Shaun White's Park City Favorites

11.03.2024 - 22:01 / cntraveler.com

For skiers and snowboarders, it’s hard to do better than a trip to Park City. Not just because it's home to Deer Valley and Park City Mountain, the largest ski and snowboard resort in the US with 7,300 skiable acres. Or because it’s got one of the most action-packed ski towns as well as hotels that span everything from the cozy Washington School House right by the town lift to the St. Regis Deer Valley with its new slopeside aprés spot, the Vintage Room. It’s also because of access and convenience. Park City is one of the easiest ski towns to get to from a major international airport—just a 35-minute drive from SLC and within an hour of four Salt Lake City-area ski resorts, including Alta and Snowbird—and packs a punch as a year-round destination for dining, the outdoors, and festivals, like Sundance and the Deer Valley Music Festival.

One longtime fan who calls Park City his second home is three-time Olympic Gold medalist Shaun White. Training in and regularly spending time in Park City since the early 2000s, White was recently in town to launch a new partnership with Park City-based High West Distillery in support of Protect the West. The new initiative committed to raising $1M for Protect Our Winters (POW), the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, and American Prairie, is near and dear to White. “I grew up in the West [and] I'm truly a product of my environment,” White says. Having access to and being able to regularly surf, skateboard, snowboard were key. “I think the conditions were just right for someone like myself to come along because of that environment,” he shares. “We’ve got to protect it and give that to the next generation.”

We caught up with White while he was in town and got the inside track on how to do Park City as the Olympian does himself.

Park City Mountain, the largest ski and snowboarding resort in the US, doubles as Shaun White's secnd home.

White has a new partnership with Park City's High West Distillery in support of Protect the West, which aims to preserve the region's environment.

Northern Utah’s ski resorts get famously hammered with snow; this past February alone saw record-breaking snowfall (several resorts saw well over 100 inches). You could happily stay put in Park City with two rockstar resorts less than 10 minutes apart: ski-only Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort. Or, you could do as Shaun White does and mix it up, with resorts in town and just beyond. Start at Park City Mountain Resort, where White first landed his signature move “The Double McTwist.” The resort features two huge sides of the mountain—Canyons and Park City—all connected by gondola and trails.

“Park City Mountain is so much fun because you can go from Canyons to Park City, so you get access to