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Skiing by design
Online program lets skiers of all abilities take advantage of Park City Resort's diverse terrain by mapping out a fulfilling day on the slopes based on individual preferences
By Mike Gorrell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 02/14/2007 08:54:51 PM MST
At the base of the Park City Mountain Resort,... (Photos by Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )«12»PARK CITY - John Feasler likes to ski powder, trees and bumps - or some combination thereof.
So when the 57-year-old retiree and Park City Mountain Resort season-pass holder punched those preferences into a Personal Mountain Planner program on the resort's Web site, the computer came back with a daylong itinerary that came close to matching Feasler's typical plan of attack.
"It was a reasonable selection for a pretty good skier on a powder day," he said of the computer's choices, ecstatic the powder happened to be plentiful as he toured the mountain Monday. Nine inches of new snow covered higher elevations, on top of 9 inches from the day before. "That was some pretty good stuff."
The Personal Mountain Planner is not particularly designed for someone like Feasler, who notched his 44th day of the season Monday and knows Park City Mountain Resort inside out. But that first-hand knowledge also gave him perspective on the appropriateness of the selected routes.
And he was impressed.
"For somebody coming to Park City [Mountain Resort] for the first time, they had it laid out pretty well," Feasler said.
It's those first-timers or occasional visitors only marginally acquainted with the resort's 3,300 acres, 15 lifts and 104 trails who could benefit most from the planner. Quite a few have taken advantage of its availability, said resort spokeswoman Krista Parry.
"Ten percent of our guests have looked at the page and downloaded a tour," she said. "We're really pleased with the response."
Based on the number of downloads, the two most popular tours are tailored to the desires of beginner to intermediate skiers.
No. 1 is a route filled with beginner "green" groomers for relaxed cruising, followed by a pair of intermediate "blue" packages: No. 2 favoring relaxed groomers, while No. 3 steps it up a bit with a preference for some steeper groomed runs.
Parry said the fourth most popular selection caters to the preferences of more advanced skiers eager to take on the challenge of the resort's "signature runs" - emphasizing expert "black diamond" trails that have been groomed.
Having a route plotted out can be invaluable to resort neophytes, who "can take it from the people who know the mountain best that this is the best way to get around and access the terrain you want," she said.
But it also can be beneficial for locals who can fall into a rut and, without meaning to, ignore parts of the mountain they might like.
"A lot of times people get stuck in their safety zones. This allows people to broaden their horizons," Parry said. "Last week I had a gentleman tell me he had taken one of the blue tours and said it was so cool. He said 'I hadn't ridden the Thaynes Lift in years. It got me to parts of the mountain I typically don't go to.' "
Troy Hawks, managing editor of the National Ski Areas Association Journal, said he knows of no other ski resort in the country that offers such a customer-friendly program.
"Beginners can find runs more appropriate for them," he said. "For your more advanced skiers, there are more direct routes to the terrain they enjoy. They can study their plan of attack on the plane to Salt Lake and then they can hit the mountain with their boots running."
The itinerary devised for Feasler did not contain any surprises or jaunts into territory he normally would not explore. But it also advised him to take a few trails, particularly lower on the mountain, that he opted to bypass, knowing that rain had fallen on those slopes Sunday, rendering them less desirable than higher-elevation slopes.
Feasler was directed to Pioneer Lift, and from there to McConkey's Lift, a path connected by a run through ankle-deep powder down Comstock trail. A couple of runs through the steep, snow-covered bumps in McConkey's Bowl were just what Feasler likes.
"If I could ski that every day, I would," he said after navigating the slopes fluidly, knees locked together, hands out front and high.
His planner then directed him back to Pioneer Lift for a run through the nicely spaced aspen trees of what is known as 10th Mountain Division - named after the famous World War II unit whose members were instrumental in developing the Western ski industry.
It is one of Feasler's favorite runs, second perhaps to Newport, a black diamond trail off Silverlode Lift. To his great pleasure, that is where his planner took him next.
After lunch, the tour proceeded to Jupiter Bowl, where powder abounded atop bumps along the ridgeline, on the steep pitch of Portuguese Gap and among the many possible points of descent between the lift and Jupiter Peak's west face.
For Feasler, who has spent much of his time skiing or fly-fishing since retiring as chief operating officer of explosives company Dyno Nobel, the tour represented Park City Mountain Resort at its finest.
"It has anything you want to ski - bumps, trees, chutes, you name it," he said. "I like variation. If you want to do high-end stuff and hike ridges, you can. But if someone comes into town who is an intermediate, the blues are fun cruising runs."
Feasler's itinerary exposed him to all of that, traversing more than 19 miles and descending more than 19,000 vertical feet during the course of the day.
Comparable statistics appear at the bottom of every downloaded tour, Parry noted, because "we want this to be a valuable tool for our guests. People can feel like they have accomplished things. One of the tours I like to pull up goes 28 miles and 22,000 vertical feet. That is quite a day."
20070214__out_ski_skiplanner_0215_1_Gallery_1_.jpg (22.82K)
Number of downloads: 15
At the base of the Park City Mountain Resort,... (Photos by Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )
20070214__out_ski_skiplanner_0215_2_Gallery_1_.jpg (19.13K)
Number of downloads: 3
John Feasler enjoys fresh powder on the Comstock... (Photos by Jim Urquhart/The Salt Lake Tribune )
mikeg@sltrib.com
