PARK CITY, Utah -- Little did those old codgers scrambling around the Wasatch Mountains for a little silver here in the 1930s know that the area's most valuable natural resource was the white stuff they were slipping and sliding on and cussing about.
The value of silver kept sliding downhill in the early 1940s (after diggers extracted more than $400 million in silver, creating 23 millionaires), so some wizened investors figured out that sliding downhill might be an even better way of making money.
The snow ski industry began slowly in Park City, with the opening of the first public ski area, Snow Park, in 1946. Treasure Mountain (now Park City Mountain resort) debuted in 1963, followed by Park west (now The Canyons) in 1968 and Deer Valley (incorporating many of the old Snow park runs) opened in 1981.
Now, it is apparent that Park City has hit the motherlode.
With its trio of outstanding ski resorts (all have been rated in the top 15 by readers of Ski magazine, with Deer Park most recently being named the No. 1 ski resort in America) and burgeoning town (now home to dozens of upscale shops and top restaurants) little ol' Park City has become the ski locale of choice for hundreds of thousands of Americans and foreigners.
With more than 350 inches of natural snow -- termed by locals as "The Greatest Snow on Earth" -- and world-class ski runs for all levels Park City has become a mecca for ski enthusiasts.
The light fluffy snow that falls here regularly (beginning in October and not ending until close to May) has been termed by ski experts as perhaps the most skiable snow in the world.
Park City's three ski resorts have make skiing a family opportunity with a variety of runs suitable for beginners, intermediate and expert skiers. Some also offer challenging terrain parks, providing snowboarders a chance to hone their skills to international levels. Indeed. many Olympic skiers and snowboarders live and train in the Park City area.
Now, many international ski competitions are held annually in Park City (with some of the 2002 Winter Olympics events also held here).
Deer Valley for seven years in a row has ranked among the top 3 American ski resorts by the prestigious Ski magazine readers, including No. 1 in 2002 and 2005, but the resort is not just sitting on its laurels. The resort for 2005-06 has invested $8 million in improvements, including an expansion of the Silver Lake Lodge deck and Ski Corral and upgrading its Sultan lift to a high-speed quad.
Deer Valley is one of the few Utah ski resorts which does not permit snowboarding (Alta is another).
Deer Valley operates 21 lifts serving 92 runs over its four-mountain ski area. At last report in mid-February the mountains had an 89-inch average snow base. Deer Valley has about 1,825 acres of skiable terrain, with its runs divided into about 15 percent beginner, 50 percent intermediate and 35 percent expert.
Park City's Main Street is located approximately 1 mile from the base of Deer Valley and easy to get to via a short drive or on the complimentary citywide bus.
Snow Park is the Deer Valley base area and is in close proximity to the downtown Historic Main Street. The Silver Lake area is a European village, located mid-mountain approximately 3.2 miles from the Snow Park base area.
In addition to the great skiing, Deer Valley Resort offers spas and health clubs, pre-arrival grocery shopping services, hot air balloon rides, snowmobile tours, old-fashioned sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing in the back-country of the Wasatch and Uinta mountain ranges and heli-skiing,
Deer Valley Resort also has a children's ski Instruction program, offering lessons for children ages 3 to 12. The resort also has a state-licensed Children's Center providing supervision and activities for non-skiing children.
Park City Mountain Resort covers about 3,300 acres, with 100 ski runs soaring as high as 10,000 feet. The resort has 14 lifts, reaching seven peaks and nine ski bowl areas. Its longest run (Home Run) is 3.5 miles. The resort's ski runs include 18 percent beginner, 44 percent intermediate and 32 percent expert. The resort has a halfpipe and a kid's halfpipe and is one of the favorite ski resorts for snowboarders. Park City Mountain Resort is home to one of the world’s largest superpipe’s with 22-foot walls. It also has four terrain parks which have been named “Terrain Parks of the Year” by Transworld Snowboarding magazine for the last two years.
The mountains have 3,100 feet of vertical drop.

At the Park City Mountain Resort you can actually ski right down to the town's old historic Main Street (and catch a lift there up to the lodge).

Park City Mountain Resort, which was rated the fifth best ski resort in the nation last year by Ski magazine readers, also offers children's ski programs, dog sledding, snowshoeing, fly fishing, snowmobiling, sleigh rides, cross-country skiing, heli-skiing, power cat skiing, ice skating and hot-air ballooning.

As a special service to intermediate skiers who occasionally like to try a black diamond (expert) run or two, Park City Mountain Resort each day grooms five black diamond runs (calling them "signature runs") to give the intermediates a shot at some steeper stuff.
The Canyons Ski Resort covers a huge part of several mountains, with 3,500 skiable acres among its more than 5,000-acre property. The resort has the largest skiable area of any resort in Utah and is one of the five largest in the U. S.
"So large and varied is The Canyons that every level of skier will find not just some terrain, but a bewildering amount of it," wrote Tony Chamberlain in the Boston Globe newspaper.
The Canyons Resort likes to say it "caters to folks who really love to ski and snowboard and can appreciate how well our diverse terrain holds and protects an average annual 355 inch bounty of snow. Whether you visit as a family, a group or a single, you'll find endless terrain for every style and ability. Take your pick: Long and gentle. Big and bowled. Steep and steeper. Aspen and pine."
The Canyons mountains run up to 9,900 feet from a base of 6,800 feet. The resort has 3,190 feet of vertical runs and skis from eight mountain peaks.
The Canyons Resort has 146 trails, including 14 percent beginner. 44 percent intermediate and 42 percent expert. The Canyons has two terrain parks, offering skiers and boarders both expert and intermediate chances to do various jumps and spins.
The Canyons Resort has plenty of chairlifts, including one eight-passenger gondola, five high-speed quad chairs, four fixed-grip quad chairs, two triple chairs, one double chair, one eight-person Cabriolet lift, one surface lift, and one Magic Carpet lift. The Canyons also offers learn to ski programs for both children and adults and a children's day-care center.
Park City's "Terrific Trio" of ski resorts all offer postcard-like views from dozens of spots on the mountains. Indeed, pausing along ski runs to drink in the views of craggy mountain peaks and deep valleys not only provides a bit of rest but lets you commune with Mother nature as well.
Park City also offers visitors a chance to do some bobsledding and ski jumping at the Utah Olympic Park on the same runs used during the 2002 Winter Olympics. The park also has two museums and offers regular tours of the site. (for more info: http://www.olyparks.com/uop/uop_home.asp.)
All three Park City ski resorts offer various dining and lodging opportunities and plenty of free parking. There is also ample lodging opportunities off the mountains in the park City area. All three resorts are only 32-36 miles from the Salt Lake City International Airport off Interstate 80, making Park City perhaps America's most accessible ski town.
The 2004-2005 ski season marked the third straight year the Big Three set records for the most number of skier days and 2005-2006 is shaping as possibly another record year. All this has also helped fuel a tremendous surge in real estate development for Park City and Summitt County, with home prices soaring in recent years.
The Park City resorts have also continued a popular ticket program began in 2003 in which those flying into Salt Lake City can show their airline boarding pass and get a free same-day lift ticket at any of the three resorts. There are 154 flights arriving into Salt Lake City each day before noon (for complete rules visit www.parkcityinfo.com)
For more information on Park City or the three ski resorts contact:
Deer Valley: 800-424-3337 or on the Internet at www.deervalley.com, Park City Mountain Resort at 800-222-7275 or www.parkcitymountain.com, The Canyons at www.thecanyons.com or 888-CANYONS, or the Park City Chamber of Commerce at 800-453-1360 or www.parkcityinfo.com. For information on any Utah ski resort contact www.skiutah.com

This story was published on 22 Feb 2006.