park city trip

Thinking about heading out to Park City this year for my first taste of out-west riding. What are reasonably price hotels to stay at? and how late does the season last? thanks

The only *reasonable* hotels are in SLC. The Super 8 and the Motel 6 come to mind.. They are right on the bus route too.

Utah often has the best snow on the planet. To get this snow and the full Utah experience, Park City is not the best choice. The best snow is not at Park City but in two canyons about 45 minutes drive from Park City. In Little Cottonwood Canyon there`s Alta, which is the absolute best in terms of snow and fantastic terrain. But they are complete a$$**&(s who don`t allow snowboards. In the same canyon is Snowbird, which also has fantastic snow, but it`s not as varied in terrain. If you like steep and deep, though, it`s a great place. (Note that I haven`t boarded there since they opened their new Mineral Basin area--maybe that`s added some additional terrain--look into this). There`s just no comparison between these resorts and Park City. If it`s snowing the legendary Utah dry snow, get thee to Snowbird for at least a day.
There`s also a couple smaller hills in the next canyon over (Big Cottonwood Canyon), Brighton and Solitiude. Of these, Brighton has the better snow. Another chance to get the legendary Utah pow if it`s snowing. If you`re going for more than, say, four or five days, Brighton would be worth a visit.
Park City has the great nightlife (really the only nightlife), lots of restaurants and bars. The mountain is big and fun.
As far as the season length, I can`t answer fully but I have experienced huge powder dumps in the first half of April.
My advice would be to stay in Salt Lake City and rent a car. Ski the different places and decide which ones you like. Go to Park City for dinner and partying. Or, take the bus to the resorts if you don`t want to deal with a car. Alternatively. stay at Park City and rent a car. Get up 45 minutes earlier and drive over to Snowbird if there`s good snow. Note that the road to Snowbird can be closed if it`s snowing heavily until the avalanche danger has passed. Do further research into this before your trip so you can maximize your chance of getting great pow.
After you come back, please post a trip report and share your opinions of the place(s) you boarded.
Alta Rant: Alta is so damn nice that I rented skis just to go there two years ago. They are just such bastards about snowboarding. They`re mostly family folks (with just a few arrogant skiers mixed in), so it`s hard to get too mad at them. They sell enough season passes every year that they will never have to let boards in. Which is a shame because they just opened a mountain top connection to Snowbird, which does allow boards. I hope someone buys them and bans skis for five years just to give skiers a taste of rejection.

Don`t worry about the alta thing... I live in SLC and brighton is the place for snowboarding. Prices are right! (they should band skiers there!!)
Anyway to answer your question. If your really set on Park City try finding places in Heber (such as The Homestead). They are about the same price as Park City, with soooo much more to offer and not as crowded. Heber is only about 30 minutes from Park City directly to the south. If you go there say hi to my grandma and stop at Yodals for some good food (Tell them your a local for the cheap menu!). As for the resort to go to in Park City... I would go to the canyons. They have tons of space for open boarding and if your going early inthe season they just bought a ton of new snow making equitment (hope they won`t need it!)
Anyway as the time comes closer, post a message here to the resort your going to and I will try and find where you can get cheap tickets!!

I have been out to SLC I`ve rented a condo at a place called Powderwood (see http://www.powderwood.com/rates.html ). It is right off the interstate on the way to Park City, and is about 2 miles from the Canyons. We found this to be a great place as it was central to all the mountains. It takes about 35-45 mins to get to Brighton/Solitude/Snowbird/Snowbasin and Poweder mountain. And of course Canyons and ParkCity are right there, as is the `night` life. As you have a kitchen, you can save some money on meals too. For 3 or more its probably the best way to go.
As for mountains, I found Snowbird and Canyons to be the best overall. I wasn`t impressed by ParkCity. I`ve not gotten into backcountry yet, but I hear that is Brightons specialty. From an on piste standpoint they are cheap, but still a few slow chairs and some of the runs are fairly short. Solitude doesn`t require the same amount of attention as the Bird, but there are a few flats that can be a pain (get wax or avoid those runs). Snowbasin was partly closed for Olympic stuff when I was there, but the part that was open was more for skiiers... not flat, but not steep either. I think the mountain is too setback so the runouts are longer.

advanced terrain. Canyons is excellent and I would recommend that for people who are a bit more intermediate. Park City is actually kind of boring. When I went there, it was like an East coast mountain with wider trails. Not very interesting.