Menu
Menu
Park City Weekend Palooza – Winter 2021
- By Michael Lakus
- Read Time: 5min
Park City - Presidents' Day Weekend
As foreshadowed by January’s trip to Jax, February was all about that sweet, sweet pow. Park City on Presidents’ Day weekend yielded some glorious snow, Major Tom, and some most righteous wipeouts on the slopes. Shoutout to the crew for the good times – Kolbe, aka Hypeman, Mila, Tim, Meghan, Alexa, Pete, Myla and Kenny.
The temps were quite biting and the fingers were perma-numb out there. Nevertheless, that 4K footy for the boys must be delivered.
Travel Logistics
Scored two nonstop JetBlue flights for 30K Chase UR points, AirBnb was $400, rideshares from airports were around $100, ski lift tickets for two days were $380, ski rentals were $85 - total was around $1100, including food and bevs.
Park City is a perfect weekend ski trip destination since it’s so easy to get to from Salt Lake City (40min), and rideshare service was no problem. Since the trip consisted of mainly skiing, there was not too much worth mentioning on the map this time. However, Park City’s main street is lined with restaurants, bars, shopping and more.
First Lift, First Day
The good thing about flying out west is that getting up early becomes much easier for that first lift. With the rental shop and chairlift in walking distance from the crash pad, it made everyones’ lives much easier. Park City had a storm rolling in, and the snow continued to fall all day to help soften the landings for the plethora of ski crashes I witnessed.
Day one was a big warm-up session with everyone and frequent stops to slope-side restaurants to thaw out the fingers. It was Mila’s first time skiing, and despite absolutely drop-kicking this kid with her ski on the first run, she got the pizza technique down soon after. She caught on quick and was skiing solo in no time!
Since the snow was dumping, I took some time to ski with Major Tim on some steeper terrain, too. Talk about a thigh burner day. The sauna back at the condo was a godsend. The strategically planted ices, however, were not.
Charging Hard
As the title suggests, it was time for not only myself, but Major Tim and Hypeman, to turn it up a notch. I needed to give my Atomic Punx skis a proper break in at Park City. And so it began. Tim and I got lost in the sauce while glade skiing some thigh-deep snow. Kolbe provided some spectacular cartwheel-whiplash yard sales. The Punx were great for some solid switch skiing. It was Sunday, funday – suns out, buns hurting.
We skied from open to close; in Park City and The Canyons. It was the day of days, and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to ski with everyone and have some fun out on the mountain.
Once we returned our rentals, it was time for a well deserved dinner. In true neander fashion, Kolbe and I crushed a bag of Doritos while accompanying Mila at the grocery store to make some chicken alfredo and s’mores for dessert.
Park City Main Street
With the ski days behind us, we changed up the pace and walked around Park City’s Main Street and historic district. Two notable stops were Dolly’s Bookstore (which was a bookstore in addition to ice cream and sweets) and the Park City Museum. It would be a lie to say I was at Dolly’s for the books – that Butterfinger ice cream was divine.
The Park City Museum was a $15 entry fee, and walked us through the history of the town. The exhibits covered everything from acquiring the land in the 1800’s to how the original mining town became a skiing hotspot. The place definitely exceeded expectations and I think it is worth checking out if you’re into that sort of stuff.
Mila and I had a red-eye flight same day, but that didn’t stop us form a last hoorah at Flanagan’s Irish Pub on Main. Snow bunnies, hottie totties, black and tans, car bombs – yes. The beer jackets and winter blanket were snug on the walk back.
Packing Up, Heading Out
Before we knew it, the rideshare was outside, and we were back at the airport. But not before someone snuck an Ice into my suitcase, which I fortunately discovered right before passing through the TSA checkpoint. Well played.
It no doubt was a palooza at Park City, and I’ll never pass up a chance to ski and hang out with friends slope side. And having a storm deliver some fresh snow while there is simply the cherry on top. Thanks to all, and keep charging hard.
-ML
Recap of Places
Check out the MAP for links!
- Park City and The Canyons
- Dolly’s Bookstore
- Park City Museum
- Flanagan’s on Main
Want to share?
Want to share?
Michael Lakus
IT professional, athlete, musician, ponderer of many things... Born and raised in Florida, I began traveling internationally after college. I created this site primarily to remind myself of where I've been and to share my experiences on traveling with a quirky, stress-free, travel attitude.
All Posts »