Park City holiday skiers voice frustrations over limited resort access, delays

The Canyons Village Red Pine Gondola line at 10:30am on Dec. 30, 2024. Photo: Max // @doggydog20

Local businesses—ski rental shops, restaurants, hotels, and property owners—depend on peak holiday traffic. 'This is going to hurt the entire community,' Clinkenbeard said. 'Families like ours won’t return.'

PARK CITY, Utah — Families visiting Park City for their holiday ski trips are facing disruptions such as a strike by ski patrol staff, a winter storm that stymied operations leading to delayed openings, long lift lines, and limited access to runs. The Clinkenbeard family, along with several others, is among those affected.

Jason Davis, visiting with six adults and four children, described the scene at the resort. “The Red Pine gondola opened 45 minutes late, and the line was two hours long,” he recounted. “If you want to make it work, it’s a ton of effort. We were already two hours late getting started.”

 

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On Monday, Dec. 30, a power outage caused lift opening delays and Park City Mountain Resort directed guests to take a shuttle to the Mountain Village side of the resort from the Canyons Village to access skiing. “That trek alone would have taken hours,” Davis said, “not to mention the lines to contend with once we got there.”

The Clinkenbeard family, who planned their trip to Park City over the holidays with a few other families at Canyons Village, paid $10,000 a family for their vacation. “We chose to ski over Christmas and had other options, but we won’t do this again,” Amy Clinkenbeard said. “The amount of money spent to not ski is abysmal.”

Vail Resorts issued a statement that all planned runs would be operational, but Clinkenbeard responded: “There’s a difference between a run being open and the lift needed to access it being functional.”

“The frustration and anger at the red gondola were palpable,” Davis said. “People were screaming at staff, asking why they weren’t notified about the disruptions.”

The crowds were one deterrent, but Clinkenbeard also expressed concern that there was a reduced ski patrol presence on the mountain because of the ongoing strike. “It makes me think twice before sending my kids out there to ski,” she said.

Local businesses—ski rental shops, restaurants, hotels, and property owners—depend on peak holiday traffic. “This is going to hurt the entire community,” Clinkenbeard said. “Families like ours won’t return.”

Despite the setbacks, the Clinkenbeards and Davis family said they are making the most of their stay, spending most of their time at their rental property. “Next time, we’ll go somewhere else,” they said.

When asked about refunds or a restitution plan for affected visitors, Park City’s COO Deirdra Walsh said, “All scheduled terrain in Mountain Village opened on time today, but lifts in the Canyons Village were limited. We are communicating directly with guests about their concerns.”