Every morning as I look out the window towards our expansive Park City ridgeline, I daydream while scanning the bands of white coursing their way through the aspens as the sun paints new-day color onto the landscape. Peering closely, I can see the ski lifts starting their day, ready to carry guests up the mountain.
I love living in a ski town.
Our community grew up as a silver town with its origins nearly 150 years ago. Skiing was just a functional activity for miners. Beginning upwards of a century ago, places like Ecker Hill, Rasmussen Ranch, Treasure Mountain and Snow Park became gathering spots for skiers. Mining remained our economic driver until a Kennedy-era government loan led to the opening of our first full-fledged ski resort, complete with a gondola. It was news that only made page three in The Park Record.
Park City became a ski town Dec. 21, 1963, with the opening of the new Park City Mountain Resort. Today, the economic engine that supports our town is powered not by mines deep in our mountains, but by the 65 ski lifts that climb our ridgeline.
While most western ski towns emanated in one form or another from mining centers, each is unique today. Park City’s decades-old focus on preserving its mining heritage has created what is arguably the most vibrant Main Street of any ski town, with a blend of modern shops and restaurants in period buildings. The nearly 10,000 acres of lift-served skiing surrounding our community is unmatched in North America. While others travel here from all corners of the globe, we locals have it all at our instant disposal.
But we also face challenges as the only ski town in North America that offers this vibe just an hour’s drive from over a million people and an international airport to boot. We’re also the only big ski town in the western USA that is surrounded by (developable) private land and not thousands of acres of protected national forest.
Yes, we are unique.
I came to Park City in 1988. There were no traffic lights and just a tiny two-lane country road coming into town. The iconic white barn was part of an operating farm until the city bought it to preserve our gateway (thank you). And it took nearly 25 minutes to ride the gondola to the Summit House at Park City Mountain. A lot has changed since then.
I tend to take the positive approach to things. Sure, it’s not the quiet town I knew back then. You have to think a little more when you drive to town or plan your day on the mountain. But I love our ski town. I enjoy bringing guests to Main Street and showing them around our mountains. I look forward to dinners out in our restaurants or having a beer from one of our breweries.
I feel privileged to be a local, though I use that term loosely as I wasn’t born in the Miners Hospital. As a local, I know how to get started early and find my way to secret runs to avoid the crowds. I use the free bus to get to lifts early and avoid the parking lots. I know where to go on powder days and have my hideaway spots for lunch or a late-morning tea.
As locals, we’re ambassadors for our town. I’m proud to tell visitors on chairlifts that I live in Park City and to welcome them to our community. I’ve probably chatted with 500 guests this winter — every last one of whom was having a memorable time in our town!
My job and my passion for skiing has taken me to resorts around the world. I’ve visited ski areas from Aspen to St. Moritz and Hakuba to Sun Valley. I’ve loved those visits but always looked forward to coming home to my own ski town and our own Park City culture.
There’s always a bit of sadness this time of year realizing that those 2-foot powder days we had over the holidays and the consistently good surface conditions all season long are fading. The next few weeks we’ll all watch the temps and the time to determine our best spring skiing slot for the day. A sure sign of spring is pond skimming, which returns Saturday — this year I’ll be a judge.
Thanks to The Park Record for allowing me to share my stories each week in Ridgelines. And a very special thanks to all of my readers, especially those who have given me a shout out on chairlifts or in coffee shops.
This is the last run of the season for Ridgelines. But I look forward to returning next November. For now, it’s off for a few more days of spring skiing then heading to the desert with the Jeeps as yet another season springs upon us.
Wisconsin native Tom Kelly landed in Park City in 1988 (still working on becoming an official local). Inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2019, he is most known for his role as lead spokesperson for Olympic skiing and snowboarding for over 30 years until his retirement in 2018. This is his 52nd season on skis.