Escapees May-June 2024

Two offer a bike-haul option. Throw your bike on the Crescent Express to meet it at the top of the Park City side. You could also put your bike on the Red Pine Gondola to access the Canyons side. A really serious biker can ride from one side to the other on 10 miles of moderate trails, then take a free bus back to the chair lift where they started. Note that there are no services open on the mountain in the summertime. Lift service is dependent on conditions. Aim for mid-June if you want to ride the highest elevation trails; riding isn’t allowed if snow is still on the trail. Biking season begins in May with uphill-only routes. The IMBA Model Trails Program recog nizes outstanding, destination-worthy mountain bike trail systems as Ride Centers, and Park City was the fi rst to receive this designation. It has 500 miles of Gold Level trails for all skill levels, including a reason ably fl at Rails-to-Trails option that curls around town. Other Ways to Go Fast Try the Mountain Coaster and Alpine Slide for more thrills. Take PayDay chair lift to the entry point for both rides. The Mountain Coaster is a one-mile long curving track in a mountain setting. For this ride, one or two guests are seated in a car on tracks, pulled up an incline, then enjoy a gravity-fueled ride to the bottom, reaching speeds up to 25 mph. The Alpine Slide features a 3,000-foot luge-like track, one of the longest in the world. Sleds seat one or two people and are controlled with a hand break. If you take time to look at the scenery as you careen downhill, you’ll notice you’re weaving through quaking Aspens, Gambel Oak and Rocky Mountain Maple trees punctuated by Mountain Bluebells, pink phlox, and little white yarrow fl owers. If you just can’t get enough, Park City Mountain Village offers four trampo lines, mini golf, gem panning, a kids’ ropes course and two zip lines. Utah Olympic Park and Alf Engen Ski Museum If you consider zipping downhill on the Alpine Slide to be a warmup, Utah Olympic

“The…venue is still an o ffi cial United States Olympic Training Site. You might see Olympic hopeful skiers…”

Park is for you. In summer, the Olympic bobsleds are modi fi ed so that they are able to run on concrete instead of ice, and guests can ride with a professional pilot, reaching speeds of 70 mph. The 400-acre venue is still an of fi cial United States Olympic Training Site. You might see Olympic hopeful skiers and snowboarders training during your visit. Watch the calendar for competitions open to the public. You can see exhilarating ski jumping and Nordic combined events on ski jumps that were built for the 2002 Olympics. The Alf Engen Ski Museum When you see the size of these ski jumps you’ll wonder who was crazy enough to try that fi rst. Stop by the Alf Engen Ski Museumto fi nd out: Alf Engen, on wooden skis strapped to his leather shoes, brought ski jumping to Utah. In his lifetime, he was named Athlete of the Century and was the most decorated skier of all time, winning major trophies in all four ski disciplines. While you’re at the Alf Engen Ski Museum, you might let the kids try the Mountain Sports Simulator. They can rush down an Olympic bobsled run without making your own heart pound. Maybe they’ll take a virtual downhill mountain bike ride or do some powder skiing. Other displays include ski fashion over the decades and a local hall of fame. Finally, you can discover the answer to that question that’s been bugging you since you arrived: Why do they call Utah snow the “Greatest Snow on Earth”? BIANCA DUMAS , her husband and two children spent eight years traveling the US in an RV. They towed a Jeep and were often loaded down with a canoe, kayaks, bicycles and even a sailboat. They visited all of the Lower 48 states before settling down in their home state of Utah. Bianca is a freelance writer, and her work can be found in a number of travel publications.

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May/June 2024 ESCAPEES Magazine