Parking to ski in Park City...

Parking used to be a cinch in Park City, as long as you got out of bed early, you could leave your car just feet from the lift and be on your way. According to what I recently heard, you'll still be able to park this way this next season, but it will cost you $25 each time.

Sure, the local Epic pass can be bought for less than $600, but if you ski 30 times, it might tag another $750 to the otherwise affordable season pass. All this is in response to a huge traffic parking problem that began to surface this past season. It also will bring some precious money to Vail coffers that must pay a hefty rent ($25 million a year) plus amortize its acquisition of the rest of the resort and the huge improvements currently underway. Just call this add-on sales!

Of course, this policy is not what most people were expecting from Vail Resorts and some speculate that the bad news is being kept under wrap so as not to upset its regular pass-holder clientele and have them rethink their commitment to Park City and perhaps bail out. So far, the new consolidated Park City / Canyons resort has been hush about that pricey charge.

Without a doubt, this policy would go a long way in easing traffic around the resorts during peak periods, discourage lone drivers to leave their car for the entire day and promote car pooling. I have always thought that making people pay to park at Park City and make the Canyons parking lot for free, or just for a nominal fee, would go a long way to significantly filter traffic into our City.

At any rate, I just hope that our free bus system gets significantly expended as it should, to shoulder the foreseeable extra load, and that a bus stop will created closer to my house, so I don't have to walk half a mile to catch my transit ride!

See my June 11 posting for a major update...