Utah's largest ski area is looking toward major expansion for next season with a $35 million capital improvement plan. Park City Mountain Resort will host the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and by next season they should have a total of 3,000 acres. A new Marriott Mountainside Resort is also in the works, which should be completed by 2002. "This is the biggest expansion project for the resort in years," said John Cumming, president of POWDR Corporation and Park City Mountain Resort. "The addition of 800 acres, a fourth high-speed, six-passenger chair accessing the McConkeys' area, additional runs and glading, and the regrading project will seriously enhance the guests' skiing and snowboarding experience at this mountain." The new terrain in McConkey's Bowl, Pine Cone Ridge, and Homelite will create a total of 97 runs, which will serve skiers at all ability levels. Pine Cone Ridge and Homelite will provide challenging, ungroomed expert runs accessible by the Jupiter chair or a boot-pack hiking route. For novice skiers, a regrading of the beginner area will create a wider area for traversing and reduce congestion near the lift. The installation of a new high-speed, six-passenger chairlift puts Park City with more six-passenger lifts than any other resort in the world. The new McConkey's lift will increase the resort's total uphill capacity to 27,200 skiers per hour.
