts opened at 9am, so we skied until 11:30am or so before eating lunch at Summit House at the top of Bonanza Lift, then returned to the slopes until the lifts closed around 4pm. For dinner, we did Fireside Dining in the Empire Canyon Lodge at Deer Valley Resort, which was a really cool experience -- it's a price fixe menu and there are stations set up all over the ground floor of a giant hotel, so you eat at your own pace and visit the stations that interest you. The vibe felt very authentic to a winter ski weekend (each room had a fireplace and cozy lighting), and the food was delicious. I also really liked that it was all you could eat because after a day of skiing, I was starving -- and wanted seconds of my favorite items! (FYI, valet parking only!)
    • Sunday: We arrived around 8am and were skiing by 9am, with lunch at the Summit House again, but we left around 2:30 because our bodies were hurting. After dropping off my rental equipment and getting a drink at Legends Bar & Grill, we back to the hotel to shower. Then we met up with a friend at the Spur for a drink before dinner at Grappo. The dinner at Grappo was also incredible. (These were 2 pricey meals, but we were okay with that because it was a birthday celebration -- we don't exchange typically exchange gifts for birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays because we'd rather focus on experiences). 
    • Monday: Left for home again! 
  • We spent most of our time the first day using the Crescent and Bonanza Lifts and going down Home Run and Bonanza Express in the morning; took Parlers Park to Silverlode Lift; and then used Motherlode Lift and skied Single Jack in the afternoon. I also really liked Hidden Splendor. We also did Thaynes Canyon to the King Con Express and did some runs there. (I would not recommend going down Silver Queen if you're uncertain about your ski skills -- it's a blue that I thought was pretty steep at the top.)
  • We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express because we have a lot of points due to holding our wedding reception at an IHG property. While it might have been nice to stay closer to the resort or not have to drive to and from, I still thought it was a pretty convenient location, especially since there were some fast food restaurants nearby that were open late on Friday when I was hungry after travel! 

photo diary:




After one photo, my husband was already over posing, so I took a lot of selfies, haha!










View from our seat at Fireside Dining at Deer Valley!

I went for the fondue, while my husband went for the bananas foster.


Headband: J. Crew Factory (affiliate link) | Sweater: Loft | Fleece-lined leggings: Plush (affiliate link) | Boots: Sorel (affiliate link)


Soo I asked my husband for a photo with the giant clock in the upper left corner ... and he didn't realize it wasn't in the photo 




Beanie: Kyi Kyi (affiliate link) | Jacket: L.L. Bean (affiliate link - comes with the flannel inside!) | Shirt: Women's Public Leadership Network (I thought it was fitting for Utah, since Utah women were the first women to cast ballots in the United States) | Ski pants: Arctix (affiliate link)




On the second day, I learned that there was whipped cream for the hot chocolate! (And yes, those are my chicken tenders, haha)

I ordered too much food and had to save my cookie SOME how...





I love how wide across the slopes were -- lots of space! That's my husband in the photo :-)


There he goes!

The Silver Queen was not my favorite blue that we did!











Main Street in Park City! I really need to learn how to photograph scenery better because my photos never do these places justice.


I really feel like Grappa is up there with the best meals I've ever had. We started off with the snow crab ravioli and mushroom soup... it was delicious.

My lobster fregola sarda -- lobster, shrimp, mussels, and more!

And dessert!

Views from heading to the airport on Monday...

where to eat and drink:

what to do:

links I used or recommend:

  • I actually didn't look at too many travel guides for this trip because skiing takes up so much time in a day! But Park City has a guide here.

I'm firmly an East Coast kind of girl, but I do love how wide and spacious the slopes are out West. However, I'm still glad that there are several resorts in Pennsylvania that are just 90-120 minutes away from us in D.C. And I'm still hoping we'll be able to get in at least one Vermont or Maine trip before the season ends, too, or get out to Sun Valley before our Epic Pass expires... wish me luck on convincing my husband!

love from


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