9 a.m. Hit the (many) slopes
Ikon Pass holders will want to schuss ski-only Deer Valley, which has added 10 lifts and more than 100 trails in the past year (single-day ticket from $219 in advance online). The resort’s impeccably groomed cruisers are tempered by legit expert terrain like the Daly Chutes and Centennial’s steep glades. Epic Pass holders and snowboarders should head to Park City Mountain, which at 7,300 acres offers the most lift-served terrain in the United States (single-day ticket from $259 in advance online). The free, two-hour Silver to Slopes guided ski tour (10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.) visits on-mountain mining relics like closed-up shaft entrances (more than 1,000 miles of decommissioned mining tunnels lie under the ski area). Or book the Ski Utah Interconnect Tour, an all-day adventure for advanced skiers ($575 per person) that starts at Deer Valley and visits five other resorts via chairlifts and backcountry terrain.
12 p.m. Ski to town for lunch
Downtown’s High West Saloon (21 and up), owned by a local distillery, is immensely popular for après-ski — and nabbing a seat in this Western-themed restored livery stable can be a double-black-diamond challenge. Instead, ski there for lunch via Park City Mountain’s Quittin’ Time run (post-meal, ride the Town Lift, a block away, back up). Your consumption of High West’s bourbon may be more limited midday, but whiskey caramelized onion soup ($13) or a pretzel-crusted schnitzel ($35) will still warm your innards. At Deer Valley, click out of your skis at the mid-mountain, full-service Royal Street Cafe and refuel with the popular turkey chili, served in multiple restaurants across the resort ($18), or a buttermilk-battered fried chicken sandwich ($28).
3 p.m. Go high end or low end for après-ski
Deer Valley is known for catering to champagne and caviar tastes, and you can certainly find those slopeside at the hotel Montage Deer Valley’s Veuve Clicquot–focused Après Lounge in a luxe-level yurt. But then there’s the retro-vibed Sticky Wicket at the Silver Lake Lodge, where the knotty-pine walls are bedecked with ’80s-era ski memorabilia and revelers order a 64-ounce tabletop keg of one of eight Utah beers on draft ($48). When not advocating for better wages and benefits, Park City Mountain ski patrollers frequent the Corner Store Pub and Grill, which has been pouring pitchers (from $30) of beer for thirsty skiers since 1974. At the Canyon Villages base, head to the chic fireside lounge Après Pendry for cocktails.
4 p.m. Discover skiing’s most unusual lift
The Park City Museum in the heart of town (open until 5 p.m.) has both permanent and changing exhibitions ($15 admission). Learn about the Great Fire of 1898, which destroyed the town’s commercial district, and the intricacies of mining, among other historical exhibits. Be sure to sit in the “skier subway” car; this unusual conveyance opened in December 1964 at Park City Mountain (then called Treasure Mountain) and shuttled skiers for three miles through a dank mining tunnel to an elevator, which guests then rode 1,800 vertical feet to a chairlift above ground. The novelty quickly wore off, and the subway lasted only four years.
6:30 p.m. Dine on French fare in a historic train station
The menu at Le Depot Brasserie, opened last March by the James Beard-award-winning chef Galen Zamarra, offers well-crafted classic French dishes (including steak frites, $40) and a three-course cheese fondue dinner ($55 per person, reserve ahead). But the setting is uniquely Park City, in a former wood-shingled Union Pacific train depot from 1886 that has been beautifully restored, melding vintage stained-glass windows and artwork with traditional bistro elements like brass light fixtures and marble-topped tables. (Longtime Park City visitors will remember the building as the site of the late Robert Redford’s beloved Zoom restaurant for more than 20 years.) Le Depot also shares a pastry chef with the adjacent Union Patisserie, so leave space for decadent desserts like profiteroles with bourbon-caramel chocolate sauce ($18).
8 p.m. Bar-hop downtown
Within a few blocks along Main Street, a nationally registered historic district, you’ll find live music, boisterous bars and quieter spots for sipping cocktails. Check the schedule at the nearly 100-year-old Egyptian Theater, a beloved community landmark that hosts concerts, theater and comedy. A visit to the long-running No Name Saloon can be entertainment in itself: The first floor is adorned with a scrappy collection of vintage objects, like a snowmobile, a motorcycle and a chairlift; locals come for the burgers and Utah beers, heated rooftop patio and unpretentious character. A block north, Palomino, run by the acclaimed Riverhorse on Main restaurant next door, serves trendy cocktails as beautiful to look at as the bar’s chic interior; the tequila-based F.I.U, for example, comes topped with a large snowball-like bubble ($24).
