It's All Downhill at Gorgoza Park
 By Dan
Webb, Age 17
(Published Feb., 2002, Utah Outdoors magazine)
Gorgoza Park offers a unique way to enjoy Park City Mountain Resort. The main
attraction is tubing, getting on an inflated piece of rubber and riding a
mountain. The runways come in two variations: a moderate course for children and
a longer, steeper runway for those better suited for high velocity.
Now, what sets this resort apart from other tubing facilities is the lack of
work needed to have fun. No more climbing up the hills to reach your preferred
starting point. At Gorgoza Park, all you have to do is sit down on your tube and
let a tow cable pull you to the top of the mountain. That made if a lot easier
for my group to enjoy the park. The smooth ride up the hill was fast and
enjoyable; the rest it provided made it as pleasurable as the ride down the
slope. The only required work is standing up and walking back to the beginning
of the tow-ride.
Gorgoza Park also offers a child's snowmobile ride. For children 5-12 (under
110 pounds), the cost for the ride is $6 for six laps. For the cold, stiff, and
soaked park goers, there is also a snack shack, where my group spent more time
drinking hot chocolate and warming up than we did actually hurtling ourselves
toward an icy death.
All tube and snow machine riders are required to fill out a disclosure, and
those under age 18 need a legal guardian's signature.
It can be expensive finding a group activity that everyone enjoys, and often
some people don't enjoy the activity as much as others. At Gorgoza Park, for a
low cost we found more tubing than we could handle. For those with us who were
hesitant to try downhill skiing, tubing provided an enjoyable alternative.
Finding Gorgoza Park is easier than keeping snow out of your shoes. From Salt
Lake City drive east on I-80 to the Jeremy Ranch exit (#143), go right off the
exit ramp, turn right onto Kilby Road and then drive 1/4 mile to the park. Easy
- or at least it is for most people. Our driver wasn't paying attention and took
a bad turn onto a ramp where a sign said, "Exit Only, Do Not Enter." We
discovered that you can have quite an adventure if you miss the sign and enter
anyway. We discovered that that if you swerve into a snow bank as you dodge
trucks, you'll probably get stuck and have to dig out with your hands because
you don't have a shovel with you, while park security officers sit in their warm
Jeeps and laughed at you while you get frostbite.
But hey, it's all worth the hours of digging, when at last you get to Gorgoza
Park. (At least your dates will think you're big, strong men). Oh, and one last
piece of advice: When the men wearing "Park City Mountain Resort Security"
suites tell you to not run, dragging your tube behind, you might want to listen
and take it slow, because things get ugly when they have to tell you three
times.
For adults and kids 7 years of age and older, costs are $6 for one trip down
the hill, $17 for a two-hour pass and $21 for a four-hour pass. (Four hours is a
lot of tubing.) For kids 3-6 years of age, the rates are $3, $10 and $14.
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