Sundance Resort Named to Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List Ranked Second in U.S. for 2008 Best of Food

(Sundance, UT ) January 2008—- The Sundance Resort, located in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, was listed in Conde Nast Traveler’s prestigious Gold List for January 2008. The Gold List is a comprehensive list of the world’s best places to stay. In addition, the Sundance Resort received special culinary recognition for 2008 Best by Food with a score of 96.8. The Inn at Thorn Hill in Jackson, New Hampshire ranked first with a score of 100. The Resort tied with the Inn at Little Washington, Washington, Virginia, for the Best by Food award.

These awards come on the heels of the Sundance receiving the esteemed Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Award, ranking second for the Top 50 United States Resorts with a score of 94.6 and 34th in the world. Lodge on Little St. Simon Island, Georgia was the first ranked resort on the Readers’ Choice U.S. list.

Sundance, the picturesque destination resort, founded by Robert Redford in 1969, is a year round resort at the base of 12,000-foot Mt. Timpanogos offering an array of mountain activities including snow sports, hiking, mountain biking, fly-fishing, and horseback riding as well as unique offerings such as art classes, exhibits and periodic film screenings.

More than 28,000 Conde Nast Traveler’s readers offered the magazine comments on what distinguishes the best resorts in the world. The result is the 14th Annual Gold List.

“Sundance is very proud to be listed in this prestigious list,” commented Chad Linebaugh, Co General Manager, Sundance Resort. “The Conde Nast Gold List sets the standard for the top hotels in the world and Sundance is honored to be a part of it. We are especially proud of our culinary team for its Best by Food ranking.” 

Sundance Press Release by Lucy Rudolphi

History Of Sundance Resort

Centuries ago, the Ute Indians retreated to this canyon to escape the summer heat and hunt the abundant game. By the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the Stewarts, a family of Scottish immigrants, had settled the canyon. While the first generations were mostly surveyors and sheepherders, the next generation saw excitement and opportunity in the snow-laden slopes beneath Mount Timpanogos. In the Fifties, the Stewarts opened Timphaven, a local ski resort which boasted a chair lift, a rope tow, and a burger joint named Ki-Te-Kai–Somoan for “Come and get it!” (One of the Stewarts had served as a Mormon missionary to the islands.)

In 1969, Robert Redford bought Timphaven and much of the surrounding land from the Stewart family, and Sundance was born. Rejecting advice from New York investors to fill the canyon with an explosion of lucrative hotels and condominiums, Redford saw his newly acquired land as an ideal locale for environmental conservation and artistic experimentation. As with most experiments, there were a few early setbacks. A dinner/movie night was abandoned when waiters repeatedly collided in the darkness. A mountain man rendezvous never saw past the first year because the deafening roar of musket and canon competition sent both wild and domestic animals scrambling for the Wyoming border.

Years of experimentation and refinement have ultimately resulted in what we now call Sundance. The Sundance Institute, the spectacular skiing, the stunning natural scenery, and the tasteful excellence of the accommodations combine to make Sundance dynamically unique. Sundance is a process as well as a place. It is the blending of process and place, which puts Sundance in uncharted waters, on a steady course of its own. People here come from all walks of life, but one belief is shared: our community should represent who we are and what we believe in. Sundance is an arts community, a recreational community, a community of people who appreciate the beauty of nature–and feel the responsibility to preserve it.

We want to help you find those elements of the Sundance experience which will most meet your needs and your dreams. As you’ll see, Sundance has many shapes, many moods, and many possibilities. Somewhere in our community awaits an experience, which belongs to you and we are committed to helping you find it.

Sundance Resort Photos

Willie Holdman is one of my favorite Utah photographers.  With his photographs he captures the indescribable beauty that is Utah with an emphasis on Timpanogas and Sundance. I first met Willie while working as the webmaster for Sundance Ski Resort in 2002.  A few years later I moved into his neighborhood and met his family. Here is his biography that he wrote for the Sundance Resort website in 2002.

“Many found memories are still dancing in my head of my early days at Sundance. The most prolithic being getting first ski tracks down grizzly bowl when I was 10 years old with my father. This was before the arrowhead chair was installed and bishops bowl was named the ozone. If you were extremely lucky the cat would take you up what is now Amy’s ridge where you could get tracks down the bush-ridden bowl. After a big dump of snow it was guaranteed this is where you would find me. Sundance was close, convenient, and never crowded, but most importantly an inspiration. Nowhere else had the volume and shear beauty of craggy rocks, bowls and colures that Timpanogos had to offer. I came back a little more aware, alive, and fulfilled after each visit. But at the same time wanting. Wanting more of the experience.

This is where my love of the outdoors began. So it only seems natural to spend most of my time capturing its’ beauty on film. I love the experience of outside. Exploring, wondering, watching the changing seasons around me. Nowhere else does the term “Picture Perfect” fit so well than here. It’s a never-ending quest of discovery. I continue to find myself here. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.

Willie Holdman is a native Utahan and started experiencing the wonders of nature at an early age by assisting his father, Floyd, on photography assignments for National Geographic throughout the country. He managed to slip out and photograph the rural areas of Utah while at Brigham Young University where he received his BFA degree with an emphasis in photography. Willie resides at the base of majestic Mt. Timpanogos in Lindon, Utah. Although he has photographed nature all over the world, it can’t compare with the versatility and beauty of Utah. Whether it is high in an alpine meadow, or low in the red rock desert, this is home.

Willie’s work has been used in numerous publications throughout the country and is collected by many corporate and personal identities; some of which include Robert Redford and senator Orin Hatch. His work is seen in many issues of Outdoor Photographer magazine. Some of his other products are a calendar on Utah, posters, and screen savers for computers. Willie Holdman Photography Pricing Guide.

Visit us online for a complete portfolio at www.willieholdman.com

See or purchase more of Willie Holdman’s work by visiting his site at www.willieholdman.com.”

Sundance Resort Opens for the 2007-2008 winter season.

I must admit that I am still a Sundance employee at heart.  Some how in the 3 and half years I spent there I was smitten. I will continue to post positive information about the resort on this site in addition to figuring out what to do with this site.

The Sundance Ski Resort eked out another opening day on time opening last Friday, December 7th. Sundance is a small resort nestled in the North Fork of the Provo Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. What Sundance lacks in size and amenities is made up with charm known as rustic elegance. What I think makes Sundance unique and a reason to visit is its folksy down to earth people. The resort’s staff is mostly locals who give Sundance a special feel.

Sundance doesn’t always offer the longest ski season but it receives plenty of Utah’s famous powder making its season good from late December to early March as the best time for thick snow. Sundance sits much lower than the other local resorts about 2000 feet lower. It also requires storms that come from the south and west to put lots of Utah’s famous powder on the slopes.

Sundance Resort’s Mountain Stats

Average Annual Snowfall: 300 inches

Vertical Drop: 2,150

Base Elevation: 6,100

Top Elevation: 8,250

Skiable Acres: 450

% Beginner Terrain: 20

% Intermediate Terrai: 40

% Advanced Terrain: 40

Miles to Major Airport: 55

Number of Runs: 42

Sundance is a great hidden treasure.  Some of its best features are weekday skiing is awesome with very small lines. Incredible views that I think are even better than most all of the Utah resorts. I loved skiing all day and then having a Reuben Sandwich from the Foundry Grill to top off the day.