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PARK CITY -- Heavy snow is expected to hit Northern Utah just in time for the Sundance Film Festival. It could make traveling through Park City a bit of a hassle, but it's a hassle city residents are happy to deal with.
After months of dry weather, the forecast has shop owners in Park City smiling.
Destination Ski and Sports owner Tim Mertens said, "We have the wettest forecast I've seen all season."
Mertens says the temperatures stayed cold enough to keep the snow that fell earlier in the season, and the resorts have done a great job making snow. Still, the lack of natural powder has taken a chunk out of his sales, which haven't been terrible, just kind of, meh.
Related:
12 to 18 inches of mountain snow expected Wednesday in 'significant' storm
The brown landscapes of northern Utah may well turn white with the advent of a "significant" winter storm due to arrive Wednesday afternoon or evening."Our numbers have been running, with nightly visitation, only 5 to 6 percent behind last year," he said.
So, a large storm dumping snow on Park City for the first day of the Sundance Film Festival (Jan. 19) is exactly what business owners like Mertens are hoping for. Reportedly, a lot of the Hollywood types who come to the festival aren't dressed for the cold, and they quickly learn that heels were a bad idea.
"I suspect, if that's the case, we'll do OK on some colder weather accessory items," Mertens said. "But I know we'll do well with footwear because that's one of the items that most people don't bring."
City officials are just happy the mountains will look white instead of brown when the cameras from the national media start rolling.
Chamber of Commerce Tourism and Marketing Manager Stephen Lane said, "It really helps us promote that snow message, as well. Even though they might be talking about the festivals and movies, that backdrop of snow dumping on Main Street in Park City is really helpful."
I know we'll do well with footwear because that's one of the items that most people don't bring.
–Tim Mertens
Lane says shows like Entertainment Tonight and Insider will do stories about the skiing in Park City, which is ironically slow during the festival even though the city is filled with people. Why? People are just too busy working.
Chamber of Commerce Director of Sales Cathy Miller explained, "A lot of people come here and they have their schedule programmed from morning through night with films and events."
Miller says she's noticing more big corporations bringing large groups of people to the festival.
"When we went through the economic downturn, beginning to 2008, many of the companies still came to Sundance but instead of bringing eight or 10 people, they would just bring themselves and maybe one additional person," she said.
Miller says she hopes Park City gets dumped on every single day of the festival. Then, people watching at home sitting on the fence on whether they want to come to Utah may decide to pull the trigger and book a flight.
