Some people say they love Park City; Stephanie Schweitzer, owner of Schweitzer Designs, tattooed it on her back. Photo: Steph Schweitzer.

There’s a yeti skiing in a beanie. A snowcat grooming trails on a snowcat. A blaster in a mining cart, a flower that nods to the Banksy painting on Main Street, and a High West whiskey bottle skating over the Main Street bridge. Some people say they love Park City; Stephanie Schweitzer, owner of Schweitzer Designs, tattooed it on her back. The new-school, cartoony-style tattoo took 53 hours to complete: a full year of flying to Massachusetts once a month to fill in all the details.

“It’s a love story to Park City,” says Stephanie. “This town is such a huge part of who I am. There are all these little insider nods, so, if you know, you know.” The piece was a massive collaboration with Timmy B, the owner of Nite Owl Tattoo in Northampton, Massachusetts. “He’s been tattooing me for the past decade, and he understands my crazy brain of ideas and executes them brilliantly,” she says. “He is so talented. He was the mastermind in fitting it all together. He visually composed everything I was saying. We work hand in hand—we just get each other. But he’s the one who makes things come to life. It turned out to be sort of a Mario Kart piece going down the mountain.”

The tattoo features multiple characters, including Whiskey Bottle Boy, Blaster Cart Boy, Fuzzy Wuzzy Yeti, and Bobcat Snowcat Boy. Her Instagram showcases the stories behind each segment in a series titled “The Race to Wasatch Mountain.” Each character has stats (weight, speed, handling, aerodynamics, and traction), and each section includes a brief history of Park City, along with photographs of herself and her family over the years.

Although Stephanie grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, Park City has a place in her heart. “My family and I have been coming out to ski for 35 years and counting,” she says. “My parents had a timeshare before I was born, and as soon as I could walk, they slapped skis on me. I feel like it’s my second home, since I’ve been there every year of my life.” She has now taken over the family timeshare at the base of Park City Mountain Resort and visits with her friends.

Creative by nature, Stephanie grew up in a family that worked in the real estate sector, including carpentry and other trades. “I was always interested in building things,” she says. “I was in drumline, marching band, and the concert band in high school,” she says. However, while attending West Virginia University, she had to make a decision. “I put music on the back burner and went full-send into art.” She studied graphic design, photography, and sculpture, earned a BA in Fine Art, and immediately put it to use.

“Audi headquarters is right down the street from where I live,” Stephanie says. “I started in 2011 as an intern. At the time, they didn’t have an internal creative team—they just outsourced to external vendors.” She saw an opportunity, built a business plan, and presented it. The result? Audi accepted. Over the years, she built the internal creative team from scratch, eventually working up to leading roles. She was the senior graphic designer and internal brand photographer during the last four years of her 14-year tenure there. Her creative contributions to “An Avant Story,” a short film envisioned by Nick Kleczewski across Audi’s US and global platforms—won multiple awards. “The 11-minute film follows an infant through adulthood and debuts the RS 6 Avant coming to the US market for the first time,” she says. “It got more than one million organic views in the first 24 hours it hit. It was incredible to be a very small part in that piece.” She created the apparel throughout the film, as well as different set pieces, including posters, wagon wallpaper, and more.

Eventually, it was time to move on. So, in 2024, Stephanie launched Schweitzer Designs, a luxury-brand design company that has been featured in Rolling Stone, Vogue, GQ, and other magazines with clients such as Audi, FCP Euro, Ferrari, Panther National, and Aspen Snowmass. “I never saw myself owning my own business,” she laughs. “But here I am. It started because I have a passion for design and automotives. Owning your own business is different from corporate America. I can go after clients and partners that I haven’t been able to before. It’s a really good challenge.”

Stephanie Schweitzer continues to explore Park City on skis and off. “I look forward to coming every year. It’s a hidden gem,” she says. “I just think the history is so fascinating; it’s so cute, with all the little mining houses. I love it so much.”

Who knows, maybe there’s another homage in the works…