SOLITUDE MOUNTAIN RESORT LIGHTS UP THE HOLIDAYS

SOLITUDE MOUNTAIN RESORT, BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON, UTAH (December 2016) – Holiday festivities are in full swing throughout December at Solitude Mountain Resort. From Santa visits and folk music performances to s’mores parties and a Children's Glow Parade, the resort delivers an idyllic winter holiday for locals and visiting guests.

Solitude’s annual Winterfest kicks off this Saturday, December 17 and runs through Sunday, January 1, 2017. Solitude Village lodging guests are invited to participate in complimentary, special daily activities scheduled during the 15-day Winterfest. Celebrating all things winter, activities include s’mores parties, ice skating, magicians, snowmen building contests, storytellers and more. On Thursday, December 22 and again on Saturday, December 31, Solitude will conduct an informative and enlightening Avalanche Dog Demonstration. Solitude’s Avalanche Rescue Dogs provide an amazing service to guests and the surrounding community with their life saving efforts. These specialized and highly trained dogs are used for search and rescue throughout the Wasatch Front. A “mock” avalanche drill will be conducted, where Solitude’s Avalanche Dogs and Ski Patrol will seek out people buried in the snow at Apex Express chairlift at 4:45 p.m.

Salzburger Echo is bringing the Alps to Solitude with their Alphorn Performance on Saturday, December 24 at Moonbeam Plaza at 3 p.m. and Solitude Village at 4 p.m. The trio amazes audiences with their 12-foot alphorns, Swiss cowbells and harmony yodeling, performing Old World and contemporary folk music from the alpine regions of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Also on Christmas Eve, Santa makes a special visit to gather with guests for pictures from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Solitude Village fire pit. After his busy night delivering presents to children around the world, Santa returns for his own solitude by hitting the slopes on Christmas Day. Guests can ski with Santa as he hands out candy on the mountain from 9 to 11 a.m.

New Year’s Eve weekend will be set aglow with two special light parades. Friday, December 30 features children 12 and under participating in Utah’s best glow parade. Watch the sunset and enjoy complimentary hot chocolate and snacks, then once it’s dark, children will gear up with their skis, snowboards and glow sticks as the Moonbeam Express chairlift delivers them to the top of Main Street run. Solitude ski instructors will guide the children to the base area, lighting up the mountain as they go. Check-in for the event is at Last Chance Lodge at 4:30 p.m. and pre-registration is required for kids wanting to participate in this free event. Children must be comfortable skiing or riding down Main Street run in variable conditions. Pre-registration begins December 26 through the Snowsports Academy at 801-536-5730.

The following night at dusk (approximately 6 p.m.), guests are invited to Last Chance Lodge for the resort’s Torchlight Parade. Guests can bid adieu to 2016, while watching Solitude staff members ski down the mountain as a synchronized team with torches in hand. Refreshments will be available for purchase at the lodge.

Solitude Mountain Resort’s Honeycomb Grill and St. Bernard’s have each prepared special holiday menus for Christmas day. Honeycomb Grill’s prix-fixe, three-course Christmas menu includes a golden potato leek soup and champagne intermezzo, followed by pepper seared filet mignon and topped off with Figgy bread pudding in a warm rum sauce. The Christmas dinner is $39 for adults and $18 for children (tax and gratuity not included). St. Bernard’s Christmas menu features house deviled eggs, lobster roll sliders, winter greens, sugar pumpkin soup, twice baked Idaho Yukon Gold potatoes, braised collard greens, honey glazed heirloom carrots, crispy Maine oysters, house smoked Utah turkey breast and drunken prime rib. Desserts include cranberry pioneer bars, house sugar cookies and peppermint bark.

For more information on any of Solitude Mountain Resort’s holiday festivities and dining specials, please contact Emily Summers, senior communications manager for Deer Valley Resorts at 435-645-6522 or emily@deervalley.com. Additional information on resort activities is available at skisolitude.com.

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Solitude, a Deer Valley Resort, is a pure, authentic and untarnished Utah territory. Serene or extreme there’s nothing between you and the perfect mountain day. Located in Big Cottonwood Canyon Utah, the resort offers eight chairlifts, 77 runs, three bowls and 500 annual inches of snow spread over 1,200 acres for skiing and snowboarding.