Other activities

Park City offers some rare sports treats: ski jumping, luge and bobsled at the Utah Olympic Park (435-658-4200). The park hosted the 2002 Olympic competition in those events. Yes, you can fly off the end of a ramp just like the Olympians do (you'll be on much smaller ramps, but it will feel like the 120-meter jump, let us assure you). You can take jumping lessons (required rental helmets included), or ride on the Olympic luge/bobsled track in a neophyte-friendly luge "ice rocket" or as a passenger in a four-person bobsled. (They supply the driver.) Schedules are different each day, and not every activity is offered every day, so call for specifics and prices. Definitely call in advance for a spot in the bobsled—the 48-second ride of your life, wild and rugged. You won't be disappointed. The park is open daily. It's worth a tour even if you don't participate in the sports, particularly with the recent opening of its museum celebrating Utah's ski history, from the first jumping competitions to the XIX Olympic Winter Games.

Experienced skiers can ski to six different resorts via backcountry routes on the all-day Interconnect Adventure Tour (534-1907; reservations required). Mountain guides lead three to 12 skiers and both traversing and walking are necessary, so you need to be a confident skier in good physical condition. The six-area tour (Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Solitude, Brighton, Alta and Snowbird) costs $175 (05/06 price) including lunch and return transportation.

Outdoor adventures include snowmobiling, dogsledding, snowshoeing, hot air ballooning and fly fishing. You can reserve these kinds of activities by calling one central number at ABC Reservations Central, (800) 820-2223 or 649-2223. There is no reservation fee and most adventures provide free shuttle service.

Gorgoza Park, a former ski hill that is now a tubing park owned by Park City Mountain Resort, is about five minutes out of town off of I-80. You'll find family fun on eight lanes of tubing and mini-snowmobile rides. It includes Fort Frosty, with a tubing carousel and other snow features for kids 6 and younger. The resort in Park City also has sleigh rides and snowmobile tours for family activities. The town has a local skateboard park, complete with lights for night skating.

Stop by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Family History Center at 531 Main Street (Mormon church). Computers are available for genealogy checks for anyone free of charge. The excellent Park City Museum on Main Street details local history. Admission is by donation, and is open every day at varying times.

Park City's calendar has some unusual events. Park City Mountain Resort usually kicks off the season with a women's professional snowboard slopestyle competition. The resort also hosts the World Superpipe Championships. Deer Valley hosts the Sprint Grand National World Cup event the last weekend of January. The competition includes moguls, dual mogul and aerials. Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival happens in late January, showcasing new films from around the world.

PARK CITY SPA SERVICES

The 30,000-square-foot Papillon the Spa, at the Westgate Park City Resort & Spa (655-2266) at The Canyons Resort, has 17 treatment rooms (13 massage and facial, two wet rooms, a couples room and treatment suite); private men's and women's locker facilities with relaxation lounges, saunas, steamrooms, showers and a coed hot tub with cascading waterfall. Services include massages, body and facial treatments emphasizing native desert and mountain botanicals.

Full salon services, fitness facility, exercise studio and yoga studio are all on site.

Canyons Grand Summit Resort Hotel, (615-8035) slopeside at The Canyons, also has spa services (615-8035) which include body massages, facials, wraps, manicures and pedicures.

The elegant Stein Eriksen Lodge at Deer Valley also offers spa treatments (645-6475) from massages, to vichy showers, facials, soothing stone treatments, facials, manicures and pedicures.

Align Spa (647-9300) is a full-service day spa on the lobby level of Shadow Ridge Hotel and Conference Center. Massages, facials and body treatments are available.

PARK CITY CHAMBER SHOPPING PAGES

Park City has two popular shopping areas: Historic Main Street in downtown Park City and a factory outlet center on the edge of town. The outlets include Eddie Bauer, Brooks Brothers, Gap, Nike and Polo among many others. You can jump on a free shuttle or take a cab for $6 round trip per person. Park City's free shuttlebus system now operates in town and out to Kimball Junction/Factory Outlet Mall (including The Canyons Resort). Take an hour or two and walk Main Street to find museums, art galleries and fine and funky shops. A must-see is Silver Junction Mercantile with every nook and cranny crammed full of old stuff, from rusty license plates and political buttons to Elvis and Beatles memorabilia. Nativo offers high-end young clothing and avant-garde jewelry. The Park City Clothing Company in the Main Street Mall sells vintage Pendleton clothing at vintage prices. Don't miss Changing Hands, a consignment shop way off the beaten track in the back of Galleria Mall—great high-fashion ski clothes during the season and higher end labels for the rest of the inventory. Hard to find, but well worth it. If you are traveling with your pet or had to leave him at home, stop at the Love Your Pet Bakery to bring home a treat.

You can't go to Deer Valley without shopping at Deer Valley Signatures Stores, where you'll find a variety of Deer Valley logo items and exclusive merchandise, including apparel, blankets, accessories and glassware, as well as specialty Signature food items from Deer Valley's kitchens (including that fabulous turkey chili). There are three locations, open daily: Snow Park Lodge, Silver Lake Village and at 625 Main St. in downtown Park City.

Photos courtesy of Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau