Where to Ski And Snowboard - Park City will be biggest US ski resort

Park City will be biggest US ski resort

12th September 2014, by Abi Butcher

Park City Mountain Resort is now part of the Epic Pass

Vail Resorts have bought the Utah ski resort of Park City for a cool $182.5million (£112million), further strengthening the company’s grip on the US ski industry.

Vail Resorts already owns the lease on neighbouring ski resort Canyons, and says it wants to combine the two to create the largest ski resort in the country. Vail Resorts now either owns or controls Vail, Breckenridge, Beaver Creek and Keystone in Colorado, Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood in California/Nevada as well as Park City and Canyons in Uta

The surprise announcement was made yesterday, Thursday 11 September, only two days after the family company that owned Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) agreed to pay a $17.5 million bond to allow the resort to open this season following a three-year legal battle over ownership.

Park City’s resort base, parking, lifts and snowmaking have until this week been owned and run by the Cummings family’s Powdr Corp, which leased 3,000 acres of ski terrain at the top of the mountain from Canadian company Talisker. In 2011 PCMR were late renewing their lease and Talisker instead signed a deal with Vail Resorts for a $25million, to include the running of Canyons resort next door.

Vail Resorts has bought Park City’s resort base, parking, ski terrain and lifts, as well as water and snowmaking for the entire mountain. The Cummings Family will retain Gorgoza Park, a tubing operation about 10 miles from the resort.

Vails’ acquisition of Park City means the Utah resort is the latest to join the Epic Pass. There are now 22 resorts included on the Epic collection, and more than 32,000 acres (12,950 ha) of the best skiing and riding in the world.

“Park City Mountain Resort is one of the most iconic mountain resorts in the world and as the newest addition to the Vail Resorts collection of world-class mountains, it’s now epic. We’re thrilled to be able to offer unlimited skiing and riding at Park City Mountain Resort on the Epic Pass for the 2014-15 winter season,” said Kirsten Lynch, chief marketing officer of Vail Resorts.

The 2014-15 Epic Pass, which costs US$749 for adults and US$389 for children (ages 5-12), features unlimited, unrestricted skiing and riding at Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone and Arapahoe Basin in Colorado; Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons in Park City, Utah; Heavenly, Northstar and Kirkwood at Lake Tahoe; Afton Alps in Minnesota and Mt. Brighton in Michigan. Epic Pass holders also get up to five consecutive free days when booking accommodation with the Tourist Office in Les 3 Vallées, France and Verbier, Switzerland, as well as five consecutive free days at Niseko United, Japan.

Meanwhile, former Park City owner John Cumming added: “Selling was the last thing we wanted to do, but it was the only way to provide long-term certainty for PCMR employees and the Park City community. We trust Vail will responsibly carry forward the legacy of PCMR and be a champion for the Park City community.”