Two mountains, one town
Park City Mountain is Epic, sprawling, and our home hill. Deer Valley is Ikon, ski-only, and the luxury alternative ten minutes away. You can (and we do) ski one and eat in town without changing condos. That flexibility is the whole destination.
The Westgate timeshare note
We stay at Westgate. It is not a secret boutique. It is a kitchen, a pool, underground parking, and a shuttle / walk to Park City Mountain. For a family, a kitchen beats a 'ski-in boutique' that still requires a $70 breakfast. If you can trade, rent, or borrow a week here, the lodging math of Park City becomes almost reasonable. If you are paying January rack rate on Main Street, you will think about it the entire trip.
Eating with kids
Main Street is a circus at 7pm on Saturday. Go at 5:15 or eat up-mountain. Groceries: Smith's and Whole Foods exist. This sounds trivial until you have been stuck in a purpose-built village with $18 grilled cheese as the only dinner.
Rest days
Utah Olympic Park (jumps, museum, sometimes a bobsled), the town ice, a pool day, or a drive to Brighton if the kids are restless and the pass allows. Park City is the rare ski town where a non-ski day does not feel like a leftover.
Why go
- Town + two resorts without moving hotels
- SLC airport is 40 minutes
- Non-ski infrastructure (groceries, doctors, pools) of a real place
Watch-outs
- Holiday crowds at PCMR are not a rumor
- Deer Valley money and PCMR money are different sports
- Parking downtown is a hobby you can skip — shuttle or walk
