By Leah Jones

April 5, 2000

The American Skiing Company hosted a gala grand opening over the weekend in celebration of The Canyons Resort Village. The event was a chance for Chairman/CEO Les Otten and President Blaise Carrig to showcase the new Summit Resort Hotel and Conference Center, The Sundial Lodge, the Forum festival area, and thank members of the media, Ski Utah, the contractors, and staff who have and are still working to make The Canyons the premiere resort community of the new millennium.

The Canyons is located in Park City, were the 2002 Winter Olympic Games will take place. And although no Olympic events are scheduled for the Canyons, American Skiing has invested over $33-million since they bought the resort in July of 1997.

Originally named Wolf Mountain, upgrades and expansions have been made to the resort taking it from 1,400 rideable acres to its current 3,300 acres. The plan calls for over $500-million, yes, $500-million in expansion, mostly in lodging, trail-side condominiums and homes, and the village area. The actual mountain now boasts a base elevation of 6,800 feet, a 3,190 foot vertical drop, seven peaks, 125 trails, one gondola, five high-speed quads, four fixed quads, one triple chair, one double, two tow ropes, and one terrain park and halfpipe. The resort is a great beginner/intermediate mountain, with well over half of the runs being wide and not too steep. There is some great tree riding, backcountry access off many runs, and the Ninety Nine 90 lift takes riders to an elevation of 9,990 feet with mostly black-diamond runs from the top.

Carrig reminisced about the time when Otten initially brought him to Wolf Mountain and said that it was the first time he thought Otten and his vision was "certifiably insane." Otten went on to say that without Carrig�s execution of his vision, none of the 300 guests would be sitting at "the future of resort living." Phase two of the resort�s village is scheduled to begin this June. But you might want to hurry. The Sundial Lodge, The Canyon�s whole ownership condominium offering, sold out in just one day. So, if you�d like more information or have between 60,000 and $2.3-million you�d like to spend on a piece of the Canyons� pie you can contact Kim Peterson, director of communications at (435) 615-3308 or e-mail [email protected]