Photography Courtesy of Park City Mountain
Spring may have sprung in Park City, but the ski season isn’t over yet! Spring Gruv at Park City Mountain Resort is one of Park City’s biggest parties, and from March 6 to April 5, everyone is invited to come out and help send winter off with a bang.
Redefine your “spring break” over five straight weekends of free concerts, outdoor movies, fireworks and more fun for the whole family. To help navigate the sea of activities, here’s a quick guide to the best of the fest:
Get groovy with free shows
Music is a defining element of Spring Gruv, and each weekend of the festival features live shows at Canyons Village starting at approximately 3 p.m. Headliners include Los Angeles westsiders Davey and the Midnights (March 6), Park City dueling pianos featuring longtime local Mike Rogers (March 13), local rock duo Dr. Bob (March 21) and Salt Lake City party band Changing Lanes (March 28). Check out the detailed Spring Gruv lineup here.
Après for the whole family
The party kicks up a notch when the sun goes down at Canyons Village with PCMR’s new fire theatrics display, “Silver Sky Nights”(March 6, 14, 21, 27 and April 3 at 6 p.m.). This new experience features fire fountains and fireworks displays set to music and are sure to dazzle — even before it gets dark! Grab a glow stick and join in the action or savor a complimentary donut and hot chocolate and take in the show.
New to Spring Gruv this season, you can take home a little bit of spring at the “Build Your Own Bouquet” station. Unleash your creative juices and customize your own flower bouquet (while supplies last). This complimentary activity starts at 2:30 p.m. at PCMR on March 8, 22, 29 and April 5, and at Canyons Village on March 13.
Meet PCMR’s four-legged staff members during weekly meet-n-greets with working avalanche dogs. On Fridays and Saturdays each week of Spring Gruv, different dogs will be available to visit with guests at both Canyons Village at on-mountain at Park City Summit, located at the top of Bonanza chairlift. Guests are asked to leave their own pups at home, as the avalanche dogs are working animals and training never stops!
The festival features two family outdoor movie nights at Canyons Village: “Abominable” on March 7 and “Smallfoot” on March 20. Events start at 3 p.m. with hot cocoa, donut s’mores and cookie decorating, and showtime is approximately 6:15 p.m.
Ski for a cause
The penultimate weekend of this year’s Spring Gruv includes the family-friendly charity ski event Pink Park City, on Saturday, March 28. Après all day at this celebration of life, which raises money for all types of cancer research at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Along with a day of fun on the mountain, there’s also a costume contest, the “Rally for Hope Parade,” prizes for top fundraisers and a Checkpoint Challenge. For details and registration, visit thePink Park City website.
Make a splash
The 24thannual Pond Skimming, set for Saturday, April 4, is one of Park City’s wackiest traditions and definitely one of Spring Gruv’s most entertaining! One hundred brave skiers and snowboarders don the craziest costumes imaginable and attempt to skim a 100-foot-long pond. Think you can make it across the pond and to the top of the podium? Registration opens March 6. The event takes place mid-mountain near the Red Pine Lodge, and you must by a ticket to ride the gondola up to spectate if you don’t already have a lift ticket.
For a detailed Spring Gruvschedule and information on more activities at PCMR, visit their website at www.parkcitymountainresort.com.
