If you’ve been in Utah for very long, chances are high you’ve heard of Park City and how it’s such a popular location for snowmobiling and other winter sports. But what makes this area so great?
Park City is located in the Wasatch mountain range. This little range is part of the greater Rocky Mountain line that extends far up and down the western United States. Its location gives it access to higher elevations and other mountain passes with lots of backcountries, perfect for exploring.
This is a really convenient place to group up before or after a ski or snowmobiling adventure. There are lots of shops and places to eat, perfect for getting gear or reminiscing after a fun day in the snow.
But Park City is only the gathering place for snow adventures. The greater adventure lies in the mountains surrounding the area.
Utah boasts of having the best snow on earth, but what does that mean? Locals will tell you it’s because the snow is so dry. But isn’t dry snow a contradiction? Not really. Although snow is composed of ice crystals, the way it falls across the mountains of the western United States is fairly unique, creating conditions perfect for snowmobiling.
Snow in the Rockies generally comes from storms originating on the east coast. As the storms blow over the dry western interior, they start to lose the moisture they acquired from the ocean. This makes them lighter and faster.
As they hit the Wasatch mountains, the high elevation combined with the low moisture content combines perfectly to create snow that doesn’t pack together. Instead of the slightly melted or icy snow that may be abundant in other parts of the United States, which generally makes snowmobiling more difficult, the snow formed in the Wasatch mountains is loose and powdery.
This loose, powdery snow and its abundance in the Wasatch mountains make a coveted playground for winter adventurers. Snowmobiling in the loose powder becomes much easier as the handling of the snowmobile will be better in looser snow.
A large part of handling the machine while snowmobiling is learning how to position the front of the snowmobile so it glides over the surface of the power. Once that is learned, snowmobiling becomes a high-adrenaline adventure!
The experience of gliding over the loose powder in the Wasatch mountains is unmatched by other locations in the United States. Snowmobiling in Park City is a fun experience for anyone curious enough to test whether or not Utah lives up to the hype of having the best snow on Earth.
Park City Peaks is a snowmobiling company that offers snomobiling in park city, including tours and rentals.
