This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Park City • Coming from the Canyons side, there's a moment when Vail Resort's new Quicksilver gondola at Park City Resort resembles a thrill ride at Lagoon amusement park.
You can see the edge of Pinecone Ridge getting closer and closer, but nothing that lies below is visible.
And then, boom, you cross a line and the slope drops off sharply into a cylindrical bowl, framed by conifer and aspen trees, that eventually is pinched into a narrow canyon by a rock ledge.
To the left, the view on a sparkling clear day takes in most of Park City, straight down the part of town served by Kearns Boulevard on out to U.S. 40, the Uinta Mountains providing a distant backdrop.
That's how it was on a sun-drenched Friday morning, a couple of days after a healthy snowstorm, when Vail unveiled the gondola, the centerpiece of its $50 million offseason investment to make Park City Resort the largest ski area in the United States at 7,300 skiable acres.
"What an amazing, amazing, amazing day," proclaimed Vail Resorts Chairman and CEO Rob Katz, calling the gondola's linkage of what had been two already big resorts — Park City and Canyons — a "once-in-a-lifetime event."
Katz and Bill Rock, Park City Resort's chief operating officer, greeted a multitude of well-wishers at the gondola's midmountain base terminal for the official dedication.
Park City and Summit County officials were on hand, as were representatives of Gov. Gary Herbert and Sen. Orrin Hatch, plus scores of Vail employees and contractors who got the massive undertaking done this summer and fall.
"We all feel like we're doing something special to launch a new era in Park City," Rock said.
While Katz and Rock are new to the area, senior director of mountain operations Brian Sudaholc has been at Park City for 25 years. So his bosses gave him the honor of christening the gondola.
"This has been the best change I've ever seen in my life, and I'm happy to be part of it," Sudaholc said after shattering a champagne bottle wrapped in a plastic bag against the gondola's concrete foundation.
The importance of this occasion for Utah's billion-dollar ski industry was not lost on onlookers.
"We're very excited to see this great $50 million infusion come to fruition," said Summit County Council Chairwoman Kim Carson.
"It's big for Park City, but it's really a big deal for the whole state," said Nathan Rafferty, president and CEO of Ski Utah, marketing arm for the state's 14 ski areas and the industry that surrounds them.
"I can't overstate how important it is to have the biggest resort in the country in little Utah," he added, pointing to several television cameras whose footage of the ceremony and views from the gondola will be displayed worldwide. "You know the media wants what's new. Well, there's what's new and then there's this."
Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Park City-based U.S. Ski Team, said the unification of the two resorts "is part of a greater story of the ski industry and how big it's become in Utah. Ask anybody in the industry and this is the place to be."
Carol Agle, a real estate agent in Park City, joined her friend Marisue Wells for a first-day ride on the gondola. She hasn't seen much of a "Vail effect" yet on the price of real estate, other than "sellers think their houses should be worth more."
But from talking to her counterparts in other resort towns where Vail operates, she expects the company's presence to show an impact on land and home values five years down the road.
A couple of questions lingered as the news-conference crowd dispersed, either to ski on a bluebird day or to go into the new Miners Camp restaurant to taste some of its fare.
The issue being debated by Rafferty and his 13-year-old son, Sam, was "Is there enough time in a day to ski every lift?"
As they rode over the summit, Park City real estate agent Bob Marsh and Utah ski-racing and coaching legend Jim Gaddis discussed whether locals looking to ski both sides will embark from Canyons Village or Park City.
Either way will work, Gaddis said.
"It's so great to finally see at least two resorts connected. That's just fabulous," said the 2005 Intermountain Ski Hall of Fame inductee. "Now all we need is some typical Utah snow."