Whether you’re a beginner skier or rider working on first turns — or even eyeing terrain parks — or an athlete training for the X Games or the Olympics, Woodward Park City offers something for everyone.
Right before the pandemic, in December 2019, Woodward Park City opened as the nation’s first action sports and ski resort. But just like Olympians don’t let setbacks throw them, Woodward persevered. As part of the POWDR portfolio, Woodward overcame shutdown challenges and opened under strict guidelines within the various waves of Summit County openings. Now it’s a thriving part of the Park City community and the global Woodward experiential action sports facilities.
Woodward Park City’s campus includes a 66,000-square-foot indoor action sports hub, complete with concrete and ramp zones for wheeled sports like biking and skateboarding and a trampoline and a zone for air awareness training. The full 125-acre campus includes the lift-served Woodward Mountain Park, made up of a progressive network of on-snow zones in the winter and concrete skateparks, bike trails and jumps in the summer.
The variety of offerings and features caters to everyone. Families can take it easy and go snow tubing, recreational sports enthusiasts can increase their skills, and world-class athletes can prep for competitions.
Originally founded in 1970 as a gymnastics camp in central Pennsylvania, the Woodward brand has grown into a leader of action sports progression. Now Woodward encompasses nine locations throughout the nation, and it’s scheduled to expand into Sydney, Australia, this year.
“The amazing thing about this place is that there’s something for everyone. In the winter, we promote the notion of multisport participants, from local clubs to national teams,” said Gar Trayner, Woodward Park City general manager. “Never-ever snowboarders or the recreational user has a high chance to rub shoulders with one of the best snowboarders or freeriders. Kids can bump into their heroes at any given moment.”
Trayner, an Olympian who competed for Great Britain in the slalom race at Salt Lake City’s 2002 Olympics, came to Woodward Park City after working as the director of sports education with U.S. Ski & Snowboard. There, he oversaw the certification and continuing education of 7,500 coaches in six sports and also certified 360 clubs nationwide.
Before that, he was the athletic director at Killington Mountain School, a private sports academy, and prior to that, he ran his own global sports specific travel business while coaching the Scottish National Ski Team. He was also the head coach of the British Children’s National Ski Team and the British Ski Cross for British Ski and Snowboard.
He met his wife, Megan, who was also a ski racer, right after the 2002 Olympics. She’s what led him to the United States.
He and managers like Eric Rolls, a former national team athlete and coach, ensure Woodward Park City hires the best coaches for each sport, they said.
“It’s a very competency-based process with rigorous training and constant evaluation and feedback of the coaches,” Trayner said.
Coaches go through classroom and in-field training for skill progression, philosophy, safety and protocols.
“It’s about them having the confidence and the competence to match and meet guests where they are and safely progress their skills,” he said.
Of course, progressive learning revolves around safety.
“Safety is ingrained into everything we do,” he said.
The on-mountain experience has been very purposely built from east to west. The far west delivers the highest skill-based features, like a 22-foot superpipe and big air jumps. Skilled athletes can dial in their technique with big air jump training and practicing aerial tricks in the 22-foot pipe.
A magic carpet services the lower side, where beginners and intermediates can progressively learn park elements. For example, the Start Park includes small gully “mini-pipes,” slightly banked turns and small features built on flat or a nearly flat grade.
Once beginners have mastered those, they can move onto the three progression parks, located on the east side, with their multiple features of varying ability levels.
“They’re all separate, but they’re in the same zone,” Traynerr said. “We do a really good job of maintaining our terrain and receiving feedback from the coaches and the athletes themselves and catering to their needs.”
Indoors, athletes can warm up on trampolines, and before kids or adults try a backflip on the snow or on a bike, they can use indoor ramps that lead into foam pits for safe landings; proprietary roller boards simulate snowboards and skis on the ramps.
Tuesday nights are adult nights, when coaches can help people navigate that back flip or new trick. Woodward’s Micro Clubhouse is built especially for kids ages 5 and younger, with a foam pit, trampoline and climbing wall.
Around June 15 through Oct. 1, Woodward transitions into a mountain biking mecca designed for all ages and stages, with progressive terrain ranging from simple to complex. It also offers 10 weeks of summer camps for ages 7-17 with six different sports, including BMX, skateboarding and scooters. The summer season also offers the outdoor skate park, mountain park and mountain biking.
Additionally, Woodward hosts plenty of community events, like Bikes and Brews, Thursday night yoga, sports-oriented movie premiers, Shred Talks and more.
Two food and beverage stations draw people: The Grind is a coffee shop and fully licensed bar, while downstairs, visitors can enjoy a more traditional ski lodge full menu that changes seasonally.
“A lot of people eat breakfast, lunch and dinner here,” Trayner said. “The food is surprisingly good. People come for our fries, and they stay for the salads.”
In keeping with a community-oriented, all-inclusive philosophy, Trayner also focuses on lowering the barrier to sports. He works with community clubs, schools and organizations to “open our doors to them at affordable prices and introduce them our world-class facilities, opportunities and events,” he said. “We can create programs at affordable prices. In comparison, other mountains can’t reduce costs like we do. Our price point and location near Salt Lake City is important.”
Organizations like Youth Sports Alliance Park City, which Trayner’s wife, Megan, works with to introduce students to outdoor sports, help subsidize prices through fundraising, and philanthropic endeavors also financially support such programs. Woodward also offers events like Law Enforcement Day, when police officers and their families receive special access to Woodward. And Trayner said they set competitive pricing at the start.
“I want to lower the barrier (to sports entry). We’re very fortunate to have rentals, coaches on staff and have really good relationships within the community,” he said.
He said the best way to experience Woodward is through an all-access membership, but daily passes are also available for just the mountain park, just the indoor facility, or both.