Utah Lodging advice Canyons/Park City for Utah first timers

[Ktmdad]

Couple of New England skiers and former New England skier looking to enjoy some of the "finest snow on earth" for the first time.
Trying to sift through the possibilities is quite overwhelming for a first Utah trip. We go to Brekenridge most winters and have that down pat. So advice and suggestions would be appreciated for Utah.

We buy the Epic pass as soon as it becomes available for our trips so that's all set. Cayons/Park City it is pretty much.
10 day trip scheduled for the last 10 days of March 2018 (unless consensus advise that's to late)
Need a 2 bedroom condo with full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc.
Up to $250 per night.
Either able to walk with gear to lifts in less than 10 minutes (5 better) or be directly on bus/shuttle route desired. Ski in/out NOT needed unless something in that price range is possible.
We generally ski opening to closing lifts. While a clubhouse/pool/hot tub are nice they are certainly not mandatory. All about the skiing!

This is a completely new area for us so allot to learn. I'm thinking from a bit of research to stay in the Cayons area. On VRBO I've seen some nice possibilities in the Red Pine condo complex. Anyone familiar with those? Close to the Cabriolet lift the adds mention or 200-400 yards from lift or base.
Without knowing the area at all it would be easy to make a mistake or put total trust in someone trying to rent their unit.

Any and all advice, suggestions would be very welcome!


Jeff in MA

 

[Tony]

I'm not much help on lodging as the only times I stayed near Park City in the last 15 years was a timeshare trade into a new condo at Deer Valley Snowpark base that barely was completed in time to catch some of Sundance and at friend's timeshare in Midway 20 miles past Park City. From Red Pines condos, depending on exact location, you would probably be better off crossing busy Canyons Dr for free bus to ski area than longer walk to Cabriolet, which is a parking lot lift, not a ski lift.

A bigger concern is that Park City is not the "finest snow on earth", especially later in the season. The "finest snow on earth" is on the other side of the Wasatch in Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons. A lot of PCMR faces E and some of it is low altitude, which combined with lower snowfall than the other side, means you will have more and earlier Spring conditions. I skied two days there last April and conditions at bottom of Park City side were Spring even though there was a decent storm between my days. You could get lucky, and upper lifts should be OK to very good, but with 7-9 days at the end of March, you should try to get to Alta or Snowbird at some point and would see a big difference in snowpack and conditions.

@TonyC may chime in with a stronger opinion. On his website, he has a summary page for UT and for Canyons says "As the predominant exposure of The Canyons is east, spring conditions are common in Utah’s warm weather. Throughout the Park City region we find that conditions are best during the core of the season, mid-January to mid-March. The snowfall and altitude disadvantages vs. Utah’s Cottonwood Canyon ski areas are most evident early and late in the ski season."

To me the only big advantage in late March over Breckenridge (besides being a new place for you) is that Park City is closer to SLC than Breck is to DEN. If you stay at Canyons and don't have a car, you will be riding bus to get to the nice downtown and you don't have the free other ski area options on your Vail pass that you would in CO.

 

[TonyC]

10 day trip scheduled for the last 10 days of March 2018 (unless consensus advise that's to late)

Tony has quoted my opinion well above. Yes I view that time frame as too late for Park City. Late March/early April is prime at Breck due to very high altitude. Park City is overall a very average western destination in terms of snow conditions. An average season at Park City is like the worst ever season at Alta/Snowbird (2015) in terms of snow. So a trip to Park City should be core of the season, mid-January to mid-March.

If you're stuck with that time frame, I see other options:
1) Go back to Colorado.
2) Get Mountain Collectives, go to Utah and ski Alta/Snowbird. The OP wants to be on site, so the usual stay in Salt Lake and commute plan may not appeal. You can get condo lodging at Snowbird in your price range but it may be less spacious and the washer/dryer won't be in your room.

While a clubhouse/pool/hot tub are nice they are certainly not mandatory. All about the skiing!

The pools/hot tubs at Snowbird are very nice. If it's really all about the skiing, you'll put up with having not all the amenities you mention.
3) Whistler is now an Epic Pass area. I think that will check most of your boxes. Late March is just fine there in the alpine where the best skiing is. Three of my six trips there have been in that time frame.

 

[Tony]

Bumping this to get it back towards the top as there must be some other or alternative opinions that support going to Park City in late March. But if Breck has been working for you and you already have your Epic passes, why not go back there? If you want to get to new places ski a day at A-Basin, Keystone, Vail and/or Beaver Creek while you are there?

 

[New2]

March could be tons of fun, but as the others have mentioned, it also might not be. A couple seasons ago Park City got its first rainstorm on President's Weekend. As to your other questions... the Red Pine complex probably meets your needs. There's a shuttle stop at one end of the complex... this bus would definitely take you to/from the Canyons base, and likely also into downtown Park City--if not, you'd need to transfer busses or just walk down to the stop by the Cabriolet base. The Cabriolet connects the parking lot alongside the highway up to the main base area--it's not a skiable lift, but a good alternative to avoid waiting for a bus or hiking straight to the base area. So however you do it, going from a Red Pine condo to skiing will take a little time, but it shouldn't be too bad. At the end of the day, it's likely smoother to take the shuttle or just walk back to the condo (assuming that walking downhill isn't a problem for anyone in the group).

Downtown Park City has far more dining and nightlife options, but there are several decent spots around the Canyons base, too. You mention skiing from lift open to close... night skiing is all in at the old PCMR side of the mountain, so if you stay for night skiing (which might not even be going if you're there in March), you'll need to bus/Uber back. The tradeoff, of course, is that you can be much closer to skiing at Canyons without going over your price limit.