Davos hosts the powerful, Courchevel caters to the wealthy, Klosters is favoured by royalty. But, when it comes to ski resorts, nowhere can compete with the sheer star wattage of Park City. Over the last week or so, Robert Redford’s Sundance film festival brought the great and the good of Hollywood to this old silver mining town (‘howdy Mr Gyllenhaal, evenin’ Mr Elba’), proving that the biggest ski area in the US has lost none of it sparkle.
The festival has just ended, but many of the A-list will choose to return later in the year, flying into Salt Lake City International airport and making the short 40-minute drive up the road. Will Smith and Justin Bieber are among the stars to have bought homes here. The guides who I skied with here told me about some of the celebrities they had taught to ski; Selena Gomez, Joan Rivers (both delightful, apparently) and one global musical talent whose tantrums and hissy-fits meant that she was a less than an ideal student.
But that’s not to say that Park City is stuffy or suffocatingly exclusive. The streets here are not encrusted with designer boutiques in the style of Courchevel or Aspen (although it is possible to drop a four-figure sum on a pair of cowboy boots, if you are so inclined). There’s something for everyone. There are rowdy bars like ‘No Name’, which, according to legend, was ‘reappropriated’ after its owner ended up on the wrong side of the sheriff, many years ago. There’s a beautifully designed whisky distillery, High West, and no shortage of comfortable accommodation. My hotel, the Waldorf Astoria, manages to combine luxury and touches such as the vast fireplace at its heart with a laid-back atmosphere that means you don’t feel self-conscious clomping in and out of the lobby with ski boots on.
"When it comes to ski resorts, nowhere can compete with the sheer star wattage of Park City..."
Food in ski towns can be hit and miss, to put it mildly. But Park City is home to several eateries that would be worth a visit even if they were picked up and plonked back down in London or LA. Handle does inventive combinations like lamb T-bone with heirloom carrots, cider plumped golden raisins, marcona almonds and bacon, in a cool, laid-back setting. Harvest will serve you a perfect flat white or a turmeric latte alongside your avocado and sourdough. Not here, the deathless filter coffee or engine oil-like espresso that seems to be on offer in other ski town cafes.
Park City’s proximity to Salt Lake City makes it convenient for flying visits, but it also means that you’re in the heart of Utah, the Mormon State. This gives rise to some peculiarities. Mormons don’t drink, but are happy for others to do so – as long as they follow the rules. In many places it’s compulsory to order food alongside your alcoholic drink and ID is always required – I saw a very nice, stone-cold sober fellow Brit in her 50s being denied the pleasure of a glass of Sancerre with lunch because she didn’t pack her passport in her salopettes. And don’t even think of being served at a bar if you’re looking worse for wear.
Those Mormons might be onto something, though. If you abstain sufficiently to rise with the lark the next day and make it onto the first chairlift, then excellent skiing awaits. Park City is the largest ski resort in the US, with three formerly separate areas now connected by 41 lifts and accessible with just one pass that gives access to 7,300 acres of skiable terrain with 348 trails. The Wasatch Mountains are renowned for their fine, light powder and provide 8.5m of snow in an average season. That compares to around 5m in a good year in the European Alps.
Another bonus not seen in the Alps is a treeline that extends to the upper slopes, even though the highest point is 3,048m above sea level. That makes for a picturesque setting, but also helps you to spot the contours of the slopes, especially when visibility is poor.
If you’ve got any energy left, or fancy taking a day away from the hill, then spend it at Blue Sky Ranch, another 40 minutes or so along the highway. Among the 3,500 acres here you can hitch a lift on the back of a caterpillar-tracked snowcat to a clay pigeon shooting piste, or take a yoga class in a heated tent overlooking the hills below. In the summer there’s fly fishing and horse riding. Later in 2018, luxury accommodation will open. So, by the time next year’s Sundance rolls around, it’ll be a perfect spot for stars who prefer to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the festival – or, for that matter, anyone else who enjoys beautiful scenery and the finer things in life.
Skiing there
Vail Resorts, which operates Park City, offers an Epic Pass, which provides unlimited, unrestricted skiing or riding in 15 ski resorts in the US and Canada (including Whistler Blackcomb, Park City, Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek) and access to 30 European resorts across Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland. It is available to purchase for around £700 each year, before the ski season starts. During the season, lift tickets are available from snow.com
Staying there
Ski Independence has seven nights at the Waldorf Astoria Park City from £2,290pp, based on two sharing a King Junior Suite. The price includes United flights from London Heathrow to San Francisco, then on to Salt Lake City, plus private transfers to the resort, returning from Salt Lake City to Newark, then back to Heathrow. See ski-i.com.
Away from the slopes
For more information about shooting, yoga and accommodation at Blue Sky Ranch, go to: blueskyutah.com
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