Travel Swellness: Playtime in Park City

March 28, 2017

I feel like I heard about Park City many years ago, and even though I wasn’t a skier at the time, I knew I really wanted to go. Quite possibly because of the name — “park” usually is synonymous with playing — and from what I’d gathered, Park City is a destination for posh people…and I’m all ’bout that posh life.

Kidding. Kinda sorta. I’d like to be all about that posh life is probably a more accurate statement.

In January, my wish to visit Park City came true when I got the opportunity to visit for a story. And the city was even better than I’d imagined. It’s an old mining town so there are charming little homes lining the streets. I was on the slopes much of the time so I didn’t get too many photos of the homes, unfortunately. But their colourful exteriors pop brightly against the snow.

We ate at so many great spots but I think my favourite meal was a cute casual spot (one that’s oh so very Instagrammable — which is, duh, a must in my books!) where all of the ingredients were so fresh and everything was so flavourful that had just opened a few months prior called Harvest.

I had my very first turmeric tea here, and while I felt like it smelled great (and looks delicious), I wasn’t too fond of the flavour. But the pork belly sandwich I had here was filled with such fresh greens and the pork belly so flavourful and wonderfully fatty — just the right amount of fat to meat and all tucked into a soft bun. I’m salivating thinking back to it.

While the turmeric tea wasn’t for me, what I was very, very fond of? The Dead Man’s Boots cocktail at High West. It’s refreshing, and strong and pretty much is a combination of two of my fave cocktails. One is enough to knock you back a little…so , naturally, I had two! hehheh…I”m going to have to practice trying to replicate this drink at home.

A must-not miss while in Park City is SUP yoga at the Homestead Crater. There was some record snowfall while we were in town so under a thick blanket of snow, we came across a mound or dome. Enter through the door and it’s cold in the entry area, but walk in and there’s an amazing steamy, hot body of water, with natural daylight streaming in from the crater opening above.

Yoga on a SUP is a great core workout but because the water is so nice and warm, it’s fine if you mess up your pose and fall in (even though I admit I was reluctant to fall at first, falling into water is something I typically need to mentally prepare for whenever possible!). It was very unreal to know that just outside were giant fluffy snowflakes blanketing the city, while we were tucked inside in an ultra warm natural body of water. Definitely one of the coolest workouts I’ve ever done (and I’ve rappelled down a waterfall after hiking up in a river in Puerto Rico! That’s another that tops my fave workout adventures!).

The skiing here is great and the mountain is huge. We had so much fresh powder and the runs weren’t overly crowded. Although I don’t think the views are as stunning as, say, when you’re skiing with views of the Rocky or Purcell Mountains, or of Lake Tahoe, you can find some really peaceful runs and the snow is so delightful. I will say that I didn’t find the signage all too clear (and based on skiers I encountered who also got lost I’m not the only one). This is how I ended up going down underneath a lift (technically not a run based on the map, although people were obviously skiing it) in an area dominated by double black diamond runs. This was not a good thing (I have done a few single black diamonds in my short time as a skier, but never a double black diamond), but I just took a deep breath and made my way slowly down, pausing to take. And I managed to not shed a tear (although I did so mentally!) or break a leg.

Park City is owned by Vail Resorts, which means I got an instant log of my skiing thanks to their EpicMix app. Your ski pass is automatically scanned when you get on a chair lift (and that’s how it calculates how many vertical feet you’ve skied each day). I love this app. I find the data satisfying and motivating (same goes for my running using the Nike NRC app — I guess I like having concrete numbers!). And I love that you can find the photos taken on the slopes by the EpicMix photogs right there on the app. It’s not the most user-friendly app (I had to create a different account from last year using a different email because of a logistical thing with my ski pass) but hopefully those things can be smoothed out as the app is improved and updated.

For more about visiting Park City, check out my article over on VITA Daily. But if you ever have any specific questions about Park City or any other destination I’ve been to, don’t hesitate to email or message me. and I’ll answer them if I can!

 

 

 

Filed under: Travel Swellness

Tags: EpicLife, EpixMix, Park City, ski, skiing, SUP, travel, Utah, vail resorts, wanderlust