Happy Monday Party People!! I had anticipated having this quick guide up for you earlier than today BUT since a historical winter storm knocked out our power and water for a week, I had to put it on hold. So here goes!
TRAVEL
We flew from Houston on Southwest and it was a breeze. There were no direct flights, no idea why, but the stops weren’t bad. We have flown a few times during this pandemic and honestly the airlines have done such a good job keeping things clean. Make sure you have a mask you actually like though because it’s a long time to be wearing one…
Luckily we met a super nice driver while in Park City and I saved his card so that we could get a ride back to the airport and to share it with anyone. He was a little cheaper than Lyft/Uber, we knew we were getting a van for our stuff and skis and just overwall was super nice. Here is his card below!
THE SKIING
We bought the Epic season pass back in the summer because we knew we’d go skiing a few times and it would be worth it. This year we wanted to go somewhere not in Colorado and Park City was an obvious choice. On the Epic pass you can ski Park City and The Canyons. Deer Valley is right next door but it’s on the Ikon pass. Day passes for Deer Valley were $125 which we weren’t willing to spend when we had plenty of runs to visit between Park CIty and The Canyons. As far as the PC mountain…it was awesome but they are having their third worst snow year in history so a lot of the runs didn’t get to shine the way they would if they had a lot of snow and were groomed. We still enjoyed them a lot and it did take the whole time to get a real feel for the mountain because it’s so large. We took the gondola over to the Canyons twice but without much snow we didn’t really enjoy it. There two runs though that I would say are worth a morning trip over and that’s The Drop(black) and Leadfoot (blue w/ moguls). We found that a lot of the blues in PC felt like blacks in Colorado. The runs were super fun and there’s a lot of trees. If you’re able to download the Epic Mix app then do it! We loved having access to the mountain map at any time and being able to sort by closed runs and groomed runs but also able to check lift line times! The lift line times was SUPER helpful so we could try to avoid long waits.
ACCOMODATIONS & SKI SHOP
We had an AWESOME AirBNB located at the SilverStar Lift. You could ski right down to the driveway or you could ski back to the lift and leave your ski rentals at the shop. Either way it was a win win and I think being ski in/out makes the biggest difference and is worth the splurge. It was a lot of space for us but totally worth it and somewhere we would book again in a heartbeat with friends or even if it’s just us again. Our AirBnb
We have been renting skis but Philip bought some for his birthday from the shop in Park City and I stayed on demos. This shop definetly added to our experience. The owner and all of the staff was so nice and helpful. I highly recommend getting your skis here if at all possible. Visit their website to reserve skis and take a look at their restaurant guide as well! Silver Star Ski and Sport
The Silver Star Cafe is next door and unfortunately we only had lunch there once because it was SO good. When we go skiing we always go to the grocery store after checking in to our AirBnb. Eating lunch at our condo is why we like ski in/out. It’s more about us being able to ski and eat a healthier lunch than it is about the money but overall it does save us money. The food on the mountain is usually not worth the price tag. Also, neither of us love skiing on a stomach full of burgers and fries…but that’s just personal preference! It’s also nice just to be able to go back and adjust what you need to at the condo, eat and rest. We save our money and energy for going out each night! There is usually one night each vacation that we are exhausted and it’s nicer to just shower and eat the frozen pizza and ice cream we bought at the grocery store when we came in.
RESTAURANTS
The food in Park City was honestly much better than I expected. Hate me for saying it but I always feel like it’s hard to beat Texas food…it’s just good and our produce is so fresh. Anyway…here’s where we visited and some thoughts.My advice is to pick some places ahead of time and make reservations. We didn’t even think about it and scrambled to find some places to eat for the week.
Fletchers Park City – Night one was when we realized that all restaurants were on a reservation only system so we took a gamble and walked in here. We had already looked at it and thought there’s no way we can get it in…but they had a spot at the bar and we snagged it. The service and food was top notch and they had our favorite wine. I had the chicken and Philip had the strip steak…both of us would 100% order the same food again. They also served these cheddar biscuits with bacon jam that were ahhhh-mazing.
HighWest Distillery and Saloon -Once again we didn’t have a reservation (couldn’t get one in time) but since they have an extensive cocktail menu we put our name on the list and ordered drinks. I will say the guys working the stand out front were a little grumpy but I probably would too if I was standing in the cold. Either way they drastically underestimated our wait time…don’t they apps for that?! The drinks were totally worth going for though. Philip did a bourbon flight and I had a the Highwaymen’s Pardon and thank goodness they called our name after my second because I could have drank these all night! They were that good. I will say that we will not going back here for food…it honestly just wasn’t that good. I would have rather called in a pizza from next door, had a drink while waiting and then taken my pizza home. So…GO GO GO for the drinks…go somewhere else for the food. It wasn’t terrible, I don’t want to be dramatic.
Silver Star Cafe – We had this for lunch one day just because we wanted to get right back on the mountain quickly and it’s right off the lift. We had margaritas and salad and sandwiches. It was about $100 but totally worth it. I wish we would have gone here instead of HighWest for food BUT you live and learn. We’ll be back.
The Spur – This is another place I wish we would have gotten food from because the menu looks so good! We went in for cocktails while we waited on another reservation and they did not disappoint. Park City’s cocktail game is strong. The Spur also makes their own alcohol and I’m actually going to order a bottle of their Alpine Reserve to make their cocktail – Botanical Love. It was so refreshing even Philip was stealing drinks of it. Pretty sure this will be the first place we make a reservation for when we go back to PC.
ChiMayo – This place was wild y’all…it was so fun and so confusing. The margaritas were fire. The food was delicious and confusing. They bring you bread to start with a yogurt cilantro type of dipping sauce. The bread was out of this world and clearly made fresh. Then we ordered a starter of guac but it also came with burrata and hummus…chips, celery and carrots included. Like HUH?? LOL we ate it ALL. It was probably the drinks we had already consumed but there was no mistaking it was so good. Philip had a chile rellano and I had some sort of steak and shrimp that I didn’t get a picture of. Honestly I was like cocktails deep by the time my dinner came. For dessert we had the churros…omg. I can’t even think about it. I cannot WAIT to go back to this place!!
Yuki Yama – We thought we’d try sushi just because we were told by the guy at the ski shop that this place was awesome. I really don’t know what to say other than I don’t think either of us will be pushing to go back. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. There was just nothing great or memorable about it.
Last but not least, I always have to find an ice cream shop on vacation. Java Cow was legit. They also had fresh pastries and coffee. Go get an ice cream cone even if it’s 10 degrees.
I hope this helps on your next visit! We are excited to go back.
xo-
Jess
jessicatraylor.com 