The meager start to the winter, with little snowfall and unseasonably warm temperatures, might limit the holiday cheer in Park City. As the community continues to suffer through a spate of unusual weather, a Park City Council member recently spoke about the impact of the slow beginning to the sk i season. City Councilor Tana Toly encouraged people to shop local as she worried Park City businesses could experience difficulty during the ski season. “I will start by stating the obvious, that we don’t have a lot of snow. And this has put a lot of people into anxiety in our community, and a lot of people in the small-business community are feeling that,” Toly said. “So, for those out there who maybe have some last-minute Christmas shopping, I would really recommend, and really suggest, maybe buying your last-minute Christmas gifts from some of our small businesses out there, who are probably going to feel the pain of it this winter a little bit.” Toly, who grew up in Park City, recently won reelection to a second term and has a background in the Main Street business community.  She described Park City as a “resilient community and we go through these things.” “And when they happen, we always get really creative and we show our best colors, and I know we’re going to do that again and Mother Nature is going to come through for us,” Toly said. The National Weather Service’s midday forecast on Tuesday called for little snow through the next week. The forecast also called for on-and-off temperatures that would be conducive to snowmaking. The elected officials at the meeting were not scheduled to address issues related to potential economic impacts of the slow start to the ski season. It will likely be several months before sales-tax figures are available for December, with those numbers eventually providing an economic snapshot of the early part of the ski season. The impact of a slow beginning to the ski season would stretch through the tourism industry that drives the Park City economy. The lodging, restaurant and transportation sectors, in addition to the mountain resorts, would be expected to suffer at some level should skiers opt out of a trip this month based on the snow conditions and limited availability of open skiing terrain at Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort. The holiday stretch from Christmas to New Year’s is usually one of the busiest periods of the ski season, but there is time later in the winter, including during the Sundance Film Festival and during the spring-break weeks, to boost economic numbers. “Hug a snowmaker. Hug a small-business worker and the people who are going to be dealing with our guests over the next three weeks who did spend a lot of money to come here and might not be in the best holiday cheer,” Toly said. She added: “Customer service is what we sell in this community and I hope we continue to provide that.” The post Park City official predicts economic impacts with winter starting slowly appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less