Day 1
We arrived in Salt Lake City around lunch time and hopped in our shuttle out to Park City. The drive was short and scenic and luckily we were able to get the keys to our condo as soon as we arrived. We rented a place on what was supposed to be the Cross Country ski area (or a golf course) except the lack of snow pretty much ruled out watching skiers go by our back porch. After unpacking and checking out the condo we jumped on the free shuttle and headed to Main St in the historic area of then city. We grabbed a late lunch at an Irish pub called Flannigans and spent the afternoon exploring Main St. Our evening was spent hanging out in the hot tub at the condo and meeting our neighbors.
Day 2
We slept in a little, cooked breakfast in the hours and Jeff and I headed off to our ski lesson. Took a short beginner lesson in the afternoon and then met up with everyone else for drinks and snacks at Pig Pen at the base of the mountain. We spent the evening hanging in the hottub and watching movies in the condo.
Day 3
We were up early this morning and headed out to the slopes. After a go on the beginner run we headed up the Payday lift and begin our trip to the summit at a little under 10,000ft. Upon reaching the top we were rewarded with some spectacular views of the mountain, Deer Valley and the surrounding area. It was a strange experience to be standing in snow and look across to mountains covered in green grass and trees. The summit had a little restaurant with a glass deck overlooking the whole area below and we took a break here to enjoy the view. For lunch we headed halfway down the mountain on what was an "easy" run (let me assure you some of it was not easy) and met up with Jeff and Matt. The plaec we ate had all different kinds of sandwiches, pulled pork, cubans, philly cheesesteaks, etc (all for inflated mountain prices of course!) After lunch we headed back to the summit and down the 3.5mi Homerun trail to the base of the mountain. We stopped at a cute Viking themed Yurt partway down for a break and some fantastic views. By the end of the day the runs at the bottom of the mountain turned very slushy beacuse of the warm weather, so different from where we'd spent most of our time. The day ended on Main St with sushi and a visit to some PC nightlife.
Summit Views
Ready to head down from the top
Chillin at the Yurt!
The Yurt-inal
Day 4
Everyone was pretty sore by today and this was the warmest day so far. Things on the mountain were very crowded. I spent the morning on the easy runs near the base of the mountain. The whole group met back at the Viking Yurt for lunch and it was delicious! The grilled cheese won a gold medal in 2013 at the World Cheese Festival and we could tell why! The sandwich was crispy and cheese and delicious. It was nice to relax in the sun with a warm cider and enjoy the views for awhile. I don't think I have a picture of the whole place but the Yurt was a small round building with a big outdoor seating area. Every night they bring groups of people up in horse drawn sleighs for dinner! We looked into doing this but all the reservations were full. Before our final run we downloaded on the Crescent lift for some pretty views of the city. At the end of the day we turned in our skis and spent awhile hanging out at the Lodge and listening to live music. we ended the night at Bandit's on Main St and with a soak in the hot tub.
LUNCH!!
Yurt Views
Sitting on the deck at the Mountain Lodge
Sunset from our condo
Day 5
Our last day in Park City. We were picked up at 9am and driven to the backside of Snowbird where we were outfitted for our Snowmobile trip. Up into the mountains we went! It was strange at first riding over dirt but as soon as we got into the mountains there was snow everywhere! This area gets the most snow in Utah, thank goodness. We spent the afternoon driving around meadows, up trails, by streams and through the trees. This whole area used to be a mining town, we'd seen old buildings left from these days all over Park City mountain and today we saw the mining waste disposal sites. Mark and I rounded off the evening with a delivious Valentines dinner at Prime Steakhouse (steak and scallops!) and then met up with Jeff and Matt for drinks at the Tavern this cute speakeasy themed bar.
Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to SLC and the airport.
