If you’re skiing or riding park city, you’ve no doubt heard about its legendary Jupiter Bowl.
Advanced and expert skiers consider it the best part of the mountain, and for good reason.
In this post, I’ll share everything you need to know about Jupiter Bowl at Park City.
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What is Jupiter Bowl at Park City?
Jupiter Bowl is the premier double black terrain at Park City Mountain Resort, and arguably, some of the best advanced to expert in-bounds skiing at any resort.
Jupiter sits on the Park City side of the resort. To get there, you can either take the Jupiter lift or a short hike from McConkey’s Express.
3 Reasons Why Jupiter Bowl might be the best part of Park City Mountain Resort
Ask any Park City local, and they’ll probably brag about Jupiter bowl more than other other part of the mountain.
So, why all the love? Three reasons:
1. Deep Snow
In a ski resort that sprawls over 7,300 acres, the small slice that is Jupiter Bowl gets more snow than any other part of the mountain. By a lot.
While all the rest of Park City’s snow stakes report average annual snow totals anywhere from 150 to 290 inches, Jupiter Bowl scores a whopping 350+ inches of snow every season.
This is thanks not only to its higher elevation, but also to its blessed location closer to Utah’s legendary Cottonwood Canyons powder trap. (Fun fact: Jupiter Bowl is technically closer to Solitude and Brighton – about 1 mile away – than it is to the base of Park City, which is nearly 3 miles away.)
2. Super lappable
Most similar double black diamond terrain at other mountains requires some serious effort to reach. But at Park City, the trusty two-seater Jupiter lift, located right in the middle of the bowl, means that you can easily lap powder runs all day long.
3. Less crowds
All the terrain in Jupiter Bowl is marked double black only, which seriously limits the crowds.
As one of the most popular mountain resorts in the country, many sections of Park City see big lift lines and lots of on-run traffic. But while most of Park City’s visitors are waiting in lines and dodging Jerries, advanced and expert skiers can head to Jupiter Bowl and have the area mostly to themselves.
Seriously, Jupiter Bowl feels like an entirely different resort than the rest of the mountain.
An Advanced Guide to Jupiter Bowl
So now that I’ve hopefully sold you on Jupiter Bowl, it’s time to break down the area.
Jupiter Bowl is really split up into four parts, each of which ski a little differently.
Jupiter Lift Area
This is the stuff accessible right off the Jupiter 2-chair. The most obvious route is a wide open area aptly named “The Main Bowl” but the majority of this terrain consists of steeper trees and chutes.
For the biggest challenge, the 6 Bells chute offers the tightest trees on this side.
For more open powder, traverse over to War Zone or take 5-minute hike for Dead Tree, which is a great line that’s usually less tracked.
McConkey’s Bowl / Pinyon Ridge
The alternate entrance to Jupiter Bowl is to hike up from McConkey’s Express.
You can avoid a hike all together by dropping into McConkey’s Bowl directly off the lift, but as is usually the case, the trade off for this convenience is more frequently skied snow.
For a nice middle ground, I prefer to hike halfway up Pinyon Ridge towards P-Zone and O-Zone.
Jupiter Peak
If you continue your hike from either direction, you’ll eventually reach the stunning Jupiter Peak. As the only part of the bowl which clears 10,000 feet in elevation, this is the highest point in all of Park City Mountain Resort.
To get specific about the hikes, you can either get there by traversing for a bit off the Jupiter lift, followed by a 15-20 minute bootpack to the peak, or you can hike about 20 minutes from the McConkey’s Bowl / Pinyon Ridge side.
In either case, Jupiter Peak has the longest and most direct fall lines. The most challenging shot awaits in “The Chutes” (formerly known as East Face) and the lower Puma Bowl is legendary.
Scott’s Bowl
Located just past “East Scott’s Bowl” to skier’s left of the Jupiter lift, Scott’s Bowl is a fan favorite with a tumultuous history.
For 15+ years, Vail Resorts leased this 100+ acre plot of privately owned land from the Silver King Mining Company. But in 2018, the long-term lease expired, and the two couldn’t reach an agreement.
For skiers, the sad result was that Vail closed Scott’s Bowl for season after season. Can you spot the difference between these two trail maps?
Thankfully, in 2022, Vail and Silver King signed a new lease agreement, and ski patrol unceremoniously dropped the ropes halfway through the season. Scott’s Bowl was back!
In any case, skiers can once again enjoy this fantastic side-country part of Jupiter Bowl. For those willing to make the hike up (and avoid dropping in on all the juicy lines along the way) they’ll likely be rewarded with some of the best, most frequently untracked snow on the mountain.
Misc Stats about Jupiter Bowl
- Jupiter Peak Elevation: 10,026 ft.
- Size: Approximately 900 acres
- Annual Snowfall: 350+ inches per year
- Number of Lifts: Two, with mostly hike to terrain
- Jupiter Lift – 2 chair fixed grip, with 1,020 ft. of vertical rise
- McConkey’s Express – 6 chair high speed, with 1,178 ft. of vertical rise
- Steepest Run: The Cutes (formerly known as East Face) at 42 degrees, making it the steepest overall run in Park City