No snow?  Park City’s

Still a top destination

By Bob & Sandy Nesoff

Members-North American

Travel Journalists Association

It’s a bit disconcerting looking at the mountains that surround Utah’s Park City ski resort and see green and brown instead of white.  The area is known for its world class ski slopes and many other ski resorts become ghost towns in the off-season.

Not Park City and its neighbor, Deer Valley.

To say that there is something for everyone is a simplification.  Do you like to relax?  How about adventure?  And what about some culture?  Park City and Deer Valley have it all.

Bring a blanket or folding chair and enjoy the summer music series at Deer Valley on a slope that in winter brings skiers to the chair lifts.  The natural bowl shape enhances the music of programs ranging from classical to show tunes.  But get there early because the crowds do come and you want a prime location.

On this trip we stayed at a quaint hostelry off the main drag, the Blue Church Inn.  It was blue and we don’t know about the religious atmosphere, but it was modern, large and exceptionally comfortable, belying the building’s façade that bespeaks of something of less quality.  Just goes to prove that looks can be very deceiving.

But we came to do things and not just sit around.  A drive to the Olympic Park give the visitor an opportunity for hair raising stunts some think are best suited to be watched instead of participating.  Boy are they missing out.

The Olympic Bobsled run, set for summer with wheels instead of runners, is perhaps the most popular activity on the mountain and the lines can be long.  But the wait is worth it.

Climb into a four-man bob flanked by professional driver and brakeman, and you are about to take one the most hair raising and exciting rides of your life.

The usual questions are asked: “Are you pregnant, have a heart condition, etc., etc.  Lie if you have to in order to get on the ride.  But be aware that it is intense.

The sled rockets down a concrete chute at speeds approaching 70 miles an hour.  It caroms off the sides of the chute, rocking passengers who are crouched inside its shell.  The ride takes less than a minute and when it slows to a stop, almost to a person the rides climb out exhilarated and ready to go again.

What on earth could you do for an encore after that?  How about the Zip Line?  You may have seen Travel Channel shots of people in a harness moving along the top of the jungle on a cable from station to station.  They call that a Zip Line.

Not at Park City it isn’t.

Park City’s Zip Line is as close to parachuting as you can get without an airplane.  It goes almost straight down the mountain.  It must be safe though; they haven’t lost anyone yet.

You are strapped into a harness and then your knees are drawn up to your chest.  The soles of your feet are placed against an upright trap door…a door to hell.  Once the door opens, there is no going back and you can usually follow the more timid participants all the way down the hill by tracking their screams.

Most inadvertently slow themselves down by extending their arms and legs.  The more daring will tuck arms and legs and pick up considerable speed, arriving well ahead of those spread eagle on the parallel cable.  No need for a stress test after the bobsled and Zip Line.  Your heart will be racing.

For the adventurous who like things a bit tamer, head to the lower end of Park City.  Where lifts would take skiers to the mountain tops, horses champ at the bit waiting for riders to cover the same trails that are now grass covered.  This is no ride in Central Park, however.  Since you are riding on ski trails, some of them tend to be a bit steep, but the horses are fairly sure-footed…usually.

No question but that Park City and Deer Valley are four-season resorts.  If there was a fifth season, they would probably have something to do for that one as well