Park City Mountain vs. The Canyons
Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort were once separate ski resorts located in Park City, Utah. The history of Park City Mountain Resort dates back to the 1960s when the resort was established as a mining town ski area. The resort grew over the years, and in 2002, the resort hosted various skiing and snowboarding events for the Winter Olympics.
The Canyons Resort, on the other hand, opened in 1968 as Park City West. The resort changed ownership a few times before it was acquired by American Skiing Company in 1997. The resort grew over the years, with new lifts and trails added, eventually becoming the largest ski resort in Utah.
In 2014, Vail Resorts acquired Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort, with plans to combine them into one, much larger resort. The acquisition was not without controversy, as there was a legal battle between the two adjacent ski resorts over the ownership of the land. Eventually, the legal issues were resolved, and Vail completed the purchase, with the two resorts being combined shortly thereafter. The combined resort, known as Park City Mountain Resort, briefly became the largest ski resort in the United States.
As a part of the merger, The Canyons Resort original base area was renamed Canyons Village at Park City.
The combined resort now covers over 7,300 acres of skiable terrain and has over 40 lifts, 330 trails, and 14 bowls. Park City Mountain Resort offers a variety of skiing and snowboarding terrain, from beginner to expert, making it an extremely popular destination for skiers and snowboarders worldwide.
How The Two Mountains Compared
Let’s take a look at how the two mountains would compare with each other if they were still separated.
| Ski Resort | Canyons Village at Park City | Park City (Park City Mountain) |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Park City, UT, 84060 | Park City, UT, 84060 |
| Pass | EPIC | EPIC |
| Summit Elevation (ft) | 9,990 | 10,026 |
| Base Elevation (ft) | 6,800 | 6,900 |
| Vertical Drop (ft) | 3,190 | 3,126 |
| Lifts | 21 | 22 |
| Trails | 182 | 148 |
| Skiable Acres | 4,000 | 3,300 |
| Green % | 10% | 9% |
| Blue % | 44% | 43% |
| Black % | 46% | 48% |
| Difficulty Score | 75.8% | 76.2% |
| Annual Snowfall (in) | 355 | 355 |
Details are hard to come by as to how many trails at the now combined resort are part of the old Canyons area, versus the old Park City area. Most of the stats used in the comparison table above are from 2015, the last time Park City separated out the stats.
However, as you can see, The Canyons ski area was considerably larger than the Park City Mountain, which is not what you’d think all these years later with the whole resort being named after the latter.
The original Canyons Resort had more skiable acres and more trails, while the original Park City Mountain had a higher vertical drop (by less than 100 feet) and – by our metrics – a slightly more challenging mountain.
