Whereas my household does most of our snowboarding in Lake Tahoe just a few hours away from house within the San Francisco Bay Space, now we have been hoping for a very long time to take a ski trip in Utah. Utah is the place I realized to ski with my dad and mom and sister once I was in highschool. I’ve wished to introduce my children to the unmatched snow and plenty of superb resorts for a very long time.
When the chance to go to Park Metropolis Mountain Resort lastly introduced itself a few ski seasons in the past due to a 3 day weekend, we jumped on the likelihood! Park Metropolis is owned and operated by Vail Resorts, identical to the resort we ski most frequently in Lake Tahoe – Northstar California Resort. Park Metropolis participates within the Epic Go making it an particularly good match for a lot of Northern Californians like my household.
Ski holidays contain a whole lot of logistics, so I did a ton of analysis and planning earlier than our journey. In fact, we realized that rather more being on the bottom, making just a few errors and stumbling into just a few tips and hacks on our three night time journey. Here’s what different first timers must know when headed to Park Metropolis Mountain to ski.
Final up to date: December 9, 2022.
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Ideas for First Timers Snowboarding Park Metropolis Mountain Resort
1. Decide a Facet & Stick with It
Park Metropolis Mountain Resort is definitely two ski resorts in a single, fashioned when Park Metropolis and the Canyons Resort merged again in 2015. This implies there are two main base areas. Whereas the perimeters are linked by each trails and lifts, traversing from one aspect to the opposite takes fairly a little bit of time. That is significantly true in case you aren’t a extra superior skier.
My recommendation is to choose a base space and plan to ski totally on that aspect for the day. Due to the recommendation of my buddy Summer time of The Factors Man (a.okay.a. MommyPoints), I realized earlier than our journey that the Canyons aspect has a whole lot of very difficult intermediate blue terrain that is perhaps an excessive amount of for my daughter on the times she skied with us. Okay, okay… I may need been intimidated a bit myself too.
Due to this inside intel, we opted for the Park Metropolis aspect. It seems we undoubtedly made the precise selection for our household, as this aspect has extra inexperienced and simpler blue terrain. Large inexperienced slopes like Claimjumper allowed my daughter to achieve confidence. We have been then capable of transfer to some simpler blues like Muckers and Treasure Hole.
I personally discovered loads of problem on different tougher blues on the Park Metropolis aspect on the day she was in ski faculty, significantly King Con and Single Jack. Utah blues are undoubtedly harder than a number of the simpler Tahoe black diamonds! And my skilled black diamond snowboarding husband discovered greater than sufficient powder and main challenges too. In brief, everybody within the household was very joyful.
Ski faculty is obtainable on both aspect. So if you will put your children in ski faculty, be sure to signal them up on the aspect that you simply personally need to ski extra for the day.
2. Don’t Skip Ski College (& E book Early)
Talking of ski faculty, I’m a giant believer in placing children in ski faculty – and for way more than a single introductory day. Although my daughter has been snowboarding for a few years, we gave her a single day refresher since this was her first day of the season. And my son was nonetheless very a lot a newbie on the time of our journey, so we enrolled him for 2 full days.
One factor I really like about Park Metropolis Mountain is that it solely affords smaller group classes for youthful children. Referred to as Max 3 (for 3-4 yr olds) and Max 4 (for ages 5-6), ski faculty class sizes are capped at 3-4 children per teacher. This ensures that the children who want it most get further private consideration and instruction. Most ski resorts owned by Vail provide related small group classes as an choice.
Once we visited, Park Metropolis provided not more than 5 children per teacher for older children as nicely, however that cap not is in place for the 2022-2023 for teenagers ages 7-14. That mentioned, we’ve by no means discovered that any Vail operated resorts have had overcrowded ski colleges for older children, so anticipate moderately sized teams. A brand new ski faculty providing for the 2022-2023 season to think about is Park Metropolis’s All-Terrain Program. These specialised group classes are for 7-14 yr olds already snowboarding blue runs, giving extra superior children an opportunity to take their snowboarding to the following degree.
Whereas ski faculty is all the time fairly costly, the pricing at Park Metropolis tends to be a bit extra affordable than what you would possibly discover for comparable small group classes at fairly just a few main ski resorts. That mentioned, you’ll pay much less in case you can plan a trip throughout non-holiday intervals. We paid $275 per day for our children the second weekend in January (related dates are actually $299 for the 2022-2023 ski season), however costs can go as much as one thing approaching $400 a day on Presidents Day weekend, for instance.
Ski faculty can and does promote out at Park Metropolis, so plan to e book nicely upfront. That is very true for vacation weekends. The cancellation coverage is beneficiant (requiring solely 48 hours discover for a full refund) so it’s all the time higher to e book ASAP and cancel in case your plans change.
3. Anticipate Site visitors on Powder Days
Due to its proximity to Salt Lake Metropolis (solely about 30 miles), locals head for the mountains when the climate brings new snow. This could imply a whole lot of visitors to Park Metropolis on powder days, as we skilled on the final day of our journey. When you exit I-80 at Kimball Junction, the highway to Park Metropolis (Freeway 224) is just 2 lanes in both course and might get very backed up. Plan accordingly if you’re attempting to get to ski faculty or a lesson on time (or conversely, if you’re headed out on the finish of the day again to the SLC airport).
4. Having a Parking or Transit Plan
As in lots of ski cities, the largest bottleneck is all of the automobiles on the mountain. Park Metropolis and the encompassing space has the most effective transit system of any ski space I’ve ever visited to assist with that. Whereas generally taking transit will be arduous for vacationers with children, undoubtedly think about it right here. Buses are frequent and serve many of the main locations skiers would wish to journey. And naturally, in case you aren’t somebody used to driving in snow, letting another person do the driving is all the time sensible.
Since our household was staying just a few miles down the highway in Kimball Junction, we opted to lease a automobile this journey. However I’d most likely make a unique resolution on our subsequent go to. Parking your personal automobile at Park Metropolis will be hit and miss. We had good luck the 2 mornings we arrived early for ski faculty on the Park Metropolis aspect by 8:15am, however I encountered a whole lot of full parking tons the third day once we arrived later within the morning to park on the Canyons Village aspect on a powder day. (Finally, I discovered a spot in the popular lot for $15 – cash nicely spent!).
Notice that there are new parking procedures for the 2022-2023 ski season that may hopefully alleviate a few of these challenges. On the Park Metropolis Mountain Village aspect, parking reservations might be required 7 days every week for arrivals earlier than 1:00pm. Charges will begin at $25 for floor tons and $40 for the storage, however autos with 4 or extra qualify as a carpool that may park without spending a dime – nice for households!
Talking of transit and parking, a whole lot of vacationers might also need to let another person do the driving from the airport as nicely. To get from the Salt Lake Metropolis Airport to Park Metropolis, there are many non-public shuttle corporations out there. One of many ones I eyed essentially the most in my analysis was Protrans, which affords transport in 4WD Suburbans for 3-5 individuals for $150 together with tip every approach.
5. Research the Map, Particularly if You’re a Newbie or Decrease Stage Intermediate Skier
It’s all the time good to spend a bit time with the path map earlier than snowboarding any new ski space. However we discovered it much more very important at Park Metropolis Mountain due to the dimensions of the resort and its problem degree. In case you aren’t an skilled skier, it’s very important to know what turns it is advisable to take so that you simply don’t find yourself on a raise serving more difficult terrain. There are many these at Park Metropolis – even some that I as a fairly strong intermediate skier needed to work to keep away from stumbling in to.
6. Have a Lunch Technique
One of many tougher logistical elements of a ski day is getting lunch. There’s all the time a significant rush in any respect the on-mountain lodges round midday when there are lengthy meals strains and a seating crunch.
Park Metropolis is best than most as a result of it’s such a big resort with many on-mountain eating decisions. We nonetheless noticed issues get fairly crowded. We opted to dine two days in a row at Miners Camp, a really massive newer lodge that will look acquainted to Tahoe skiers (each Northstar and Heavenly each have lodges which can be very related). It has essentially the most indoor seating of the lodges we scoped out, and a superb number of meals decisions from pizza to burgers to hearty soups and stews.
We discovered it doable to seek out ample seating till about 11:30, so think about beginning your ski day early and taking an early lunch. Since ski faculty drop off begins fairly early (particularly for the youthful children), we had loads of time to get in a number of snowboarding earlier than this time.
7. Take within the Historical past
It’s uncommon for a ski resort to have a lot historical past to discover, however Park Metropolis Mountain does. You possibly can even take it in whereas by no means leaving the slopes! Earlier than it was a ski resort, Park Metropolis was filled with silver mines, lots of that are nonetheless standing on the mountain immediately. There are plaques at each so you’ll be able to shortly cease and discover out in regards to the historical past of every constructing.
The resort even affords a free guide-led snowboarding tour on the Park Metropolis aspect for anybody wanting extra of a deep dive into this story. Referred to as Silver to Slopes, you solely must be an intermediate skier to take considered one of these excursions. I had the possibility to take a seat and chat with one of many guides throughout lunch sooner or later and get a crash course within the historical past myself. Effectively value it!
8. Take Benefit of Raise Ticket & Go Offers
At most main ski resorts, you’ll pay approach an excessive amount of strolling up and buying a single day raise ticket on the window, and Park Metropolis isn’t any exception. Single day raise tickets for the 2022-2023 ski season will be as excessive as $259(!). With a bit planning, you’ll be able to simply buy a raise ticket for a lot much less.
There are a whole lot of totally different low cost choices, relying on what number of days you propose to ski or trip, whether or not you will ski different Epic Go resorts the identical season, and even whether or not you’ve 4th, fifth, or sixth grader within the household. Listed below are the key methods to avoid wasting it doesn’t matter what your scenario.
Single or Multiday Park Metropolis solely raise tickets: Get a small low cost of as much as 15% by reserving your single or multiday tickets upfront on-line direct from Park Metropolis Mountain.
Undercover Vacationer Ticket & Lodge Bundle Reductions: It’s doable to avoid wasting much more on raise tickets reserving ticket plus resort packages from Undercover Vacationer. The reductions get even greater the extra days you ski. E book ski packages at Park Metropolis from Undercover Vacationer right here. I priced out a few totally different dates at totally different slopeside lodges within the space and located financial savings over buying instantly (on each the resort and the raise tickets). However their availability is typically restricted and there’s no assure their choices will all the time be cheaper – it’s all the time sensible to cost evaluate to your personal dates!
Epic Passes: I’ve already talked about the Epic Go, and I believe it is sensible for lots of skiers. The passes are not on sale for this season. They’re normally out there most years till not less than Thanksgiving or the week following, though there are greater reductions for purchasing early. In addition they entitle you to on-mountain reductions on eating, classes, and leases, so issue that into the value comparability.
There are a fairly just a few totally different Epic Passes, and the sheer variety of decisions, with varied blackout dates, resort limitations, and many others. will be overwhelming. For that purpose, I’ll spotlight just a few of the most effective decisions for Park Metropolis skiers, however you’ll be able to evaluate the entire choice and options right here.
- Epic Day Go: Obtainable for 1-7 days, merely select what number of days you need to ski at taking part resorts for the season. You possibly can pay further for a no blackout model of this move. Nice for skiers planning a few weekend journeys a season to a number of Epic Go resorts. Plus, this selection is cheaper than advance buy raise tickets at Park Metropolis Mountain on a per day foundation.
- Epic Native Go: The only option for skiers who plan to hit Park Metropolis and/or the most important Colorado resorts however not on peak holidays intervals.
- Tahoe Native Go: The only option for California-based skiers who plan to ski Park Metropolis as much as 5 days within the season however who will spend most of their ski season at Northstar, Heavenly, or Kirkwood (it’s cheaper than the Epic Native Go so in case you don’t want greater than 5 days complete at Park Metropolis plus a number of Colorado resorts, don’t pay extra!).
- Epic Go: The most costly however essentially the most versatile selection – no vacation blackouts and limitless snowboarding at Park Metropolis and dozens of different resorts included.
Ski Utah Passports for 4th, fifth & sixth Graders: You probably have a 4th, fifth or sixth grader, think about the particular Ski Utah Passport for these ages to actually save a bundle. For simply $49 for your entire season, children in these grades (no matter state of residence) can ski as much as 3 instances at every resort in Utah. No, you aren’t studying that fallacious. The deal actually is that incredible. In case you plan a single lengthy weekend journey to Park Metropolis like we did, this move may cowl a child or two in your loved ones!
9. Discover the Space
The snowboarding at Park Metropolis Mountain is so implausible that it’s arduous to not do something however ski on a Park Metropolis trip. However Park Metropolis is a tremendous city, crammed with tradition, historical past, and fabulous meals worthy of exploring individually if time permits.
As a result of a storm on our ultimate day, we weren’t capable of get into city and poke round as a lot as we had hoped this journey. However having been to Park Metropolis earlier than, I do know that the city is a large a part of the draw of this vacation spot.
We have been not less than capable of do one non-ski exercise throughout our keep, which was with the Snowed Inn Sleigh Firm. It began with us taking a horse drawn sleigh trip from the primary village at Park Metropolis up the mountain to the Snowed Inn. There, we loved a cowboy dinner of prime rib, rooster, and Utah trout with dwell music in a completely magical snowy setting. Costs in 2022 are $115 for adults and $80 for teenagers which we thought was fairly affordable for this extremely distinctive expertise and meal. Simply be sure you reserve early as a result of they promote out, particularly on weekends!
The place to Keep in Park Metropolis: Lodge Suggestions
Since Park Metropolis Mountain Resort is so huge, it most likely goes with out saying that the world has all kinds of lodging decisions. I did a whole lot of analysis earlier than our journey, trying intently on the mixture of location, facilities and value.
If you wish to ski on weekends, be ready to pay a fairly excessive value for slopeside lodging. You possibly can definitely lower your expenses and get extra staying a bit farther down the highway, however map out your transportation plans fastidiously.
A few of the finest lodging decisions for households in and round Park Metropolis embrace:
Marriott’s MountainSide (Park Metropolis Village)
Location, location, location! Since we picked the Park Metropolis aspect as our base of ski operations, I bought an opportunity to peek fairly a bit at Marriott’s MountainSide, which is positioned no various dozen ft from the Payday raise there. I don’t suppose I’ve ever seen a greater positioned ski in/ski out resort.
It’s a Marriott Trip Membership property, that means that the rooms are all condo-like lodging — splendid for households. In fact, with a fantastic location comes nice value – normally $600-1000/night time throughout ski season. If you could find availability with Marriott factors (which is, admittedly, difficult), the property will be had for round 55,000 factors an evening.
Newpark Resort (Kimball Junction)
We stayed at Newpark Resort as friends of Go to Park Metropolis for 3 nights in a two bed room suite. Our rental was huge and splendid, with a full kitchen, non-public sizzling tub on the deck, and separate bedrooms for folks and youngsters.
This resort is in Kimball Junction simply off of I-10, about 3.5 miles or 10 minutes from the Canyons base space and seven miles or quarter-hour from the Park Metropolis base space. The little bit of additional distance meant a lot extra space at a decrease value, which we actually valued as a household (though be aware that costs have elevated fairly a bit since our keep). One bed room items are about $300-400 an evening throughout winter season, and two bedrooms like ours are about $400-700.
Hyatt Centric Park Metropolis (Canyons Village)
I’ve had two well-traveled buddies advocate the Hyatt Centric Park Metropolis after staying with their children – my buddy Summer time of The Factors Man and Leslie of 365 Atlanta Traveler (see Lesli’s Hyatt Centric Park Metropolis evaluation). Situated in a ski in/ski out location within the Canyons base space, this resort has a superb location for anybody desirous to ski the Canyons aspect. Normal rooms run about $900-1000 an evening in peak ski season. It’s Class 7 property, so utilizing World of Hyatt factors (35,000 factors an evening), may current a strong worth for a keep (though inferior to it was when it was a Class 6!).
Wyndham Park Metropolis Resort (Canyons Village)
One other resort on this identical space that works nicely for households is the Wyndham Park Metropolis Resort. Rooms are one or two bed room condos and the resort is simply steps from the lifts on the Canyons village base space. My buddy and fellow household journey blogger Jen of Offers We Like stayed there on her final journey and extremely advisable it (Jen has shared her suggestions for one more Vail-owned ski resort, Stowe in Vermont, as a contributor to my web site, so test that out!)
Last Ideas
Park Metropolis is a really world class ski expertise with a family-friendly vibe. Like a whole lot of massive ski resorts, nonetheless, logistics can actually be a stumbling block for the unprepared, so do your analysis and planning upfront to maximise your likelihood of success. We will’t wait to return to Park Metropolis and expertise the most effective snow we’ve ever skied once more in future seasons!
Extra Ideas for Household Ski Holidays!
Disclosure: I obtained complimentary raise tickets and a few meals courtesy of Park Metropolis Mountain Resort in addition to lodging in partnership with Go to Park Metropolis and Ski Utah. All different journey bills have been at our personal value. As all the time, all opinions are my very own.
