The Canyon’s “Spring Gruv,” the upcoming 10-day festival, from March 28 through April 6, is as an effort to override the inevitable visitor slump that comes at the end of March and lasts until the resorts close in mid-April.
Lodging always dips a little after Easter Sunday, and this year, Bill Malone, executive director of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, foresees the plunge being a little more dramatic than usual.
“With Easter being as early as it is at the 23rd of March, we have a good week this week and next week, but after Sunday, March 30, it falls off pretty quickly,” he reports. “It’s going to be a bit more of a challenge this year.”
Malone, who keeps a weekly tally of Park City’s lodging, says this week will be strong – 63 to 68 percent of the 23,000 pillows available are expected to be occupied. Next week, the percent drops to 56 percent. The following week following March 30, however, Malone anticipates lodging will fall to 25-30 percent capacity. By comparison, in 2007, from March 18 to 24, the estimated occupancy in Park City was 51 percent; a few weeks later, April 8 through 15, the estimated occupancy in Park City dropped to 23 percent.
To counter the loss, the Chamber/Bureau launched a new television campaign in San Diego this year and is working 25 lodging properties that offer a third night free if a visitor books two nights.
“It’s a challenge at the end of the ski season, it’s nothing new, it always is. We do what we can and (The Canyons) is doing a great job of providing entertainment this year,” says Malone. “The golf clubs are coming out, the cherry blossoms are blooming in (Washington,) D.C. People want to move on to the next season.”
Todd Burnette, spokesman and vice president of marketing for the resort estimates of the 1,400-person capacity at The Canyons, the occupancy number could be as low as 20 percent by April. “As some of the people who live around here know, some of the best conditions are late March and early April, but for whatever reason, people around the country are moving on to playing on the beach and they’re not booking a vacation in Park City,” he says.
For the last year, Burnette and his marketing team have been dreaming up “Spring Gruv,” an event that would tie together some of the resort’s long-standing end-of-season events for a 10-day festival to draw more visitors for the last few weeks of the season. Kicking off Spring Gruv on March 29, will be the 11th Annual Pond Skimming Contest, which invites the public to dress up in costume and ski or snowboard across a 100-foot man-made pond near Red Pine Lodge. The next day, the festival hosts another long-standing event, the Canis Lupus Challenge a race down a banked bobsled-style run off of the Condor Lift.
Throughout the 10 days, four acts, local and national, will perform in the Forum on a special stage that nears 1,000 square feet – almost 10 times the size of the resort’s own. Included in the lineup is the Salt Lake City-based 80s rock, big-hair cover band the Metal Gods, alternative rock band Soul Asylum and the eclectic bluegrass-African beat band Rusted Root. Opening acts featured during the festival will be Utah reggae band Spearit and California folk rock band The Clumsy Lovers.
The reggae-meets-hip-hop-meets-punk band Slightly Stoopid, that is slated to perform April 3 is a joint effort with the Park-City-based ski company Rossignol, says Burnette. Rossignol is collaborating with Spring Gruv to invite hundreds of retail shop owners and vendors from across the country, he says. “They’re trying to bring 300 people to town, people that work at ski shops,” says Burnette. “It’s cool. These are the opinion leaders. When you’ve got the guy who sells skis at the Ski Barn in New Jersey, that’s a great person to be singing the praises of Park City.”
Looking to the future, Burnette anticipates Spring Grüv will be an annual event, and one that the entire town will get behind.
“We’re really trying to inject some more life into the end of the ski season,” he says. “There’s a lot of room for us, and Park City as a whole, to grow business.”
Spring Gruv schedule
Saturday, March 2911th Annual Pond Skimming Contest
At noon: The Canyons’ Pond Skimming Contests challenges costume-clad skiers and snowboarders to slide along the surface to the other side of a 100-foot, man-made pond of icy-cold water. Last year, among the costumed highlights, was a scantily-clad Borat, in a red swim suit. Prizes are given out for garb and a successful pond skim. Participants must register in the morning and ride up to Red Pine Lodge.
Soul Asylum
At 4 p.m.: Following The Pond Skimming Contest will be a free concert by Grammy award-winners Soul Asylum at the Forum in the Resort Village at 4 p.m.
Sunday, March 30
The Canis Lupus Challenge
At noon: The Canis Lupus Challenge takes advantage of a run that used to be called “The Natural” for its natural halfpipe configuration, and “The Jams Bond Trail” for its resemblance to a banked bobsled run. The challenge is to race down the mile-long gully that features banked walls and tight curves. A lift ticket is required to participate.
Thursday, April 3
At 5 p.m.: In The Forum, hear the Utah reggae-funk-rock band Spearit.
At 6 p.m.: In The Forum, hear the California-based reggae-hip-hop-punk band Slightly Stoopid.
Friday, April 4
All day: dress up for 80s day at The Canyons.
At 4 p.m.: In The Forum, hear the Salt Lake City-based Metal Gods, with members dressed in big hair and spandex, cover the popular heavy metal hits from the 80s and early 90s.
Saturday, April 5
At 3 p.m.: In The Forum, hear the California-based folk-rock band the Clumsy Lovers.
At 4 p.m.: In The Forum, hear the Pittsburgh-based band Rusted Root. Known best for their mid-1990s hit, “Send Me On My Way,” the sextet’s sound blends African American, South American and Native American sounds with reggae and folk music.
For more details, visit the event’s Web site online at springgruv.com.