Jake Browning is from New York but no stranger to Utah skiing—he’s been coming for 25 years. He brought his rock skis to Park City this December.
“There's enough snow to have fun out there,” he said. “Not too many rocks, enough terrain to keep it interesting and varied.”
That was his trails report after downloading on Town Lift—there’s not enough snow on Quittin’ Time and Creole runs to ski back to Main Street yet.
He says he’s heard “grumbling” about this year’s bad snow but says, “Don’t believe the negative hype.”
Park City Mountain does have the most skiable acreage open in the state right now, according to spokesperson Sara Huey. She says ski patrollers and mountain ops—the ones in the black jackets—reassess trail conditions daily.
The mountain opened Dreamcatcher, Day Break, Dreamscape, Flat Iron and Sunrise lifts this week, but Dreamcatcher closed Dec. 26 around 2:30 p.m. instead of 4 p.m.
Huey says closures happen for safety reasons or to preserve the “guest experience,” and they’re more common when the snowpack is thin. Trails get worn down by skiers and groomers alike.
“We do our best to not over-groom the trails to cause long-term damage,” Elvis Johnson, senior manager of grooming, said.
Using groomers on thin snow can mix dirt and gravel into the skiing surface for the rest of the season. That means leaving some areas ungroomed with “thin cover” warnings, or other areas completely roped off.
Huey says the ropes are there for employee safety as much as guest safety.
“Because if a guest injures themself, then there are rescuers who have to go and tend to that injury,” she said. “So we do keep the whole picture in mind when we're making those decisions about closing open trails during the day.”
Opening those trails is a team effort between humans and nature. Skiers help by compacting the snow to create a firm and durable skiing surface.
But without a storm or a closure to allow for snowmaking, that surface won’t last forever. And storms have been few and far between this season.
Although it's hard to avoid comparison's to last year's record-breaking snowfall, Huey says the mountain takes every day one at a time.
As far as Browning—who hasn’t been to Utah since before the COVID-19 pandemic—is concerned, he'd "ski on an overflowing slushie machine right now."
Park City Mountain says it’s working on opening Motherlode Express next. After that are King Con, Silver Star and Eagle lifts, but dates depend on weather.
Snow guns need low temperatures and low humidity to be effective, so they most often run at night when the groomers go to work.
Park City Mountain says its groomers do advanced runs first, leaving blues and greens for last so they’re freshest when lifts open.
To see how Deer Valley Resort is navigating the lighter snow season, click here.
