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Getting a deal on lodging in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival is like Utah and heavy wet snow - NEVER. (ok, so once in a century it might happen).

The Canyons Resort is defying all odds by offering a special Sundance Film Festival Lodging Package that includes 20% off rooms at the base of The Canyons Resort

A discounted room rate during Sundance Film Festival isn’t that exciting? Try this movie goers: If you book your stay at The Canyons for the second weekend of Sundance and you get:

• Two free lift tickets per unit per night of stay (valid only during your stay)

• Breakfast for two at The Cabin restaurant or Red Pine Lodge

• 4 movie vouchers

How’s that for an economic slow down?

For the fine print, like the fact that it needs to be booked by Dec 4, check out The Canyons website or go old fashioned and call them - 866-584-4480

Two recent online articles had some great tips about how to save a lot of money while skiing in Utah this winter.

Here are some of the highlights from the article on smartertravel.com:

-The Canyons in Park City, Utah, are throwing in two adult lift tickets—and discounted tickets for the rest of the gang—per unit booked, for each day you stay. Consider that adult lift tickets cost $79 each this season. Kids six and under always ski free.

-At Powder Mountain in Utah, night lift passes are being rolled back to 2002 rates—just $15 for adults and $12 for kids. And night skiing starts at 3 p.m.!

Here are some of the tips shared on MSNBC:

-Book now

-Aim off-peak

-Go midweek

-Be a tourist

-Get free kids’ lift tickets

-Get free kids’ airfare

-Get your grade-schooler a passport (5th and 6th grade)

-Consult the deal watchdogs

-Save on equipment rental

-Follow the locals

Answer here!

Proof:

Deer Valley

Park City Mountain Resort

The Canyons

Snowbird

Alta

Solitude

Check out this article in the Salt Lake Tribune.  Kristen Ulmer, a Zen instructor, former top extreme skier and member of the U.S. Ski Team’s moguls squad promotes a strategy focusing on the mental aspects of skiing as well as the physical.

Here are some of her tips for getting in the zone physically and mentally.  Click on the link above for more tips.

The physical
1. Strengthen quads by cycling, doing squats and weight training.
2. Strengthen hamstrings with weight machines in the gym. This will counteract the quads and help avoid blowing out a knee when skiing.
3. Mountain bike downhill: This strengthens the legs and quads but also helps improve hand-eye coordination, reaction time and the need to look ahead that is required in skiing.

The mental
1. Breathing: Take three deep breaths with your eyes closed before every run. This will help you shift mentally.
2. Consciousness: Recognize when you are stressed, anxious or feel fear in the moment. By being aware of these emotions, a skier has won half the battle.
3. Practice: It takes mental practice to become a great skier. Attend a spiritual workshop or seminar, meditate about the sport, or write a journal about it.

This ski season, Kristen Ulmer will offer three Ski to Live Clinics, a combination of ski and Zen clinics. She bills them as “a profound and powerful exploration of different levels of consciousness as accessed through the sports of skiing and snowboarding.” They are Jan. 29-Feb. 1 at Snowbird; Feb. 26-March 1 at The Canyons; and April 2-5 at Alta.

The Canyons has just released a pretty sweet deal if you want to stay on the mountain during you ski vacation.  These lodges are some of the nicest around.  The SKI FREE lodging packages include slopeside lodging at The Canyons Grand Summit Hotel, Sundial Lodge or Silverado Lodge, plus two lift tickets per unit, per night of stay (valid only during your stay, choose SKI FREE option when selecting lift tickets) and breakfast for two at The Cabin restaurant or Red Pine Lodge.

There is a pretty cool and very detailed article in Conde Nast Traveler about some of the finer things which Park City, Deer Valley, and The Canyons has offer from this author’s point of view.

How about dinner in a yurt?  Anyone had dinner in The Viking Yurt at The Canyons?  If so, let us know in the comments.  Enjoy.

Deals! Deals! Deals!!! I was reading this article on Forbes and saw a deal that was pretty amazing.  Forget those dang baggage fees with the airlines (at least on the first leg of your ski trip to Utah).

Book a reservation for 7 nights or longer this ski season at the Silver King Hotel in Park City, UT and they will BUY YOU NEW SKIS, BINDINGS & POLES!

That is right, they will buy you a brand spankin new set of skis, bindings and poles from Rossignol.If you are not a skier, they will buy you a new snowboard and bindings instead. The ski package has a retail value of $790! All you need to do is stop by Nordas in Park City on your day of arrival. They will size you to your skis, set them to your boots, and wax them up. You will burning up the slopes on your new skis in no time at all!

With room rates starting at just $199 nightly, a $790 ski package practically pays for the reservation! Word.

It’s a big claim: Catch a morning flight from almost anywhere and you can be on our slopes the same afternoon. The Park City Quick START (Ski Today and Ride Today) Vacation lets you convert your airline boarding pass into a same-day lift ticket to the Park City resort of your choice. It’s your chance to get a free same-day lift ticket at The Canyons Resort, Park City Mountain Resort or Deer Valley Resort.

You will need to bring the completed, required redemption voucher, along with your same-day boarding pass and out of state photo I.D., to the resort ticket window, to receive your same-day lift ticket. You’ll discover the best skiing and riding you’ve ever experienced, not to mention the most conveniently located resort town in the West. Park City is located just 35 short minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport.

Quick START offer valid: Respective resort opening - 12/24/08, 1/4/09 - 2/13/09, and 3/29/09 – 4/12/09.

More Details.

Next up- the Park City area!

The Canyons Resort

Snowriders at The Canyons Resort will enjoy a new lift and gondola during the 2008-09 season. The new Frostwood gondola will transport guests staying in the Frostwood area, which includes the Miners Club, the currently under construction Dakota Mountain Lodge, and all other development projects in
the area to the resort base.

In addition, a brand new fixed grip quad chair will run from the Tombstone base to a location approximately one-half mile below the DreamCatcher lift base. The lift is the first step in the Iron Mountain expansion plans, and will initially be used to access the Tombstone lift at the end of the day.

Trees will be gladed in places such as Mystic Pines, off of the Peak 5 lift, opening up more tree-skiing and riding for guests. The Canyons will also upgrade snowmaking and grooming equipment guaranteeing a high quality ski experience.

Deer Valley Resort

Deer Valley Resort has invested $8 million in on-mountain improvements for the 2008-09 winter season. Improvements include the replacement of the existing Cushing’s Cabin at the top of Flagstaff Mountain, adjacent to the Northside Express, Quincy Express, Silver Strike Express and Ruby Express chairlifts. The new cabin will seat 40 to 45 guests, feature updated restrooms and house Flagstaff Mountain Ski Patrol.

In addition, Deer Valley has remodeled the Empire Canyon Lodge to allow more seating upstairs and improve the flow through the beverage and service areas. Deer Valley has also made improvements to snow making and maintenance equipment to ensure its signature excellence.

Park City Mountain Resort

Park City Mountain Resort will unveil $10.5 million in improvements for the 2008-09 winter season including a new high-speed chair lift, terrain enhancements and renovation of the Mid-Mountain Lodge.

Park City Mountain Resort’s new high-speed quad chair lift, Crescent lift, will replace and realign the existing Ski Team lift. The lift will begin near the base of the Resort and extend to Crescent Ridge (also known as Ski Team Ridge). The new chair lift will significantly increase accessibility out of the base area as well as to the front-side runs, some of the Resort’s best advanced terrain.

To complement the new lift, the Resort is making terrain enhancements to improve the skiing/riding experience on the mountain, including a new run addition and expanded snowmaking. Park City Mountain Resort will also assume operations for Mid-Mountain Lodge in the 2008-09 season. The Resort will renovate the Mid-Mountain Lodge to further develop on-mountain dining.

Finally, as part of its environmental commitment, Park City Mountain Resort is offsetting 100 percent of its power consumption from renewable energy sources beginning in June 2008. This purchase of 13.9 million kWh of renewable energy credits (RECs) will avoid nearly 19 million pounds of CO2 emissions annually, which is equal to removing 1,853 passenger vehicles from the road or powering 1,100 average American homes for a year. For more information, visit www.saveoursnow.net.

Back in the day when I skiing my way through college (early Y2k) all of the major universities and colleges in Utah had established ski and snowboard clubs for their students. I recently went searching to see if any of the clubs still existed for the U o U, BYU, UVU, Utah State, ect and was disappointed to find that it appears that most of the clubs haven’t survived.

My favorite reason for have the club was to save a little money on season passes.  Discounts to Snowbird, Park City and The Canyons made the membership fees well worth the price.  Plus members often were invited to receive discounts at area retailers and had member-only activities.  For example, members of the U o U’s Freeskier Society can buy a “Chairs only” pass to the bird for $469 vs $539. That’s a savings of $70!  Plus you get a really sweet shirt to impress all the ladies with.

Props are due to the U of U’s Freeskier Society and Weber State as they appear to be the only ones to have survived as a pure college ski or snowboard club.

BYU- R.I.P. Snowrider’s (one lone rep)

UVU- R.I.P. Board Club (kind of )

Westminster- R.I.P. close?!?!

Utah State- R.I.P.

SUU- Help! They need a president…

Jealous…very jealous.