The Easiest Blue Runs at Park City: A Beginner’s Guide

Park City is a great mountain for beginner and lower intermediate skiers, thanks to plenty of green runs that go all over the mountain.

But what happens when you’re ready to advance beyond the greens?

What are the easiest blue runs at Park City?

This guide will share my picks for the best easy blues at Park City, plus plenty of insider tips for beginner and lower intermediate skiers at Park City.

I’ve even included a suggested mountain tour at the end!

General Tips for Finding Easier Blue Runs at Park City

Not all blue runs at Park City (or any mountain, for that matter) are created equal.

Some are much steeper than others, while others may even have moguls.

Rather than running the gamble, here’s a few tips that will help you avoid getting over your head.

1. Use Park City’s old school trail map to get extra info

Back in the day, Park City used to specify “double blue” runs. The idea was that these double blues sat somewhere between an regular blue and a black run.

But, in 2016, Park City removed double blue from their trail rating system. Then, they either re-classified the double blue runs to blacks, or more commonly, just started calling them regular blues.

Not exactly the most helpful for someone cautious about which blues they ski…

Lucky, SlopeLab saved a copy of this old trail map from 2015:

Park City 2015 with double blues...
Park City’s 2015 Trail Map with Blue vs. Double Blue Markings (click for full size)

If you’re looking to ski easier blue runs, avoid the double blues on that map.

2. Protip for King Con Express

As we’ll talk about in the minute, one of the best parts on the mountain for progressing your blue skills is the King Con chairlift. It features tons of tons of blue cruisers perfect for intermediates.

But here’s a helpful tip… Runs off King Con tend to get steeper the closer you get to the lift’s two black runs – “Climax” and “Seldom Seen”.

So, for an enjoyable progression, you can start on the King Con run (easiest blue in the area) and work your way to Monitor (toughest blue in the area).

Just note that some of these blues off King con are ungroomed, so make sure to pay attention to the grooming report on the official trail status page!

3. Pay attention to the dotted blue lines on Park City’s Trail Map

Park City’s current trail map is unique because they mark the easiest way down from any lift with a dashed blue line on the map.

So, sticking to these runs will keep you on the easier blues.

The only problem? Many of these runs are basic people movers that are more cat-track than actual ski run.

In light of this, here’s my recommendations for the most fun, easy blue runs at Park City.

The 9 Best Easy Blue Runs at Park City Mountain Resort

If you’re looking for some of the most fun, easy blue runs, here are my picks.

Not that these are in no particular order, so we’ll talk about progressions later.

1. King Con Run

As previously mentioned, the King Con Express area is a great spot to work your way up the difficulty of blues. And the easiest of those is the King Con run.

It’s usually groomed and relatively short – after a few turns you’ll reach the Broadway run, which is a long green runout back to the King Con Express chairlift.

2. Kokopelli

KokoPelli is a shorter blue run located off the Saddleback Express chairlift on the Canyons side of the resort. It’s gently sloped and funnels into the only green runs at the Canyons side, so it’s perfect for getting a taste of blue steepness without having to commit to too long of a run.

3. Snow Dancer

Snow Dancer is off the same chairlift as Kokopelli. (Saddleback Express)

Technically, the map marks Snow Dancer as the easiest way down. While that may be true, it’s also a little longer than Kokopelli, but still perfect for lower intermediates.

4. Red Pine Road

If you’re looking for a very short taste of steepness, Red Pine Road is a perfect option. About 80% of this run is essentially a green cat-track, but there’s a short middle section which opens up to a beautiful, wide groomer.

You can find Red Pine Road off the Tombstone Express chairlift.

5. Copperhead

Located off the intermediate wonderland that is the Iron Mountain Express lift, Copperhead is a perfect long blue cruiser that you can lap for hours.

6. Trance and Reaper

You can find these two easier blue runs off the back side of the Dreamcatcher chairlift. Both them wrap around and funnel into a longer, easier blue that runs back to the chairlift.

These are more runs perfect for lapping for a while to build up your confidence.

7. The Colony Runs at Canyons

colony at canyons runs

Okay, I made this name up. But this refers to the tangle of blue runs that roll through The Colony housing development on the Canyons side of the resort.

All of these blue runs are gentle, rolling cruisers, with several flatter sections that may even require poling.

The coolest part of this area is that you’ll get to leisurely ski between many beautiful mountain homes and gawk at some Canyons most well-off residents. You’ll even ski through tunnels and underneath roads, which is an interesting experience.

The only thing to note is that this area isn’t immediately accessible by a direct chairlift. So, you’ll need to take a few different chair lifts (and do some skiing all over the mountain) before arriving at them. While these runs themselves are certainly easier, you’ll want to build some confidence before adventuring to them.

8. Upper and Lower Boa

Located off the Super Condor chairlift, this run is a wide open groomer than goes for days and days.

Upper Boa is a gentle sloped pitch, perfect for linking some turns together, while Lower Boa is noticeably flatter as you transport back to the chairlift.

9. Chicane

This run isn’t officially marked on the trail map as the easiest way down, but as a designated slow zone with a flatter pitch, it’s nothing to be worried about.

You’ll probably ski this if you want to venture from the Red Pine Gondola to the Tombstone Express, or if you’re using Timberline to get to the Iron Mountain Express / Dreamscape lifts. (Both great areas for Intermediate Skiers)

A Guide For Getting to Easy Blue Runs at Park City

If I were planning a ski day for a beginning intermediate skier, here’s what I would recommend.

I’ve sorted it depending on which part of the mountain you are starting your day.

From Historic Park City (The Town Lift)

Take The Town Lift up the mountain and then ski onto the Bonanza Express chairlift. From there, ski down the start of Homerun (a long, gentle green run) before turning off for Claimjumper (another green).

If those two went well, you can continue skiing down Broadway (easy green) to the King Con Express lift. Once there, start at King Con run, which is the easiest blue in the area, and then work your way through the blues towards Monitor, since they get progressively steeper in this order.

(As previously mentioned, pay attention to the grooming report! Or at least look for moguls on the chairlift ride up.)

From Park City Mountain Village

Take the Crescent Express up the mountain.

If the line isn’t bad for Crescent Express, you can take a warm up lap back to the Crescent Express by skiing down the green Homerun. If the line is bad, which is common in the morning, I’d ski straight off the lift towards Claimjumper. Claimjumper is an easy green, so if this goes well you can ski down Broadway towards the King Con Express, and then follow the progression of blues in that area that we discussed earlier.

From Canyons Village

Take the Red Pine Gondola up the mountain, then ski straight off the Gondola to the Saddleback Express.

The two easiest runs off Saddleback are Kokopelli and Snowdancer. Kokopelli is a little shorter and funnels into the greens, so I prefer it as a warm up. If Kokopelli goes well, then try out Snowdancer.

If you’re feeling confident after these two, you can ski from Saddleback lift to Timberline lift by taking Chicane all the way down. Timberline will take you to Iron Mountain Express, where you can enjoy Copperhead and possibly some of the other runs in the area. (You can scope them out from the chairlift to see if they look within your skillset.)

If you tire of this area, White Pine is an easy people-mover that you can take down to the Dreamcatcher lift. From there, you can enjoy Reaper or Trance.

If things are still going well, then I recommend exploring the mellow Dreamscape area and eventually skiing through one of the runs in The Colony at Canyons area.

Hope you found this guide helpful! Happy Skiing!

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