In the aftermath of SKI Magazine’s ranking as the No. 6 ski resort on the continent, Park City Mountain Resort announced improvements that may boost its status.

“It’s great to be in the top 10 resorts considering who’s in that mix with the Vails and Aspens. It’s amazing that people think we’re up to par,” said Krista Parry, director of marketing and communications for the resort.

In its 45th year of operation, the resort doesn’t want to just stop there, however. Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) has invested nearly $5 million in improvements for the 2007-08 season, including new terrain, a redesigned trail map, a heated resort plaza, installation of Fast Tracks lanes at King Con lift, expanded snowmaking and environmental-friendly projects.

According to the SKI Magazine survey, PCMR ranked high on grooming, terrain and lifts but it is still trying to better its strengths.

“We focus on what they are paying the big ticket for,” Parry said.

The big ticket is access to 3,300 acres.

“Our focus is to help our guests utilize the entire mountain and challenge themselves, regardless of their ability level,” said Peter Curtis, president and general manager of PCMR, in a press release. “Our overall objective is to have people leave Park City Mountain Resort feeling a sense of satisfaction from their skiing/snowboarding experience. The improvements that we’ve made for the upcoming season definitely fit this goal, especially the new Motherlode Meadows terrain and the redesigned trail map.”

The resort changed the landscape between Single Jack and Sunnyside runs by removing diseased aspen trees while leaving the pine trees, which has “created a different environment,” Parry said.

This area will be Motherlode Meadows, which used to be called “Ford Country.” In addition, the resort has added a new run off of McConkey’s lift, bringing the total run count to 106.

The Motherlode area will be a phenomenal place to ski and snowboard,” Parry said. “We did some various glading of aspen trees. We identified diseased trees and had a horticulturalist come in and got rid of a lot of the diseased trees. It’s a unique environment and new experience up there. It’s a great experience for higher intermediate to advanced skiers and riders.”

Motherlode’s purpose is partly to raise the terrain/variety ranking.

“Our terrain/variety and terrain challenge didn’t rank as high as we wanted it to. Through all these different things, it will allow people to fully utilize our entire mountain and walk away feeling that, ‘I really had a great day there,'” Parry said.

A new trail in the area will be named Georgeanna after an old mining claim located underneath the trail. It will extend from the top of Tycoon to the bottom of McConkey’s Bowl, providing low-intermediate riders and skiers an easier way down from McConkey’s lift.

“It’s not as steep as Tycoon,” Parry said. “It will allow the lower-intermediate the opportunity to go on top and experience the spectacular views of the back side and come down a less challenging trail.”

PCMR installed Fast Tracks, a shortcut through the lift lines, for quicker access on various lifts six years ago. It’s currently available at PayDay, Eagle, Bonanza and Silverlode lifts, and this year it will also be offered for the King Con lift.

To make it easy for customers to navigate the new terrain, the resort developed an “innovative trail map,” Parry said. The maps utilize color-coded mountain areas that highlight seven zones around the mountain, displaying the amount of terrain for all ability levels in each mountain zone.

Parry said this map will offer more detail than previous guides.

“For someone who’s new and has no clue what they are looking at, it’s going to really show them (where to go and how to get there),” she said. “It will show them how they can use all 3,300 acres.”

Last year, PCMR introduced the personal mountain planner where guests can go online and develop a tour customized to their ability level. The new maps will be at the resort and at the top of each zone to help people who don’t use the planner.

The maps are intended to help the riders and skiers explore more of the mountain.

“We wanted to show our guests how much is here that they don’t know about,” Parry said. “There is a lot of great terrain in each zone.”

People tend to stay in areas they fill comfortable with, she said, like Silverlode.

“Silverlode is one of the highest traffic areas and is the smallest zone,” she said. Motherlode is enormous, hopefully people will branch out. We are hoping that through the mountain zones we will encourage people to get to different zones in the mountain. They just didn’t understand how much terrain is in one part of the mountain.”

Terrain improvement doesn’t make much sense without snow improvement as well.

“We’re always looking at what improvements will enhance the focuses of on-hill experiences with the guests,” Parry said. “Snowmaking will enhance it.”

The resort acquired 20 low-energy tower guns and six low-energy fan guns that will provide better efficiency and output while using less energy.

“They’re more efficient and make a lot more snow,” Parry said. “They don’t require air compression and we can run those simultaneously in the upper and lower parts of the mountain at the same time.”

PCMR also purchased three new snowcats, including a winch cat. All will be operated with bio-diesel fuel and are more fuel-efficient than previous snowcat models. With the purchase of the winch cat, the resort will be able to groom at least three to five signature runs a night in comparison to the two to four signature runs last year.

“Our initial objective is allowing more people to experience the entire mountain,” Parry said. “This takes some of the scare out of skiing a black diamond run because it doesn’t have the moguls on it.”

The resort also completely renovated its plaza with a snow-melt system and new concrete flooring.

“It will be easier to walk from the parking lot to the resort and that was a great addition,” Parry said.

PCMR is using a boiler that is 98 percent more efficient for heating the plaza floor, according to Parry. The resort is also looking into other eco-friendly options to offset the carbon output produced by the heated walkway. PCMR is working on a lighting retrofit using energy-efficient compact fluorescent lights, energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs and electronic ballasts in the corporate offices, the maintenance buildings and the Resort lodge. This retrofit will reduce the resort’s energy use for lighting by 50 percent, it claims.

“We are very committed to the environment here,” Parry said. “Last year we made a goal of reducing our carbon footprint by 3,500 tons and we reduced it to 3,900 tons. This year we have a bigger goal.”

For more information about Park City Mountain Resort, visit online at www.parkcitymountain.com.