Park City

We reached Ben, Eliza and Baby Grayson in Park City by evening. Ben is a good friend from home, who now lives in Park City as a ski instructor with his lovely wife Eliza and very cute little boy, Grayson. It was great to finally arrive. We caught up over a few beers. Eliza warned us drinks have a '2 for one' effect out there if you're not used to it, as you're at such a high altitude. It definitely felt that way. Our visit worked out to be great timing as it was Ben's birthday the next day. It was fantastic after hearing a lot about the place to finally see it. During the 3 days that we were there they packed in loads of fun things to do. Riding the Dear Valley (the resort where they work) Chair lifts to the top of the mountains. It had amazing views of the area. We rode the Alpine Coaster down the mountain at Park City Ski resort, that was brilliant, they were individual little carts that went flying down the mountain on tracks. We also went to the Olympic Park, where the US ski team are based and train. We road the zip wire down the mountain and then watched the ski jumpers practice their moves by skiing down steep slopes and then carry out multiple twists and flips before landing in a swimming pool, it was fantastic. One of the areas most famous residents is Robert Redferd. He owns an area of the mountains which he named Sundance. The place is stunningly beautiful. It is very natural, even the ski runs are not groomed during the winter season. There is a lodge and restaurant area set at the foot of one of the most beautiful mountains we have seen. Robert Redferd himself can often be seen there. Ben and Eliza took us there on Sunday. We saw bottle blowers working and explored the grounds. There was icy cold water running down from the mountains despite the extremely hot air temperature, it was very refreshing to paddle in. There was a fantastic selection of film photographs. My (John) favourite actor was Paul Newman and I was in my element in the bar at Sundance as it displayed photographs from the film, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid/ Redferd's and Newman's classic movie. The film was the inspiration for the name of the area.
It was a brilliant 3 days and we look forward to coming back again one day to see them, in winter next time so Ben can get us past the 'Snow Plough'. No doubt in a few years Grayson will be tearing up the slopes.