Prospector -> Jupiter Peak - Work to Snowboard Lunchtime Powder

As many people are probably aware, GCommerce has moved offices! We are still in Park City, but we are now located in the heart of Kimball Junction. The entire team is excited to have some additional space in a better working environment. Despite the fact that we’re on pace for the worst winter on record, GCom employees are still trying to make the most of the snow and some got out during a storm in late January.

As we move out of the Prospector neighborhood, we wanted to leave behind a handy guide for catching one of the better powder runs at Park City Mountain Resort in just enough time during your lunch break. Preparation, luck and a sense of urgency are needed to pull off this feat. But, if you’re able to do it, you’ll be rewarded with over 3,300’ of vertical through the course of 7 runs on world-class terrain. Better yet, you should be able to pull off the entire thing during your regularly scheduled, 1-hour lunch break J – Huge thanks to Parkite legend Alex Foley for the inspiration on this route.

To start off, be sure all of your ski stuff is ready to go and can be easily assembled once your lunch break starts. You’ll want to be as efficient with your time as possible in order to make the most of your break. Use the MyStop App to track the location of the bus. This will allow you to leave at the exact moment that the bus is coming down your street. Once on the bus, you’ve got approximately 10 minutes to get your boots and all your gear ready before you’re dropped at the base of the resort.

From the base of the resort, walk over the Crecent lift (2 min). Take Crecent up to the top of Treasure Mountain (7 min) and ride the cattrack (Homerun à Shortline) to the base of McConkey’s lift, should take about 3 minutes. After riding the lift up to the top of McConkeys (4 min) make the short but rewarding hike to the top of Jupiter Peak (12 min). Unless you’re one of the first there that day, we’d recommend hiking all the way to the true peak. This will ensure you get better turns towards the top and it also maximizes your ride down.

Now that you’re at the top of the peak, take a quick moment to enjoy the view before dropping over 3,300 vertical feet back to the base:

Be sure to drop off the east side of the peak, going north over Pioneer Ridge you’ll end up in Thaynes Canyon and you’ll need to take another lift back over. Anything off the west side is going to take you into National Forest land and away from the resort. We’d recommend hitting The Chutes down into Puma Bowl and coming out on the Sampson run. From there, pick up Comstock and take that to Woodside. Flat Iron will cut you back over towards the

base of Bonanza; cross Jonesy’s and pickup Homerun to cut from Bonanza back towards Payday. Take the shortcut down Treasure Hollow before picking up Homerun again. Ride this past the Payday lift, but not quite to First Time, stopping at the entrance to the ice rink at the back of the Pig Pen Saloon.

This is where the luck of the bus schedule comes into play. Route 1 drops off from Prospector every 20 minutes but leaves towards Prospector exactly 16 minutes later. That means it will pick you up exactly 56 minutes after if drops you off, which gives you just enough time to clip out of your board and make it back over to the bus stop before the Route 1 takes off. The 8 minute bus ride back to Prospector will allow you to change back into work clothes and think

up a reason why you’re 1 minute late coming back from your hour-long lunch. If everything goes as planned, this entire trip should be almost exactly an hour with time on over 7 runs, 2 lifts and over 3,300’ of vertical terrain.

GCommerce is passionate about having a quality work-life balance for all of our employees. Park City is an incredible place to live and we take full advantage of the opportunities that are afforded here.

Now that GCom is at our new offices, the employees will need to figure out new routes from Kimball Junction to the best runs on the Canyons Village side of Park City Mountain Resort. Stay tuned to see the best lunchtime routes from Kimball Junction!