Ever since Vail purchased Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) and announced a connection between the two that would create the largest ski area in the United States, people have speculated how that would happen. New ski runs in the undeveloped mountains between the resort boundaries with new ski lifts? A gondola link much like the one that connects Whistler/Blackcomb? A very long traverse that wouldn’t be much different then what skiers find at Canyons already? Well, the answer is here as Vail published their proposed resort interconnect plan, as well as future lodge, snowmaking, and ski run upgrades for both resorts.
According to Vail, the linked resorts would create 7,300 acres of skiable terrain. To get there, it will cost an estimated $50 million. All this is slated to be done in 2015.
The big news here is the Interconnect Gondola. It will be an eight-passenger, high-speed gondola running from the base of Silverlode Lift at Park City to Canyons’ Flatiron Lift. What is interesting is that there will be very limited skiing between the resorts, but they say when conditions allow, gondola passengers will be able to unload at the top of Pine Cone Ridge and ski or ride directly down to Park City’s Thaynes Canyon trail.
In addition to the gondola, there are several lift upgrades in the works. King Con will be upgraded from a 4-person to 6-person high-speed detachable chair. Motherlode will switch from a fixed-grip triple to a 4-person high-speed detachable.
The Summit House Restaurant will be upgraded at PCMR, and the Red Pine Lodge will be expanded at Canyons for 250 more indoor seats. Also, a completely new Snow Hut restaurant, replacing the current Snow Hut next to the base of Park City’s Silverlode Lift and the Park City terminal for the Interconnect Gondola, will include 500 indoor seats. There are also plans for upgrades to Summit House.
Finally, there will be increased snowmaking and ski run improvements. The Iron Mountain area at Canyons will get additional snowmaking, and the Chicane trail will be widened to handle increased skier traffic for Interconnect Gondola access. Vail says they will also be putting another $5 million into various other maintenance projects around Park City Mountain Resort.
For the 2015-2016 ski season, the Vail says they will operate the two resorts as one unified brand under the name “Park City Mountain Resort”. The Canyons base area will be renamed “Canyons at Park City”.
So what do you think about Vail’s expansion plans to connect PCMR and Canyons? Is it about what you expected, or is it an overreach that will further promote ski resort expansion on the Wasatch Back?
For more information and updates, visit the Canyons Newsroom.