Adrenaline Rush
Art: Don Weller
Need the thrill of speed during your visit? Park City is brimming with experiences that are faster, stronger and higher than every day life. Whether you’re in the mood to zip, launch, slide or roll, Park City has the activity.
The western part of the county is home to six zip lines at two resorts, where you can reach speeds up to 60 miles per hour and heights of more than 100 feet in the air. Chose from one of the world’s longest or steepest zip lines—either way, your heart is guaranteed to start racing. Staying closer to the ground doesn’t mean slowing down. The expanded lanes of the Alpine Slide at Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) provide speed opportunities while remaining firmly planted to the contours of the mountain.
The Utah Olympic Park (UOP) offers wheeled bobsled rides in summer, where the adventurous can roll down the same track used by the Olympic athletes in 2002, going up to about 65 miles per hour. Piloted by a professional driver, three passengers at a time get all the thrill and excitement of the winter sport without all the snow and ice.
Learn to fly off the ski jumps into a splash pool. You just need an afternoon to get started, but camps and special packages let you progress to greater heights all summer long. Skiing experience is helpful, but even novices might get to launch themselves off the lowest ramp.
New to the UOP is the Quicksilver slide. With a deep, stainless steel track and carts designed to hug the curve, Quicksilver will offer an experience unlike anything else in North America. Riders will be able to test the responsiveness of the carts throughout the more than 3,000 feet of track and around the full 360-degree horizontal loop.
Gain a little bit of height again by bouncing, jumping and flipping on PCMR’s Legacy Launcher, a circus-style trampoline that harnesses up to four people at a time as they spring for the sky.
Even in the mountains the days can get hot, and that’s when a rafting or river trip can cool you down. Several outfitters in town can put you on the nearby Green, Weber, Bear or Yampa rivers for a day or guide you through overnight and multi-day trips.
Try kayaking on the Great Salt Lake, which spans a distance equal to the size of Connecticut. Local experts will help you experience its turquoise pools and salt marshes. Off the coast is Antelope Island, home to wild buffalo herds.
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