Great Snow Escape: Sundance

UTAH COUNTY -- "Sundance" is most often associated with actor Robert Redford. After all, he did play the role in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But before Redford made the ski area famous, Sundance was already a favorite among the locals.

Timphaven precedes Sundance

Before Sundance, it was simply known as Timphaven. In the mid-1940s, the Stewart family began to tap into the endless recreational opportunities in the shadows of Mount Timpanogos. By the 1960s, a ski lift was running. With its close proximity to Utah Valley, word was spreading about Timphaven's potential as a destination resort.

In 1969, everything changed. Sundance was born and its new owner, Robert Redford, had a vision.

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First there was the outdoor summer theater. Then in 1981 Redford founded the Sundance Institute to create what its website calls "an environment designed to foster independence, discovery and new voices in American film." And by the 1980s, the arts and recreational community that Redford had dreamed of building was taking shape with a rehearsal hall and other amenities.

The idea was simple: develop a little, preserve a lot.

"Even the people who lived in the area said it's nice, the area is nice, but when are you going to do something with Sundance, so that we have something here, places to stay?" Redford said in 1996. "The same people say it's nice, we like what you've done, but we like it the way it was before."

Sundance today

Apparently Redford found the perfect balance. Today, Sundance ranks among the top 100 resorts in the world with nothing flashy, no high-speed quads or terrain parks, no massive hotel or shopping district. Rather, the 90-plus rooms and suites are scattered around the property to blend in perfectly with the scenery.

Inside, visitors find rustic elegance that is comfortable and cozy. They leave Sundance Resort feeling like they've been anywhere but a resort. "Retreat," "hide-a-way," and "escape" are words to describe the Sundance experience.

And then there's the food. The award-winning Foundry Grill opened in 1996. It complimented the already famous Tree Room restaurant, which was built in 1970 and was one of the first buildings at Sundance.

"The tree's dead," Redford has said. "It's almost a misnomer to call it the Tree Room. It died a long time ago. They said, ‘Well, take the tree out. You can get 12 more places in there.' And I said, ‘No, don't take the tree out because there's something right about a dead tree in Sundance. There's something synonymous."

The same Rosewood Bar that operated along the Outlaw Trail in Thermopolis, Wyo., in the 1890s, has been fully restored and sits in the Owl Bar at Sundance. While at its Wyoming location, this is where the real Butch Cassidy, Sundance Kid and the entire Hole in the Wall Gang used to sit.

Today, Sundance is truly a four-season resort that offers something for everyone at anytime.

Right now, it's all about skiing. Sundance offers skiing and snowboarding on 42 runs that cover 450 acres of terrain, all of it in the shadows of the towering Mt. Timpanogos. The runs are serviced by four lifts. When storms hit Central Utah, Sundance can be a powder keg of delight for skiers and boarders as they shoot the gaps of crevices and bowls.

Sundance is also known for its summer activities such as hiking, biking, dining, summer film labs and the Sundance Theater, which started in 1970.

In 1996 Redford said, "It was very crude, very primitive, but it was meant to be the beginning of a journey we're beginning to see now, which is a broad advanced state of theater development."

For more on Sundance Resort, visit its website. And click here for a report on services for children at Sundance.

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