Friday, January 31, 2020

Ski Resort Sibling Rivalry: Park City Versus Canyons

Vail Resorts acquired Canyons first. The convoluted circumstances in which POWDR Corp sold PCMR to Vail culminated in the creation of the largest resort in the United States. Vail immediately spent $50 million in connecting the two and building a new lodge.

The gondola is quick and convenient. Free Park City buses go almost nonstop from one base area to the other, so why not use the whole hill?

Whether it stems as far back as the ParkWest days or is a more recent phenomenon, when asked “Are you a Canyons or a PCMR skier?” almost everybody picks a side. There does, however, remain some commonality. On the northern sides, both have pine and fir trees. Both south sides have what I call “the little scrubby trees.” These are the most durable shrubberies one could ever get tangled in. They’re not natural and I doubt they even burn.

But the terrain is wildly different. Canyons has the 9990 and 5 chairs as well as the Super Condor. Sticks and Stones, Yard Sale, Funnel Cloud, and Aftershock are frightening to look over with little to no snow—much less to drop in. PCMR sports more groomers of varying pitch, but also is justifiably proud of the Jupiter Bowl which is, at points, a cliff with trees on it. Having a preference for one resort makes sense. It depends what kind of skier you are.

These skiers and their respective spaces are as disparate as the resorts’ snow-capped peaks and the desert to the west of Salt Lake. The fervor seems a little silly, as neither resort lies in the Cottonwoods.

Don’t make me pull over and separate you two. We’ve got more sibling rivalries to come.

This article originally appeared on Powder.com and was republished with permission.



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