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There's Gold -- & Silver -- in them thar Hills
STORY BY MARLIN STUM * PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOWIE GARBER AND MARK MAZIARZ
Precious metals buried deep in the Wasatch Mountains put Park City, Utah, on the map, and the glittering snow atop surrounding ridges keeps it there. Now the quest for gold and silver of another type draws throngs from around the world to descend on what George G. Snyder -- the region's first homesteader -- called "a veritable park."
In 1995, Salt Lake City won its bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, scheduled for Feb. 8-24, and Park City facilities figured prominently. Situated 32 miles east of Utah's capital, the old mining town turned resort sits in a high valley nestled between the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains.
Twenty-five feet of snow on the peaks most winters spawned three area ski resorts. The newest, Deer Valley Resort, opened in 1981, joining Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons (formerly Park West and Wolf Mountain). The new Utah Olympic Park, visible from the freeway four miles north of town, also was crucial in Utah's successful bid, providing a world-class ski-jumping facility and $25 million bobsled track. The Utah Olympic Park, Deer Valley, and Park City Mountain Resort jointly will host one-third of all Olympic medal events.
The Olympics are only the latest, if largest, challenge faced by a community that feeds on skiing, the arts, special events, and world-class attention. Park City leaped onto an international stage in 1981 when actor Robert Redford instituted the Sundance Film Festival, a renowned showcase for independent filmmakers. This year's festival runs Jan. 10-20. Zoom, Redford's restaurant on Main Street, reportedly is [begin italics] the [end italics] spot for star-watching. ...
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The March/April 2003 Issue is out. Find it at Las Vegas bookstores today.
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