Park City Mountain finally opened for the 2025-26 season on Friday, ending two weeks of waiting, refreshing weather apps and pretending that skiing your backyard rail setup counted as early season conditioning.  Warm temperatures and weak storms forced the resort to push back its planned Nov. 2 1 launch, but a burst of cold weather and several days of steady snowfall gave crews just enough to work with. Despite the gray clouds and low visibility, the delayed opening still drew hundreds of people determined to make the most of it. A handful of Park City High School students spent nearly 24 hours camped out on the concrete for first chair at Payday Express and the Red Pine Gondola, holding down the lines long before most of town had even rolled out of bed on Thursday. At Mountain Village, high school juniors Porter Loveridge and Leo Keller staked their claim at Payday Express at 7 a.m. Thursday — their first-ever shot at first chair. Loveridge and Keller said they spent much of Thursday doing homework from the concrete, guarding their spot and finishing assignments on a phone hotspot. They said the delayed opening had left them skiing the rail setup in Keller’s backyard in the meantime, and they were eager to finally get on real snow.  “We missed school yesterday and today,” said Keller. “I just always have wanted to do this.” The dedicated first chair riders of Payday Express on Friday camped out starting at 7 a.m. Thursday morning to secure their spot in line. Credit: Jack Singer/Park Record At Canyons Village, their friends Jackson Schroeter, Max Skrypek, Landon Macon, and Hudson Marsh anchored the Red Pine Gondola line. Together, the crew pulled off a coordinated 24-hour push across both villages, mirroring the strategy Schroeter and Skrypek used last season. Schroeter, Skrypek, Macon and Marsh also skipped class, with varying degrees of justification, and took turns thawing out by the fire pits and hotel lobbies, before spending the final hour watching the resort wake up around them.  Prepared with snacks and enough teenage confidence to last the night, the only thing the skiers didn’t bring was competition. “We’ve been in line for 24 hours,” Schroeter said, looking at the empty plaza with a grimace. “We were kind of expecting more people. Not a single person showed up all night. The next person in line got here 20 minutes ago.” But who cares? For these self-declared ski bums, getting first chair is really about the experience.  “Being the biggest ski bum in the school comes with its challenges,” joked Marsh, a senior. “It’s just so fun. You tell it to anyone, and they’re like, ‘You’re idiots going to stand out in the cold for hours.’ But it’s one of the most fun things. I woke up yesterday morning like it was Christmas, like ‘Oh my God, we’re so excited.’” After a full day and night on the concrete, a group of Park City High School students claimed first chair at Payday Express and Red Pine Gondola, celebrating the first of what they hope to be 150 days on snow. Credit: Jack Singer/Park Record Across the plaza, the Sunrise Gondola was readying for its debut. Though the first cabin technically went to the kids of PC Tots, Park City residents Matt Sanford and Harrison Zempel showed up at midnight to secure that first spot in line. “With the brand new gondola, we knew we had to be the first people to ride Sunrise before skiing ever,” said Zempel. “I’m going for 100 days this season, which is gonna be harder since we delayed opening a little bit. That just means we’re gonna have to not take any days off.” The pair slept under a single blue tarp draped between the barricades, with the night’s snow piling over them until they camouflaged into the concrete and the makeshift tent was nearly touching their noses. A startled lifty discovered them at dawn, moments before they stood up to claim the first public ride on the 10-person lift. “It was pretty brutal. But we have some great pictures,” Sanford said. The resort christened the new 10-person gondola with a champagne bottle break, marking what leaders described as a long-term investment and the first major lift addition at Canyons Village in years. The ceremony drew a crowd of eager skiers, employees and nonprofit partners to see the new lift in motion. Sara Huey, director of community and government affairs for Park City Mountain’s parent company, Vail Resorts, right, presents a $200,000 check to the Park City Education Foundation, PC Tots and Early Childhood Alliance. Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record The resort presented a check representing funds raised from the auction of retired Sunrise chairlift seats, with proceeds directed to PC Tots, the Park City Education Foundation and the Early Childhood Alliance to support child care and early education efforts in the community. “Opening day is always special and today is truly a milestone,” said Sara Huey, director of community and government affairs for Park City Mountain’s parent company, Vail Resorts. “This moment represents the start of another incredible winter season, and we’re thrilled to be celebrating something that will have a meaningful impact on our guests and our community for years to come.” After pushing back its original opening due to warm weather and limited snowfall, the resort squeezed every cold hour this week to build enough coverage to open. By Friday, they had carved out about 195 acres of terrain, spread across both base areas, with snow misting through the grey clouds all morning.  Skiers and riders funneled onto Payday Express, First Time, Sunrise Gondola, Red Pine Gondola, High Meadow and Saddleback Express. The first laps came with the usual reality check of thin spots, a few rocks and poor visibility — but with all the pent-up energy of the off-season that didn’t seem to slow anyone down.  Some skiers cruised down the hill with caution, reacquainting themselves with their ski legs, while others charged ahead with the kind of reckless confidence that comes with the first day back. Rob Snedaker, who flew in from Florida, had planned to ski all week but quickly learned the mountain wasn’t ready. When the lifts finally spun on his last day in town, Snedaker jumped at the chance.  Snedaker only had a few hours before his 6 p.m. flight, but he said skiing the morning’s fresh snow and making it onto the new gondola felt like winning a small battle against the weather. Lisa Latoni and Andy Jorgensen, who have lived in Park City for more than 16 years and have skied more opening days than they can count, said they were pleasantly surprised by the snow.  “We love it here. They’ve got big long runs, and I really think they did a good job today getting things open and the snow is skiing well,” said Latoni.  They arrived early, expecting long lines and patchy runs, but instead found a quiet, calm morning with no lift lines and fresh snow underfoot. “We’re just happy to be out,” Jorgensen said. “We’re well overdue.” For Jenny Willden and Rachael Smith, the delayed opening held a silver lining, giving the pair the perfect excuse to take off work and celebrate Smith’s birthday together with their first day on the hill.  Willden has skied at Canyons Village since she was 12. She said good friends, familiar faces in lift lines and the easy access are why she continues to choose the resort.  “It’s a great community here,” she said. “That’s why we’re here. That’s what it’s all about.” For Sarah and Rome Kuntz, Opening Day was a chance to finally break the early-season stalemate.  “We moved out here for the mountains. We love it. It’s been sad with how slow the start of the season has been, and how much of a drag it was to miss out on the first two weekends we usually get,” said Rome. “So we thought we had better take off work and go get some turns at the first chance we could.”  Rome has been snowboarding for years, and Sarah picked it up through him. Together, they’ve sampled plenty of the nearby resorts, but nothing ever stuck quite like Park City Mountain. “We’ve tried a bunch of the other resorts in the valley,” Rome said. “Park City was the first one we tried when we first came to Utah, and it’s kind of always been our home mountain. It’s our spot.” He’s hoping for as many days on snow as possible this winter. And, like almost everyone else on the mountain on Friday, “hopefully some more snow.” Longtime local skier Matt Jansowitz said that even a thin opening day is worth showing up for, especially after almost three decades. “This is my 27th winter at Park City. I’ve been here for countless opening days,” he said. “It feels like a rocky start. The weather has definitely been their biggest hurdle this year. But you gotta get out on opening day and be here. It’s why we live here, right?” Jansowitz is targeting more than 100 days this season. He said his motivation to ski isn’t really about counting days. It’s about holding on to what he described as the ski culture he grew up with — the passes he’s collected over the years, the routine of showing up on opening day and the parts of the sport he feels are slowly fading. “I’m just looking forward to enjoying the ski culture wherever we can find it these days,” he said.  With six lifts and nearly 200 acres open so far, resort leaders said several off-season improvements, including a redesigned ski and ride school at Canyons Village and updates to snowmaking infrastructure, will come into play as more terrain opens. “Opening day is always one of the highlights of the year for our team, our community, and our guests,” said Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Deirdra Walsh. “These strategic upgrades show our continued commitment to creating boundless experiences that ignite a love for the mountain lifestyle we all cherish. Even with Mother Nature throwing an early-season curveball, our whole team has done an incredible job, and we cannot wait to kick off another season together.” Park Record sports reporter Jack Singer contributed to this article. The post Work can wait, and school can too, as Park City Mountain welcomes opening day crowds appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less