Cross Country Ski Trails in Park City, Utah

While most people think of Park City, Utah as the Mecca for downhill skiers perhaps the best kept secret is its Nordic skiing! Utah has some of the best flavors of Nordic skiing whether you are a track skiing or a backcountry skier. Summit County’s Nordic trails system has grown tremendously in both size and popularity over the past several years. And best of all, the skiing is very accessible so you aren’t spending all your time driving. It has truly become a world class Nordic system that rivals the best in the country. Park City and the surrounding area now boast nearly 80 kilometers of groomed, multi-use trails.

The skiing usually starts in early November in the high country, and the Nordic Ski Centers are operational in early December. Things wrap up at the end of March although many places push to stay open until Easter. And in the high country you can often get turns or skate the crust into May. It all depends on the weather gods, but usually they are pretty generous with the snow.

Nordic Center at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country ClubThe Jeremy Golf and Country Club sets track on its course during the winter and has discounts for TUNA (The Utah Nordic Alliance) members and is located at the Jeremy Ranch exit of I-80, just west of Park City/Kimball Junction. Hours: Monday through Sunday, 9- 5pm. Groomed daily. Food available, ski tuning available, rentals and Nordic apparel and ski’s for sale. Nordic 2015 rates.

Round ValleyThe 20 kilometers of Round Valley trails are accessed from a variety of points in Park City. The most convenient is probably the Quinn’s Trailhead near the National Ability Center complex off UT 248. These free trails are maintained by the Mountain Trails Foundation.

The Historic Union Pacific Rail TrailThe “Rail Trail” extending from Bonanza Drive in Park City to Wanship offers an additional 10-20K of groomed trail which connects directly into the Round Valley trail system.

Snyderville Basin Special Recreation DistrictJust North of Park City, Basin Recreation provides 20K of groomed multi-use trails, some of which connect directly into the Park City system. You can find the latest grooming reports for the Basin Recreation Nordic Trails here.

White Pine Nordic CenterFor the serious skier, 25K of daily groomed, fee based trails can be found at the White Pine Nordic Center.

Vail Update for January 2015

Revenue increases outpaced skier-traffic gains at the start of the 2014-15 season for Vail Resorts Inc., but both are on an upward trajectory, the company said Wednesday. Through Jan. 11, lift-ticket revenue at the nine Western resorts was up a combined 9.3 percent compared to the same early-season period in 2013-14.

Broomfield, CO - Ski resort operator Vail Resorts, Inc. reported certain ski season metrics that show an increase in both visitation and revenue at the company’s destination mountains across the western U.S.

The results are provided for the comparative periods from the beginning of the ski season through January 11, 2015, and for the prior year period through January 12, 2014, adjusted as if Park City Mountain Resorts was owned in both periods, and do not incorporate the urban ski areas of Afton Alps (Minn.) and Mt. Brighton (Mich.). Season-to-date total skier visits for the company’s nine mountain resorts were up 1.8% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Season-to-date total lift ticket revenue, including an allocated portion of season pass revenue for each applicable period, was up 9.3% compared to the prior year season-to-date period. Season-to-date ancillary spending also increased over the prior year, with ski school revenue up 9.2% and dining revenue up 6.8%. Additionally, retail/rental revenue for resort store locations was up 10.4% compared to the prior year season-to-date period.

“We are very pleased with our company-wide results season-to-date, which are consistent with our original expectations,” said Rob Katz, Chief Executive Officer.  “Our Colorado resorts had particularly strong results with very strong destination visitation and consistent conditions.  While Utah had a slower start to the holiday period, we saw very good momentum in the week following Christmas, with strong visitation at both resorts.