Editor’s note: This season Park City Mountain celebrates its 60th winter season. As the season approaches, we’re looking back on the rich history of Park City Mountain from its earliest days to the world-class destination it has become today.
Following the excitement and global spotlight of the 2002 Olympics, Park City continued to grow and expand over the next decade.
Both The Canyons and Park City Mountain Resort invested in new lifts and terrain expansion and embraced snowboarding with the creation of new terrain parks and through hosting world-class events, including the 2011 FIS Freestyle World Championships.
For me, this decade marks the start of my career at Park City, as I originally joined the team in 2007 as part of the food and beverage department.
In the early 2000s, American Skiing Company continued to invest in The Canyons, adding more lift-served access to White Pine Canyon with the installation of Dreamcatcher and upgrading Tombstone Express to a high-speed six-seater in 2006.
American Skiing Company sold The Canyons to Talisker Corporation in 2008. Between 2009 and 2011, Talisker invested heavily in The Canyons — redesigning the base area, expanding terrain and adding uphill capacity. They renamed the area Canyons Resort in 2010.
As part of the base area redesign, the bottom terminal of the Red Pine Gondola was relocated to create space for a ski beach, and new restaurants opened, including The Farm, which was named Best New Restaurant in Utah by Salt Lake Magazine in 2011.
On mountain, two new lifts, Orange Bubble Express and Iron Mountain Express, were installed. Orange Bubble Express was the first enclosed, heated-seat chairlift in North America when it was installed in 2010, and it increased uphill capacity out of the base area. The installation of Iron Mountain Express in 2010 opened an additional 300 acres of lift-served terrain on Iron Mountain.
Upgrades to Canyons Resort helped bring world-class events to its slopes in the early 2010s. In February 2011, the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix at Canyons debuted, featuring the U.S. National Snowboardcross championships.
At Park City Mountain Resort, the legacy of the 2002 Games brought the 2004 World Superpipe Championships to Park City. In 2005, Park City’s terrain parks were voted No. 1 by TransWorld Snowboarding Magazine (now known as Snowboarder Magazine).
Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley jointly hosted the FIS Freestyle World Championships in 2011, with Park City hosting the slopestyle and ski halfpipe events.
Alex Schlopy of Park City won the men’s slopestyle world championship during the event. During the 2012-13 season, the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix came to Park City Mountain Resort’s Eagle Superpipe.
Following the success of the half-pipe event at the Olympics, Park City Mountain Resort expanded its terrain park offerings with the creation of Pick Axe and Little Kings in 2006, followed by 3 Kings in 2011.
“Hosting the 2002 Olympics solidified terrain parks as a staple in Park City. I’ve been extremely stoked to be part of that and to watch the growth of the sport in Park City and across the world,” said Johnny Hall, Park City Mountain terrain park manager.
Three lifts were installed at Park City Mountain Resort between 2006 and 2011. Silver Star triple chair was installed in 2006 and provided uphill access to a mountainside lodging, dining and shopping area located at the base of Thaynes Canyon. The bottom terminal of Silver Star is located near the east end of Spiro Tunnel, which housed the Skier Subway in the 1960s. The Ski Team triple chair was removed in 2008, and was replaced with Crescent Express, a high-speed four-seater.
Park City’s terrain parks received a dedicated lift in 2011 with the installation of the 3 Kings triple chair. To this day, 3 Kings is one of the most popular chairlifts on the mountain, serving our 3 Kings and Pick ‘n Shovel terrain parks and the Eagle Superpipe.
Many thanks to Sally Elliott from Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History, Connie Nelson from the Alf Engen Ski Museum and, Morgan Pierce and Dalton Gackle from the Park City Museum for their help with the history and stories of Park City Mountain over the past 60 years.
Deirdra Walsh is the vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain.