The relationship between the leaders of the Park City government and Park City Mountain can sometimes be strained.
There have been concerns over the years about issues related to crowds at the resort and a dispute centered on a onetime bid by the resort and its parent to secure a trademark for the name “Park City,” as examples.
But this weekend there will be accolades across Park City as the community’s namesake mountain resort celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Park City leaders have not extensively addressed the anniversary even as the municipal government acknowledges the importance of Park City Mountain to the community.
There was a brief mention of the anniversary in a December municipal resolution welcoming the winter. Officials in November, when the resort opened for the landmark season, made some of the strongest statements in praise of Park City Mountain in a report submitted to Mayor Nann Worel and the Park City Council as the resort secured an approval for a celebration of the anniversary unfolding over this weekend.
The report, drafted by City Hall staffers, covers logistical matters regarding the celebration, but it also discusses the crucial role the mountain resort played in the modern era of Park City, starting with the opening in the 1960s under a different name, Treasure Mountains.
Park City Mountain “has helped Park City move away from a relatively depressed silver mining town into a world-class mountain resort town and destination,” the report said, referring to the difficult decades of the community’s history after the silver-mining industry that drove the economy collapsed.
Park City Mountain highlights listed in the report include:
- The so-called skier subway that once “was used to transport skiers nearly 2.5 miles into the mountain through pitch black Spiro Tunnel on a mine train where skiers boarded a mining elevator that lifted them 1,750 feet up to the Thaynes chairlift. Aerial trams, once used for hauling ore, were converted into chairlifts.”
- Hosting skiing and snowboarding events during the 2002 Winter Olympics. “The constructed stadium accommodated 16,500 people per event and was 99% sold out throughout the Games, totaling 95,991 spectators. At the same time, 96% of the resort was open for normal seasonal operations, making it the only venue where spectators could leave and re-enter.”
- The 2014 acquisition of Park City Mountain by Colorado-based Vail Resorts and the subsequent linking of Park City Mountain and Canyons Resort into a single resort after they were each formerly a standalone property, “making it the largest ski resort in North America.”
The report also says Park City Mountain “has notably contributed to the resort economy.”
The mention of the role during the Games of 2002 was made as Salt Lake City and the wider region pursue a second Winter Olympics, with the event in 2034 appearing possible. Park City Mountain is identified on the concept map of competition venues for a future Games.
The celebration of the 60th anniversary continued on Saturday with a 4:30 p.m. concert by Wilderado at the Mountain Village side of the resort.