Best Skiing for Beginners – Utah
Shelly and I had the joy of being in Park City Utah for the first week of the season at Deer Valley 2011. We stayed at the Waldorf Astoria (had an early season rate of $139 a night) and skied both at Park City Resort and Deer Valley. Below is our quick recap of the trip.
The Stay — Waldorf Astoria – The actual hotel was AWESOME. They had a great pool and hot tub outside to relax after a hard day on the slopes. The trick — heated concrete. While it was 30 degrees outside, your feet were nice and toasty as you trekked outside. The rooms were HUGE and service second to none. However, there was one drawback. it was a bit stuffy (surprise I know) and there was only one restaurant on property. The restaurant was WAY TOO FANCY for these ski bums. Next time I would stay in a condo in Deer Valley or the Marriott in downtown Park City.
Park City Mountain Resort — Shelly had never skied before in her life. We lucked out and found a half day ski school for beginners (the Never Evers). The deal couldn’t have been better. It was $79 for the half day lesson AND it included her skis. She had a blast and it was a great way to get acquainted with the mountain. However, there wasn’t a ton of other Green slopes for beginners. So, while we loved the ski school and I had a blast skiing on my own while Shelly was learning, it presented a challenge for what to do for the second day. so, we moved on to Deer Valley.
Deer Valley – What a DREAM this place was. It doesn’t look like much from the base, but there is a whole other city half way up the mountain and it was incredible skiing. Even better, NO SNOWBOARDERS at Deer Valley. Shelly didn’t like having the snow boarders to dodge while she was learning and this was a perfect place for her to hit the real slopes. Plus, they had a variety of greens for her to ski (including the final run called Success, which should have been a blue). Check out Deer Valley here.
Park City is located 30 minutes from Salt Lake City, which made it easy to get away. We highly encourage any family that has a mixture of ski talents to check out this great set of resorts.
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