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Five Fabulous Things to Do On A Ski Trip Without the Skis in Park City, Utah

by shira levine (RSS feed) — Mar 14th 2011 3:01PM

You don't have to ski or snowboard to have a good time in Park City, Utah. Besides the Sundance Film Festival and all things Robert Redford, there are a slew of other fabulous ways to spend your days and nights in the resort town. Park City proves itself well in the luxury category.

We put together a list of ways to live well in the city known for having the "Greatest Snow On Earth" (and being the site of a few scenes in Dumb and Dumber), and all without having to ever put on those godforsaken foot and calf-suffocating ski boots.

Apres Ski
In a way, resort hopping the apres ski scene is Park City's other great sporting event. The French term specifically refers to the drinking and revelry that ensues after a long day of skiing or snowboarding. The art of the cocktail is nothing to scoff at in snow country and up in these mountains the Mormon influence shunning drinking and nightlife is forgotten. Alta Resort's Sitzmark Bar is a classic. Off-resort, check out High West Distillery and Saloon. They make their own whiskey and vodka and have a killer, innovative cocktail list with drinks like the High West Silver Julep using High West's Silver Oat Whiskey and Rendezvous Rye. Park City's Main Street features a collection of classic, mountain and Western motif bars and nightclubs like No Name Saloon, The Sidecar, and The Spur. There's also Downstairs, owned by Danny Masterson of "That 70s Show" fame, a hip rocker lounge that celebrities typically flock to when they're in town.

Shop
Ski bunny fashion is no joke in Park City. Locals and pros sport some of the slickest and brightest colored gear and pseudo-gear from brands like The North Face, Patagonia, and Lululemon, or, hanging in resort shopping areas in Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley Resort and The Canyons. It's hard to resist not purchasing a brilliant blue fleece when witness to everyone else looking fashionably ski hip. There's shopping too for the fashion-forward who prefer to wear something that's also stylish away from the resorts. Along Main Street are adorable boutiques like Bunya Bunya and Mary Jane's with clothing and accessories handmade by local artists and independent designers. Park City also has the largest collection of factory outlet stores in northern Utah.

The Best Ski Resorts in Utah (with video)

by shira levine (RSS feed) — Mar 4th 2011 5:31PM

To find out if the three resorts in the Park City, Utah area really do represent "The Greatest Snow on Earth", we skied and apres-skied and learned first-hand how fabulous the town and it's amenities have become. Indeed, the area has come a long way from the area's poor, silver mining history.

During the recent Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah was teeming with glittery Hollywood types littering local restaurants and bars, meanwhile abandoning the perfectly powdered slopes. Over the ten-day stretch, those idyllic resort town slopes– located less than an hour's drive from the Salt Lake City airport, stand virtually empty. It's an insider secret that the week and a half is ideal for powder junkies hungry for crowd-free runs during high season.

(Good luck finding a hotel room though!) As it turns out Hollywood isn't so into that kind of snow.

Fortunately out west ski and snowboard season run long. A good year means soft, fluffy snow starts falling just after Thanksgiving until -- if you're really, really lucky -- as late as Cinco de Mayo. Utah doesn't claim "Greatest Snow on Earth" for nothing -- the trademarked white stuff maintains a unique blend of "consistency, abundance and quality," says Ski Utah's Director of Communications Jessica Kunzer, "Anyone who skis dreams of skiing out west. You might like skiing wherever you're from originally -- if it's Minnesota, or, out east in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, [but] the general wish is to experience our soft, ice-free slopes."

The fleeting effects of Sundance come and go, but the snow steadily falls and the apres ski scene never dies. Here are three stellar spots to kick back and relax between smooth runs and story-worthy wipe-outs.