Skiers, riders flock to Park City Mountain opening day despite low snow

The Park City area has yet to record any significant snowfall this season, but that didn’t stop Park City Mountain from opening on its target date Nov. 17.

At Mountain Village, a white ribbon on Home Run carried skiers and riders from the Payday lift as surrounding trails lay waiting for a fresh coat.

Kyle Laudenslager of Holladay got his first turns of the season Friday.

“I mean, let’s be honest, it’s man-made snow. We’ve had rain - like it’s not great snow,” Laudenslager said. 

But he said getting the chance to ski trumps those concerns.

“It’s, like, perfect. You come, you take five or six laps, jump in the car, get back to work, take some meetings, and it’s a better way to spend a Friday,” he said.

Parker Malatesta

Park City Mountain is celebrating its 60th anniversary of operation this year. To mark the occasion, six ski patrollers who worked at Treasure Mountain ski area, Park City’s former name, rode first chair. They included Jim Tedford, Bill Latimer, Clark Parkinson, John Bircumshaw, Allen Titensor, and Robert Richardson.

Jack Loosmann/Vail Resorts

Tedford described the scene at Treasure Mountain when it opened in December 1963.

“We had a gondola, chairlift, a couple of little T-bars, and 10 ski runs, and seven full-time instructors and seven full-time ski patrolmen,” Tedford said. “A day pass was $4.50 and you could get a one-week package that included lifts, lessons, and lunch for $30… Those first 10 years, there was four of us that rented a little house on the top of 8th Street for $25 a month, we split it four ways, probably can’t do that anymore.”

For economists out there, the value of a dollar has increased about 10-fold since then.

Richardson, who goes by “Pokey,” came back from school one day to his home on Norfolk Avenue and learned his backyard was being turned into a ski resort.

“The first year I worked at Clark’s, which was in the cafeteria, because I was going to the [University of Utah],” Pokey said. “The next year I got on the ski patrol and we had a blast. One of my high school friends was on too, we were both 19. We played in a band uptown, we were under age so we had to go out on our breaks.”  

Pokey named the “Hidden Splendor” run, a trail off the Silverlode lift.

Dozens of Winter Sports School graduates, adorned with caps and gowns, could be found ripping down the trail Friday morning.

Graduates Colin Campbell and Griffin Rogers said they hope it’s a new ritual.

“This is the first year, maybe we started a tradition,” they both said. “I mean it’s fitting for the Winter Sports School. I haven’t skied yet just ‘cause there’s not a lot of snow anymore, but I’m just happy to be out here,” Rogers added.

Over on the Canyons Village side of the resort, the Red Pine Gondola is running with brand new cabins, along with the Saddleback and High Meadow lifts. Beginner carpets are available at both base areas.

Park City Mountain plans to continue snowmaking operations and monitor the weather to expand terrain in the coming weeks.

Parking reservations will be required at the Mountain Village base beginning Dec. 9.