Preparing for the opening of the ski season at Park City Mountain typically involves tuning the skis and snowboards.
As the scheduled opening of the 2022-2023 season fast approaches, people planning to ski or snowboard at Park City Mountain also need to consider their parking plans.
The resort will debut a new system on the Park City side that relies on paid parking and parking reservations, and people who plan to ski or snowboard in the early weeks of the ski season on Wednesday will have the opportunity to begin signing up for the days they want to park.
Park City Mountain early in the week released some of the details. They include:
• Reservation sign-ups for the period of Nov. 18 until Dec. 11 will be available at noon, Mountain time, on Wednesday. Reservations will be free from Nov. 18 until Dec. 11 for the Main, Silver King and First Time lots. It will cost $40 per day for a reservation allowing someone to park in the Mountain Village Garage throughout the ski season.
• Reservations for parking in the lots on the Park City side between Dec. 12 and the end of the ski season will be available at noon, Mountain time, on Dec. 1. The reservations for parking in the Main, Silver King and First Time lots will cost $25 starting on Dec. 12 and ending on April 2. The reservations will be free between April 3 and the close of the ski season.
Park City Mountain will limit someone to a rolling cap of five reservations “in order to ensure fair access to all guests and community members across the whole season,” the resort said.
Park City Mountain said a $125 fine will be imposed for vehicles parked before 1 p.m. in the First Time, Main, Silver King and Mountain Village Garage without a reservation. The resort indicated people who repeatedly break the rules “will be subject to escalating penalties, including towing at the vehicle owner’s expense.”
Parking is free after 1 p.m. and a reservation is not required.
Park City Mountain has also launched a text alert system centered on parking. Someone may text the word PARK to 435-244-7169 to begin receiving the text alerts.
Parking on the Canyons Village side of the resort remains free and reservations are not required there. Skiers and snowboarders also may park in outlying park-and-ride locations without charge.
The new system on the Park City side of Park City Mountain is a dramatic move designed to address the large numbers of drivers that are expected to arrive in Park City during the upcoming ski season. There were widespread complaints about traffic and parking during the most recent winter, and the paid parking and reservations at Park City Mountain are seen as steps that could discourage some from driving themselves to the resort.
City Hall, though, anticipates the paid parking and reservations at Park City Mountain could impact parking in the Main Street core. The Main Street-area businesses want parking there to remain available to customers rather than being taken by skiers or snowboarders who are headed to Park City Mountain.