The Park City Ski and Snowboard Swap transformed the Basin Recreation Fieldhouse into a scene of organized chaos, drawing thousands of gear junkies to Park City for the unofficial start of winter. Volunteers and coaches from Park City Ski and Snowboard spent the week beforehand unloading and tagging donations, readying the fieldhouse for the public opening on Friday evening.
By late morning, the Fieldhouse had become something between a ski shop and a festival with aisles of coats and pants, stacks of skis, some still in their factory packaging, and the eager eyes of early arrivals peering in from the windows, counting down the hours until the doors opened.
The trick is to be there first. For a swap that’s basically the key to the gear kingdom, early arrival means first pick, and the best bang for your buck. Determined to get first dibs, Jason Bowen, an Alta ski instructor, arrived five hours early to claim the front spot in line.
“I’ve been here since around 2, but tell everybody 3:30,” he joked. “I’ve probably been here eight of the last ten years. I’ve been first in line the last three.”
You might think showing up at 2 p.m. sounds extreme — and you’d be right. Bowen held his spot solo for nearly an hour and a half before the next person arrived, who found him fast asleep in his folding chair.
The Bowens make the trip each year from Springville. For the family, the swap is the unofficial kickoff party to the ski season.
“In the beginning, it was more about the gear, and then it turned into tradition,” he said. “It’s fun, we come every year. For me, it’s the start of the ski season.”
Over the years, the event has evolved into a full family outing — one that now includes their adult children and their spouses. Jason was joined by his wife Shelley, son Grayson and family friend Mickaley Harmon.
“My son is here. It’s fun to come with our kids who have gotten married and now they bring their wives,” Jason said.
For the Bowens, the trek from Springville to Park City has become part of the ritual despite the two-hour round trip. They could go to a smaller swap closer to home, but Shelley said it wouldn’t be the same.
This swap is the big leagues, according to the Bowens. It has aisles upon aisles of stuff, and every table feels like its own ecosystem, from race gear to touring setups and tiny kid boots stacked in organized chaos.
“They have these in the Utah Valley, but this one just has that reputation. It’s where the best skiers come, and you get great deals,” Shelley said.
After more than 10 years, it’s easy to imagine the Bowens have enough skis. But it’s not really about the gear anymore, and Shelley has her own way of curbing the spending.
“Whatever he spends on skis or ski gear for himself, he’s going to match it with trees and bushes for our garden,” she said. He joked, “So, about $3.”
The Bowens aren’t alone in treating the swap like a family holiday. Across the building, in line by the back corner, Gail and Steve Halladay waited with their daughter Melissa Ricks, who first started coming when she was in middle school.
“We’ve been coming since I was in middle school — at least 25 years ago,” Ricks said. “We come every year we can.”
Now, Ricks and husband Trevor join her parents to find gear for their own kids, ages 10, 7 and 4, carrying the tradition into its third generation.
Now in its 53rd year, the Park City Ski and Snowboard Swap has changed a lot since the Halladays first started coming in 2000. They said they remember when Backcountry used to come by the event with free hot chocolate and music.
“We loved it when they used to come and give out hot chocolate and hats. It was like a party,” Gail said.
For the Halladays, that community spirit remains — every ski swap a chance to see familiar faces and outfit the next generation, now helping their grandkids find boots and skis just like they once did for their own children.
By the time doors opened, hundreds were still filling in the line around the block, and a few at the very back started to question their commitment. One woman in a fur coat finally gave up, laughing as she turned toward the parking lot.
“We don’t wanna wait,” she joked to the others waiting near the back. “I’ll pay full retail.”
Carolyn Samila and her family recently moved to Heber City from Ireland, and this was their first true dive into Utah’s ski culture.
“This is our first swap,” Samila said. “We’ve never lived in a ski area before. We came from Ireland. I learned to ski in my 30s, so my stuff isn’t too old, but my husband’s gear is decades old.”
With two small children, ages two and four, Samila was hunting for tiny boots and helmets to help get the whole family out on the hill this year.
“My goal this season is really to get the kids going so we can all ski together,” she said.
Teddy Montoya, who has split his time between Park City and Bolivia for the past 20 years, has seen firsthand how expensive the sport can be.
He attended the swap for the first time this year to help find gear to get local teens on the snow. He’s sponsoring two Park City High School students, covering gear and pass costs to make sure money isn’t what keeps them from skiing.
Montoya came with his friend Gabi Simons, who learned to ski just last year, the same season she saw snow for the first time.
“I loved it. It was really just so fun,” she said. “I’m here to get a jacket and maybe some other things.”
Originally from Bolivia, Simons is still riding the excitement of that first winter, determined to keep improving and join Montoya on bigger terrain.
“I want to improve my skiing,” she said. “I only have experience on the smaller lifts, and I want to join him on the bigger parts of the mountain.”
Meanwhile, Montoya plans to split his time between mentoring the high school skiers and keeping up his own tradition — an annual pact with friends to hit 120 days on snow before the season’s end.
“My first goal for the high-school students is to get them a cheap ski pass,” he said. “I’m looking to get 120-plus days on skis with a friend of mine — we have a goal.”
Farther down the line, Nick Vornle and Zach Frantz were killing time the way most skiers do, by talking gear and convincing themselves they needed more of it.
“There are never enough skis — not with the conditions this place brings to us,” Vornle joked.
Vornle, who made the trip from Salt Lake City, said his season goal is to get out on snow with his son.
“My 7 year old is skiing now, and I want to show him a backflip this season,” he said.
Frantz hopes to get into backcountry touring and log at least 60 ski days — though he’s most excited for his upcoming heli-ski trip to Revelstoke. Still, he may have come to the swap with an organized list of needs, like looking for a backcountry setup, a jacket and maybe some socks — but he said he’ll probably still walk out with two pairs of skis and new bindings.
By 9 p.m., the hum of the fieldhouse hadn’t slowed. The next round of shoppers filtered in as volunteers reorganized shelves and the winding checkout line stretched the perimeter of the room.
“We’re doing it as a benefit to support the community as well as our programs,” said Tommy Eckfeldt, the club’s performance sports athletic director. “It helps keep kids skiing and snowboarding on all the mountains along the Wasatch Front.”
The swap is one of the largest and longest-running in Utah — a well-oiled collaboration between local vendors, families, and the PCSS community.
“Every part, the ticket sales, a portion of proceeds from sales, comes back to the club,” Eckfeldt said. “That percentage helps us maintain our programs.”
The swap continued through the weekend, with consignors returning Sunday to reclaim what didn’t sell and volunteers boxing up the rest for St. Lawrence Thrift in Wasatch County.
