Prime Time for Park City

Was that Prince Albert of Monaco who just ducked into the Starbucks? It certainly looked like him.

And those two button-down guys browsing in the ski shop--FBI? CIA?

Oh, these are thrilling days here. From Feb. 8 to 24, this former mining village of 7,000 in the northeast corner of the state, about 30 miles from co-host Salt Lake City, will be the scene of 26 Olympic events, including the giant slalom, the snowboard competition, luge and bobsledding. The world will be watching, including about 30,000 to 50,000 in person, and it’s not only the locals who are holding their collective breath. After a season of war and terror, the entire nation is spoiling for a celebration--of international goodwill, of healthy competition, of games, even if they’re not the kind many Americans play.

To ensure smooth sledding, officials say they will spend more than $300 million on security. The result is that unconfirmed spook sightings are beginning to rival unconfirmed celebrity sightings.

But for now, it’s a perfect time to bring the family. Because of the slumping economy and Sept. 11 jitters (not to mention Olympic nerves), analysts project that Park City’s business will be off by as much as 40% this season.

And say what you will about their secret deals, the Olympic honchos know from ski destinations. I report this because for four days during a long weekend in early November, I brought my wife, Victoria, and our two kids, Isabel, 10, and Flora, 4. We were here for the debut of what was advertised as “world-class, family-oriented facilities” at Park City Mountain Resort, the town’s central ski area.

And grand it was, except for one thing: We had no snow. The first real storm didn’t hit until Thanksgiving (it has been followed by several more), which left us high (base elevation 6,800 feet), dry and trying to tell the kids about fate and weather.

So our ski vacation turned into a walking-touring-dining vacation, and we found that Park City has plenty to do and see. The very scent of the Winter Games was so strong that it went to our heads.

Getting here was a breeze: a 90-minute flight from LAX to Salt Lake City; a short walk to the rental car; a 40-minute drive east on Interstate 80; and there it was, the Park City exit. We were even relieved to see that the four-lane state road into town runs past a sprawl of chain stores. These don’t make the best picture postcard, but our kids had already managed to lose mittens and a hat. So we stopped, and it was in the Wal-Mart parking lot that I got my first, and maybe strongest, impression of the area.

The Wasatch Range, which runs like a spine through northeast Utah, is geologically a part of the Rocky Mountains, but it’s far less vertical and rocky than the mountains surrounding towns like Telluride, Steamboat Springs or Aspen in Colorado. Even as the Park City area is being rapidly developed, it still feels wide open.

Having skied almost exclusively in Colorado, I was accustomed to driving for hours on narrow switchbacks and waiting in traffic, only to arrive in resorts up to here in white cowboy boots, yellow Porsches and shops selling blown glass. These are beautiful places, of course, but they can feel as tightly wrapped and crowded as a theme park when you have a couple of nudniks in tow. Park City is more relaxed; there’s just enough openness and sprawl to calm a Southern Californian’s heart.

Deciding where to stay was a challenge. The town has a variety of lodgings, including B&Bs;, hotels and many condos and owner rentals. During high season, which generally runs from the December holidays through March, some of these places go for $1,000 a night or more. But this wasn’t high season. For the first two nights we paid $130 for a two-bedroom condo (it’s more than $600 in peak season) at the base of the Park City mountain that put us smack in the middle of the resort, a mini-village of ski shops, restaurants and small retailers arrayed around a skating rink. We got a fully equipped kitchen, separate bedrooms for kids and parents and a communal hot tub with a view of the mountains. You practically fall out the door onto the slopes.

When there’s snow, that is.

On our first full day, we headed into the center of town and spent hours simply lollygagging along Main Street, a half-mile corridor of restaurants, shops and bars. We feasted at La Casita, a Mexican restaurant where we had excellent chilaquiles; enchiladas prepared with a rich mole sauce; and quesadillas for the kids. Full, we headed up the street to Dolly’s Book Store, which has good kids’ books, a well-stocked magazine and newspaper rack and piles of free alternative publications along with the usual bestsellers.

Then we strolled up the street for coffee and ice cream. The Starbucks on Main is joined to an ice cream place called Cows, and the people-watching is as good as the house blend: There were trustafarians (dreadlocks, musty clothes and a few hundred thousand in the bank), ski bums, a couple of women in don’t-even-ask-how-much ski sweaters and leather pants and one older guy reading Stendhal.

We even managed to hike up to the top of Main Street, beyond the shops, and get a whiff of the old, broken-down mining village. There are shacks here--OK, some of them go for $400,000--along with sheds full of shovels and old boxes and rusted stuff, all of it banked by stands of pine and aspen in deep winter green.

Park City also cuts tracks into its municipal golf course for cross-country skiers. But the beauty of this place is in going off-track, in the exploring. As long as you’re not sneaking onto the resorts without a pass, you can wander and play or cross-country almost anywhere, without someone in white cowboy boots telling you to get off his land.

As we drove back to the condo, Isabel spotted something that made our hearts leap--a patch of snow, at the base of the mountain near where we were staying. We practically cantered through the resort, and there it was: about 50 square yards of crunchy, ankle-deep, man-made snow. The resorts had been trying to keep some white on the ground, even as temperatures hovered around 40, and in shady spots it still held. The kids were delighted. They charged into the icy white and immediately began throwing chunks of it at each other.

Jim Sindt, a Vermont transplant and skier out walking his dog, was shaking his head. “I’m not sure this is snow; it’s certainly not Park City snow.”

In fact, the mountains around here average more than 300 inches a year. And unlike the fast pack in much of California, which contains up to 10% water, Park City’s snow is about 4% to 5% water. This is shredded Styrofoam; when it dumps, you’re up to your hips in it. “Nothing against Vermont,” Sindt said, “but the snow here is so soft, and there’s so much ... space.”

Altogether, there are 8,550 acres of skiable terrain here, which sprawl over several valleys and are within three resorts--Park City Mountain Resort, where we stayed; Deer Valley, to the south; and the Canyons, to the north--making this one of the larger ski areas in North America. Deer Valley, which will host the slalom, mogul and aerial events, is considered one of the premier (as in deluxe) resorts in the country; when senators and chief executives come to Utah to ski, you’ll probably find them there. The resort does not allow snowboarding, but locals say the skiers here aren’t as advanced as at other spots, leaving the resort’s 26 black diamond runs more open. And the vertical drop at Deer Valley is 3,000 feet.

The Canyons, the newest of the resorts, has a vertical drop of almost 3,200 feet and 139 runs, split pretty equally between intermediate and advanced. After a snowfall, the most accomplished locals often head for the 9,990-foot peak at the Canyons, or to the Jupiter Bowl, in Park City Mountain Resort, which is as steep and deep as you need; the vertical in the bowl is 1,025 feet. The resorts also have ski schools, and prices range from $35 to about $50 a day, usually lasting from 9 or 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Being Angelenos, our girls weren’t picky about snow. So when we hit pay dirt--that sno-cone deposit--we played for two hours and ended up with a good winter flush on our faces. It wasn’t skiing, but we were all ready for a dip in the hot tub, and food.

We finished the day at Zoom Roadhouse Grill, a restaurant owned by Robert Redford. I had the steak with garlic mashed potatoes; Victoria, the homemade cheese ravioli. The kids stuffed themselves on ribs and pizza, then explored the restaurant a little on their own. The waitress didn’t blink; she had young kids too.

It was a great ski day--minus the skiing.

Park City boomed in the 1860s after silver was discovered in the mountains and thousands of Irish, Swedish, Chinese and other migrant miners came here. Through its heyday, the town generated $400 million in new wealth and created more than 20 millionaires. In 1962, long after the mines were spent and the town was gasping, Utah officials got federal money to start a ski resort. On Dec. 31, 1963, Treasure Mountain Resort opened, with a gondola, a chairlift and a couple of J-bars.

Forty years later, Park City is high end--and high-tech. It’s fond of boasting, for example, that its new, high-speed chairlifts cut lines to almost nothing. I was doubtful, yet locals who have skied around the country say it’s not all hype; lines are fairly quick, even when the place is swarming.

“Monday through Thursday, and late Sunday, there are really no long waits for the chairlift,” said Payne Lannom, a bartender who moved here seven years ago for the skiing. I tipped him generously and asked him for the truth. “When I wait more than five or 10 minutes, honestly, I start getting annoyed,” Lannom said.

Annoyance does crop up here. For instance, Park City’s three resorts are mutually exclusive, so you can’t get a pass that will allow entrance to all three--a restriction that thwarts curious skiers. (Pass prices range from $56 to $65, with Deer Valley on the high end.)

Utah also has a mess of odd rules about alcohol. To drink in a public house, you must become a member of the place. There’s a fee, usually about $5, upon payment of which you fill out a form listing an address. (After some investigative reporting, I did learn that in lieu of membership you may be “sponsored” by another patron.)

But these are modest complaints. Park City is mostly an anti-irritant. For our last day and a half we moved to the Park City Marriott, which has an indoor courtyard with a pool and is about five minutes from the slopes. For $99 a night (more than doubling during high season) we got a room that opened onto the courtyard, and spent hours in the pool and the hot tub. The hotel is a favorite for many athletes, and while we were there the place was crawling with European bobsledders and luge racers.

Seeing these teams and their gear in the hotel lobby got us primed to visit Olympic Park, a hill just north of town into which are built the Olympic nordic ski jumps and an all-purpose ice track for bobsleds, luges and skeleton (the one-person sled). In preparation for the Games, Park City has built several new courses, including a 17-foot-deep, 150-yard-long half-pipe for the snowboard competition at Park City Mountain Resort. But Olympic Park may be the most spectacular attraction, and the park runs several guided tours a day ($3 per person; $5 for parking).

On our last afternoon, after dragging the kids out of the pool, we made the trip--and won’t forget it soon.

Driving up to the parking lot, we saw what looked like giant blue tongues lolling out of the maw of the hill: the nordic jumps. Beside them is a massive white serpentine track, the 4,380-foot bobsled course. And rising about 75 feet in the air, facing the jumps, is a giant wall of scaffolding, which support the Olympic grandstands. The emptiness of the surroundings, together with the stark steel skeleton of scaffolding, gives the place the look of a space station that has landed in the Arctic.

By the middle of this month, some of the park will open to the public. For $200, visitors who dare can ride in a four-person bobsled with a professional driver. The guide took a small group of us to the top of the sled track and also to the base of the nordic jumps. Think of that footage of “the agony of defeat,” only more so. Staring up at the new 120-meter nordic track, our 10-year-old skateboarder, Isabel, could say only, “Whooooaaa.” Four-year-old Flora just pointed, slack-mouthed. Now they can’t wait to watch the Games on TV.

We finished the weekend with dinner at Chez Betty, a cozy, candle-lighted restaurant about five minutes--and worlds away--from the riot of Main Street. We had the tasting menu, seven courses, including butternut squash soup with nutmeg creme fraiche, roast duck, and a pumpkin and chocolate cheesecake, each served with a different wine. And yes, the kids were with us. The waiter made sure they got spaghetti cooked to order, and even had a brief chat with Flora while she was crawling under the table. He shrugged. “I’ve got a 4-year-old too,” he said.

And we’ve got plans to go back. Now that there’s snow.

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Guidebook: Playing in Park

Getting there: From LAX, nonstop service to Salt Lake City is available on Delta, United and Southwest, and connecting service is offered on America West, Northwest and Frontier. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $138.

Where to stay: Our first two nights we stayed in a two-

bedroom condo in the Lodge at the Mountain Village, 1415 Lowell Ave.; (435) 649-0800, fax (435) 645-9132, www.davidhollands.com. We paid $130 a night for a unit with a fully equipped kitchen. From Dec. 23 through the end of March, the rates increase to $625-$800 for a double.

We also tried the Park City Marriott, 1895 Sidewinder Drive; (435) 649-2900, fax (435) 649-4852, www.parkcityutah.com. Rates start at $109 double, increasing for high season.

Another Marriott, Summit Watch, 780 Main St.; (435) 647-4100, fax (435) 647-4010, www.vacationclub.com, is a time-share property that sometimes has rooms available. A double costs $179 weeknights, $109 weekends through Dec. 20; the rate goes up to $248 in high season.

The 1904 Imperial Hotel, 221 Main St.; (800) 669-8824 or (435) 649-1904, fax (435) 645-7421, www.1904imperial.com, is a charming 10-room inn. Doubles begin at $140-$220 a night; during holidays and festivals, rates are about $25 more.

For luxe surroundings, try Deer Valley’s Stein Ericksen Lodge, 7700 Stein Way, (435) 649-3700, fax (435) 649-5825, www.steinlodge.com. Rates begin at $325 until Dec. 19, increasing to $650 (more during the Olympics). There’s also a widely praised restaurant, the Glitretind. (Plan on spending $20 to $32 per entree.)

Where to eat: La Casita, 710 Main St., (435) 645-9585, serves moderately priced, well-executed Mexican food; the mole is especially good. Entrees $6-$15.

Robert Redford’s Zoom Roadhouse Grill, 660 Main St., (435) 649-9108, is the place to get hearty grilled meats, homemade pastas and excellent desserts. Entrees $15-$32.

Chez Betty in the Copperbottom Inn, 1637 Shortline Road, (435) 649-8181, is a terrific place for a special meal, even with kids. We enjoyed the seven-course tasting menu with wines, for $75 per person. Entrees $21-$36.

Cows, the town ice cream parlor, 402 Main St., (435) 647-7711, is not to be missed.

For more information: Park City Chamber of Commerce Convention & Visitors Bureau, P.O. Box 1630, Park City, UT 84060; (800) 453-1360 or (435) 649-6100, fax (435) 649-4132, www.parkcityinfo.com. For information about the Olympics, try www.parkcity2002.org or www.saltlake2002.com.

Also, the Utah Travel Council, Council Hall/Capitol Hill, 300 N. State St., Salt Lake City, UT 84114; tel. (800) UTAH-FUN (882-4386), (800) 200-1160 or (801) 538-1030, fax (801) 538-1399, www.utah.com.

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Benedict Carey is a health writer for The Times.