Park City's Slopes Are (Almost) Empty

Enjoying the famous Utah powder at Park City Mountain Resort

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Photo by: Courtesy of Park City Mountain Resort

During Sundance -- the big-cheese film festival held every January in Park City, Utah -- the little town's hotel rooms are booked full, and its streets and theaters are claustrophobic with Hollywood crowds. But the ski hills at its in-town resorts -- Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons -- are almost empty. One of our spies just got back from the festival, and he reported not a single line at any of PCMR's many lifts. "I skied right up, loaded the chair, and rode up on my own most of the time," he groggily told us after a red-eye flight from SLC. One group of savvy skiers has taken advantage: Turns out Sundance Week is a popular time for locals to ski. "[The festival-goers] party, they watch movies, they stay up late," one such local told the Deseret News. "But none of them ski." Well, maybe not none. Bill Murray was seen wearing a leg brace and walking with crutches. The Stripes, Rushmore and Fantastic Mr. Fox star reportedly injured his knee while skiing, and spent a bit of his Sundance recuperating with a bucket of ice.

Enjoying the famous Utah powder at Park City Mountain Resort