^Me, looking at that photo…
It’s safe to say that the Park City locals are less-than happy with the end of season conditions at the resort. The snowpack is deteriorating rapidly, and an image taken near the base of PC is making the rounds on the internet.
The image was captured by Wasatch Snow Forecast (@WasatchSnow) and posted to Twitter.
There’s a little more brown in this pic than one would ideally like to see this time of year… Check it out for yourself.
Grooming report. pic.twitter.com/KbPVYvfHVg
— Utah Daily Snow (@WasatchSnow) April 4, 2022
Before we rail on Vail Resorts for mismanaging Park City, let’s just take a look at some of the facts to explain why conditions looks so shitty.
First, Park City has received just more than half of their annual average snowfall this season. Most of the west saw significantly less snow than normal, and it looks like the 172″ reported this season at Park City just isn’t enough to cut it.
Park City has also experienced abnormally warm weather this season.
Combining warm temps and low snowfall totals is a recipe for a short season no matter where your mountain is located.
^Park City received 2″ new of snow overnight. Screenshot taken from resort’s webcam at 9:30AM ET on 4/5/22.
Okay. So the facts are stated to defend Vail Resorts/Park City, BUT, and this is a really big BUT, I still don’t understand how the resort could let something like this happen.
Park City has stated that they intend to close on April 17th. You would think that the resort would move some snow around, or even make more snow, to make up for the poor conditions. Right?
Especially a resort that’s considered to be a flagship property for Vail Resorts.
Ski industry insider Dave Amirault (@ozskier) pointed out that Park City Resort’s neighbor Woodward Park City rests at a lower elevation, but isn’t struggling to keep their base covered:
To be fair, @woodwardpc is lower and didn’t have a single bare spot.
— Dave Amirault 🏳️🌈 (@ozskier) April 4, 2022
Per Google Earth:
Woodward:
Base 6,446ft.
“Summit” 6,797ft.PCMR:
Base of First Time 6,912ft— Dave Amirault 🏳️🌈 (@ozskier) April 4, 2022
You would think that Vail Resorts and Park City could figure this crap out, right?
This could be chalked up as a miscalculation on snowmaking/grooming efforts needed to make it the rest of the season, but that doesn’t feel like an acceptable answer considering Park City’s access to resources.
Here’s to hoping that Park City has better luck next season when it comes to natural snowfall and weather, or that they learn from this season and don’t let it happen again.
^Webcam image from Woodward Park City captured at 9:30AM ET, 4/5/22.
Featured Image Credit: Wasatch Snow Forecast
