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Wild Utah: What kind of visitor is best suited to patronize your resort?

The Canyons: Everyone is best suited to visit The Canyons. From an out-of-state family, to a local ski bum, to die-hard backcountry skiers and snowboarders, The Canyons provides the terrain and variety to cater to every type of mountainlover. The Canyons has long embraced snowboarding, skiing and telemarking (we are an equal-opportunity sliding device resort).

WU: What is your resort's number one feature?

TC: Hands down answer: The Terrain!!! 3500 acres of skiable terrain makes us the largest single ski resort in Utah, and you'll be hard pressed to wait in line for more than a few seconds. Check out the pines, the aspens, the steeps... you name it - you'll find it at The Canyons.

WU: What causes the biggest headaches for visitors at your resort?

TC: It's probably access to the mountain on super busy days. People don't realize they can ride the Flight of The Canyons gondola AND Golden Eagle. Things can get backed up. The solution? An additional high speed lift expected sooner than later. In the meantime, we recommend getting up early to avoid the crowds. If you show up at 10am... remember, everyone else does too.

WU: What's new for the 2004/2005 season?

TC: SoBe Terrain Park Clinic: New this season, riders can learn proper terrain park technique and the latest jumps and coolest tricks. Call 435 615-3449.

FIRST TRACKS: Be the first on the slopes at The Canyons on Wednesdays and Saturdays with a resort "insider." For $30 plus a lift ticket, guests will have the pleasure of being the first on the lifts, and the first to make tracks at Utah'slargest resort. When you're done exploring, breakfast at Red Pine Lodge will be waiting (and is included with your First Tracks ticket).Reservations are required. Call (435) 615-8042

MOGUL CLINICS WITH OLYMPIAN SEAN SMITH 2-day program, ages 13 and up. Includes 2 days of clinics, plus lunch each day for $260 (price subject to change). Lift tickets not included.(435) 615-3449. December 18 & 19th, January 29th & 30th, Feburary 12th & 13th, March 12th & 13th.

The Canyons has become a renowned destination resort in the US -- the snow is light, dry and fluffy, you can spend days checking out trees, chutes, restaurants, special ski & snowboard clinics... finish your day with a spa treatment at the Grand Summit Resort Hotel -- and depending on when you visit, you'll enjoy live music in the Village Forum. The thing about The Canyons is we are NEW and BIG - this means better facilities, newer lifts, more energy efficient operations and an eye for the future. Come ski and ride with us, and celebrate as we continue to better ourselves for you!

High Points: Something for Everyone & It's Frickin' Fun!

Low Points: Difficult to Navigate & Quite Rugged

Free Tip: Vacation should be when you ignore the clock, eat when you're hungry, and take pleasure in getting lost. The Canyons works well for this.

When you stack up The Canyons next to the other resorts here in good, old Utah, "The Can' is first of all, bigger. The terrain is monstrous, making it actually difficult for intermediate skiers to ski the whole thing in one day. Out of the three resorts in Park City, The Canyons has the gnarliest big mountain terrain (that means dangerous, if you didn't know). The wild stuff on 9990 lift will never be skied by 90 percent of everyone visiting the resort. It's freakish and deadly over there; it even scares us on occasion.

Most people find themselves lost at The Canyons. Not only is it huge, but canyons go off in every direction. Once on the north side of the resort, people can get stuck on the Sun Peak and Super Condor lifts, trying to figure out how to get back to Red Pine Lodge. On the south side, it can be difficult to find Dreamscape if you don't know where you're going; but once you find it, the trip was well worth while. We love Dreamscape, even though it's not as steep as some other places on the mountain. Generally, you can find powder snow almost any time at The Canyons. Lots of shade and north-facing slopes are what keep it cool.

Food covers the whole spectrum. Red Pine Lodge and the Dreamscape Grill are quintessentially "resort food:" expensive and decent, but not somewhere you' d want to eat on Christmas Day. Doc's at the Gondola base is fun, serving food and alcohol. Fine dining can be had at the Sun Lodge on the mountain, and the Westgate Grill at the base; exquisite cuisine can be found at The Cabin.

Doc's would be our choice for après ski, although there are certainly plenty of watering holes at The Can.

The Canyons is crazy, with lifts going every which way, all kinds of snow, amazing ski-in ski-out properties and families acting like lunatics. Buy yourself a weird hat and get noticed. The Flight of the Canyons gondola is the nicest one in Utah; get romantic, watch for moose, nip your flask if you brought it. Take your Motorola walkie-talkies to The Canyons; they'll work much of the time, unless you're buried in some narrow, little hollow.

We love The Canyons. We still get lost every time we go there, but since we' re expecting it, we have fun. This is the kind of thing that makes vacation great. So what if you get split up from your group. Our advice is to watch out for unmarked obstacles and less-than-obvious hazards. The Canyons has more of those than other resorts.