Park City, Utah
Photograph by Justin Olsen, Canyons Resort
Best For: Cinephile families with a range of abilities
Home to the U.S. Ski Team, three sprawling ski resorts, and Utahs feathery, desert-dry powder, Park City has established itself as one of the premier ski towns in America. A 19th-century mining outpost turned glossy tourism boomtown, its chairlifts launch directly from downtown, where a skier's bridge delivers you to the city's historic Main Street and its lineup of high-end restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries.
More than anywhere in the state, Park City has a vibrant, sophisticated bar scene. Think jazz and martinis. The Sundance Film Festival arrives every January, when movie stars abound and the town becomes known as No Parking City. Fortunately, shuttle service from the Salt Lake City airport (45 minutes away) and free buses to the ski hills make car-free trips here possible.
Park City Mountain Resort is the right there option, with access from town, four terrain parks for snowboarders and freestylers, night skiing, a cutting-edge ski school, and remarkably well-rounded terrain, from gentle beginner runs to powder-filled bowls that rival fellow Wasatch Mountain areas Alta and Snowbird. Deer Valley, only one mile away, is unapologetically upmarket. Its skier numbers are capped, grooming is scrupulous, on-mountain restaurants are gourmet, and snowboards are not allowed (no word on baggy pants, but suffice it to say, there is no terrain park). The Canyons, four miles from town, is the ever-expanding upstart that has quickly grown to become the largest ski area in Utah. Impressively, each of Park Citys areas offer a hundred or more runs, bevies of high-speed lifts, and around 3,000 feet of base-to-summit vertical.
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