Have you ever wondered who is high up on those peaks and ridges launching the avalanche control “bombs” that we hear echoing on snowy mornings in ski country? Here is a memorable video of ski patrollers at PC Mtn. Resort setting off slides on New Year’s Day. Oh, and they do get to ski some incredible first tracks now and then….

Click here for Google Video of PC ski patrollers

If you don’t already have tickets for these opening events of the Sundance Film Festival you’re most likely SOL (unless you have Redford’s cell phone number), but here’s what is happening to kick off the 2008 Sundance Film Festival:

Opening Night and Salt Lake City Gala

Opening Night Screening

Thursday, January 17, 2008

In Bruges

Director: Martin McDonagh
Screenwriter: Martin McDonagh
Executive Producers: Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman, Tessa Ross
Producers: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czerin
Cinematographer: Eigil Bryld
Editor: Jon Gregory

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival opens in Park City with the world premiere of In Bruges, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker and award-winning playwright, Martin McDonagh. With an international cast starring Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges tells the suspenseful, twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium, and how their subsequent time in exile goes awry.

6:00 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.
Eccles Theatre
Screening ticket required. Wait list is available and encouraged.

Opening Night Party

Thursday, January 17, 2008
Welcome! Arriving from all corners of the globe, filmmakers and Festival friends reunite or meet for the first time and embark upon the journey of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

10:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Legacy Lodge
1310 Lowell Avenue
Park City
On Shuttle Route
Parking is available
Party Ticket Required

Salt Lake City Gala Screening

Friday, January 18, 2008

The Great Buck Howard

Director: Sean McGinly
Screenwriter: Sean McGinly
Executive Producers: Steven Shareshian, Marvin Acuna
Producers: Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Coproducer: Ginger Sledge
Cinematographer: Tak Fujimoto
Editor: Myron I. Kerstein

The Salt Lake City Gala on Friday, January 18 will feature the world premiere of The Great Buck Howard, directed by Sean McGinly and starring Colin Hanks, John Malkovich and Emily Blunt about a law school dropout who answers an advertisement to be a celebrity’s personal assistant and finds himself staging the comeback of a lifetime for a mentalist whose flamboyant style is at once confounding and wholly authentic.

6:30 p.m. & 9:30 p.m.
Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City
Screening ticket required. Wait list is available and encouraged.

Salt Lake City Dessert Reception

Friday, January 18, 2008
Celebrate the 2008 Sundance Film Festival at our Salt Lake City Gala. Following the gala screening, film enthusiasts will gather for a dessert reception and share their passion for new independent film.

8:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Pierpont Place
163 Pierpont Avenue
Salt Lake City
Reception Ticket required

OK, let’s admit that not every day is like this here….. but lately it sure seems like it. Here is Mindy R. floating through the powder below Condor Ridge at The Canyons.

Our buddy Sean over at PC Mtn. Resort was enjoying a little time away from the office recently…. we hope his boss doesn’t know how “tough” his job is because, well, it seems downright criminal to get paid for this kind of life…..

NEW DEER VALLEY EXPRESS LIFT!

More Awesome Terrain in Empire Canyon

Deer Valley Resort recently opened over 200 acres of new terrain in the Empire Canyon area, including nine ski runs and 65 beautiful gladed acres, served by the new Lady Morgan Express chairlift. This expands the already fabulous Empire Canyon terrain to make for one of the best skiing playgrounds around! Along with all the terrain skied from the 9,000′ summit of the Lady Morgan Express, skiers coming off the Empire Canyon Express at 9,570′ now have some wonderful options skiing over to the Lady Morgan Express lift for a longer more varied run. For example, from the top of Empire Canyon Express, in addition to all the blue and green trail options, advanced skiers can blast through the powder of Lady Morgan Bowl (black diamond), then take upper Magnet (black diamond), and then veer left into the awesome gladed areas of Centennial (double-black diamond) to end up at the base of Lady Morgan Express.

The official kick-off for the festival is Thursday evening, January 17…. but already on the 15th and 16th the town is getting busy with at lot of the early arrivals. Festival staffers, media and film biz people are already popping up all over, checking into lodging to get ready for the onslaught, etc. Locals are poking their heads out for a last look around before the most intense 10 days and nights in any ski town, anywhere. The interesting thing for skiers and boarders, though, is that it’s actually a great time to be on the slopes because while the lodging and restaurant base is packed the slopes are just about deserted throughout the festival. All those “People in Black” from NYC to LA don’t seem to have as much passion for snowsports as they do for film and parties, so those of us who do hit the slopes during these 10 days in January find we often have entire runs and bowls to ourselves. It’s actually a pretty fair division of labor - those who want films and parties focus on that, and those who want the powder, well we know what to do with that….. and some folks manage to enjoy a pretty large share of both the festival and the ski resorts.

Welcome to our new blog for R&R Properties. Here at www.parkcitylodging.com we manage nearly 200 privately owned homes and condominiums available for vacation rentals. This blog will allow us to update you on the latest happenings in the Park City area, new info about our properties, skier and snowboarder tips, etc. Thanks for visiting us!

It’s been an amazing month since mid-December…. snow just about every other day, more powder days than most people dream of for a lifetime, and the town of Park City has been digging out so often that local officials had to hire a fleet of dump-trucks and front-loaders to carry away more snow than would fill the dimensions of a football field to a depth of 20 feet.

This blog is written by the staff and friends of ParkCityLodging.com and R&R Properties.  We simply offer our perspectives on local events, life in these mountains, skiing and boarding our favorite resorts, and how to get the most out of your Utah vacation.  When you’re really lucky we’ll write about all of our favorite restaurants, clubs, off-slope diversions, and maybe even a few secret powder stashes.  Ooh, if we’re not careful we may get ourselves in trouble with fellow locals!  Warning:  any secrets revealed here are for you and you alone…. not to be shared with another soul.  Well maybe just a few of your nearest and dearest….