Canyons Resort was one of three
alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...
s located in
Park City
Park City may refer to: a city in Utah.
Places
* National Park City, London, England, UK; see parks and open spaces in London
in the United States
* Park City, Illinois
* Park City, Kansas
* Park City, Kentucky
* Park City, Montana
* Park City, ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. Prior to 2015, there were 19
chairlifts
An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...
, of skiable terrain and an average of of snow each winter, making Canyons the largest ski and snowboard resort in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
. The base area is located 32 miles (51 km) from the
Salt Lake City International Airport
Salt Lake City International Airport is a civil-military airport located about west of Downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. The airport is the closest commercial airport for more than 2.5 million people and is within a 30-minu ...
, accessed via
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
, and is four miles (7 km) from Main Street in Park City, along
State Route 224.
In the summer of 2010, Canyons was significantly upgraded by Talisker Corporation in order to compete with the other nearby resorts. In 2013, Talisker and
Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in four countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality o ...
signed a 50-year lease for Vail to run the resort operations. One year later, Vail Resorts purchased neighboring
Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) is a ski resort in the western United States in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. Park City, as the ski resort and area is known, contains several training courses for the U.S. Ski Team, including s ...
and merged the two resorts via an interconnect
gondola
The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...
, re-branding as Park City at that time. The former Canyons base area was then renamed as Canyons Village at Park City.
The resort has also been used as a major
concert
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...
venue hosting artists such as
Heart
The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...
,
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
,
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...
,
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd ( ) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocalist), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Ju ...
,
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...
,
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow (born February 11, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, country, folk, and blues. She has released eleven studio albums, five compilations and three li ...
,
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...
,
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
,
The B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
and
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...
.
History
The Canyons opened as Park City West in 1968, a sister resort to the nearby
Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) is a ski resort in the western United States in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. Park City, as the ski resort and area is known, contains several training courses for the U.S. Ski Team, including s ...
which opened five years earlier. It was renamed ParkWest in 1975 after a change in ownership, and the name was changed again in 1995 to Wolf Mountain (not to be confused with the small ski area
of the same name near
Ogden, Utah
Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...
) for two seasons, then became The Canyons in 1997, after the acquisition by
American Skiing Company
American Skiing Company was one of the largest operators of alpine ski, snowboard and golf resorts in the United States. Its resorts included Sunday River and Sugarloaf, in Maine, The Canyons in Utah, Killington, Mount Snow, Haystack, Heavenl ...
. In 2007, American Skiing Company sold all of its assets and dissolved as an active corporation. The Canyons sale to Talisker Corporation was finalized in 2008.
In 2010, Talisker finished significant upgrades to the resort and officially changed the name to Canyons Resort. The upgrades included relocating the base terminal of Red Pine
Gondola
The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull ...
to a new gathering area called Ski Beach, installing two
high speed quads (including Orange Bubble Express, the first chairlift in North America with heated seats), opening Iron Mountain and of new terrain, and many new dining and retail outlets.
On May 29, 2013, it was announced that
Vail Resorts
Vail Resorts, Inc. is an American mountain resort company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. The company is divided into three divisions. The mountain segment owns and operates 40 mountain resorts in four countries, Vail Resorts Hospitality o ...
would operate Canyons under a 50-year lease, with six 50-year renewal options.
Canyons under Vail Resorts
Vail Resort announced a plan to combine Canyons Resort with
Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) is a ski resort in the western United States in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. Park City, as the ski resort and area is known, contains several training courses for the U.S. Ski Team, including s ...
through an interconnect gondola between Iron Mountain at Canyons and the Silverlode lift at PCMR in 2015. The combined areas are operating as Park City Mountain Resort, but the former Canyons base area has been renamed Canyons Village at Park City. In addition, Vail has improved snowmaking and the mid-mountain chalet, Red Pine Lodge.
In 2018, High Meadow, a fixed grip quad servicing a learning area at Red Pine Lodge, was replaced with a high speed quad constructed by Doppelmayr. In 2019, an egress fixed grip quad known as Over and Out was installed to provide a direct return route from Tombstone and Iron Mountain back to the Canyons Village base area.
Resort description
Prior to its merger with Park City Mountain, Canyons Resort covered nine mountain peaks with maximum elevation of on Peak9990. The terrain had 182 trails, five bowls, six natural halfpipes, and three terrain parks. Side-mountain and backcountry skiing on the surrounding
National Forest land could be accessed through gates found on some of the peaks. In 2010, Canyons began hosting part of the Sprint Grand Prix of
Skicross
Ski cross is a skiing competition which incorporates terrain features traditionally found in freestyle skiing with courses which include big-air jumps and high-banked turns. In spite of the fact that it is a timed racing event, it is often cons ...
and
Snowboardcross
Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...
, which lasted several consecutive years.
In the summer, Canyons Resort had an extensive trail and lift system open for mountain biking or hiking. The resort also operated two zip lines and a miniature golf course.
As with most four-season resorts, Canyons Resort had dining, shopping, and lodging options. The village also hosts concerts throughout the year at its outdoor
amphitheater
An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...
.
References
External links
Park City Mountain Resort- official site
Utah Hiking and Skiing Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canyons, The
Ski areas and resorts in Utah
Sports venues in Summit County, Utah
Sports venues completed in 1968