Park City, Utah

For Christmas, instead of buying each other big gifts, Danny and I decided we would book a trip to go skiing out west and we chose Park City, Utah. It was my first time there, Danny’s second and most definitely not our last. I have been trying to think of a word to describe the trip and Park City itself and wonderful is the word I have used most. The city was beyond impressive with its beauty, friendly people and the exceptional transit system that is free. We spent two days skiing, and one day touring the city and bobsledding at the Olympic Park that was built for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

Our first ski day we spent at Park City Mountain Resort and it snowed the whole day, accumulating to almost a foot of fresh powder which was pretty different for New England skiers. What I loved best about the mountains we visited was that it was not just a mountain with chairlifts but a small town. Each resort offered shops, bars, restaurants, multiple hotels, lodging and activities. During the afternoon at Park City Mountain Resort we skied down to Main St in Park city and had a few drinks and then took a chair lift back to the mountain to finish off the ski day and end it with some après ski at one of the bars at the bottom. It was so cool to be able to ski right into the center of town and take a chairlift back up the mountain.

Our second day of skiing was at Deer Valley resort, clearly the Harvard of ski resorts. This place was prestigious. It was beautiful, clean and full of wealthy people; no wonder it has been ranked top Ski Resort so many times. While at Deer Valley the World Cup was going on and we were able to watch skiers compete for spots in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It was incredible to watch these athletes from all over the world do backflips on skis like it was no big deal. If this trip did one thing for me, it was get me even more excited for the Winter Olympics, especially after we took a tour of the Olympic Park. I also can’t forget to add our afternoon massages at the Spa at the Montage hotel that were incredible. We did feel a little like peasants after we left there since we had to wait for the free bus instead of having a driver like the guests there.

In between ski days we were able to take a tour of the Olympic Park and go bobsledding (insert Cool Runnings quote)! The Comet Bobsled Ride was by far one of the coolest things I have ever done. It is on the actual track that was used in the 2002 Olympics and was driven by a professional driver. It lasted just about 56 seconds and we got up to almost 80MPH. They said our speed is just a few MPH less than the Olympians do and we get to almost 5G’s of force. It was such an incredible rush and well worth the cost.

Because my posts always have something in it about fashion I will add that the thing I have realized most with ski fashion is that everyone seems to be pretty practical these days. Obviously the cost of ski clothing is the opposite of practical since it is so overpriced but let’s just say my high heel UGGs and faux vests were completely unnecessary to pack. Everyone dresses to stay warm and walk in piles of dirty snow, not necessarily to look their best but obviously I can’t help a good après ski outfit when I see one.

With Love,

Ashley