Redford’s Retreat
October - November 2010
Where the Sundance Kid Unwinds, So Can You
For most people, the mere mention of the word “sundance” conjures up images of that 10-day period in January when everyone who is anyone in film – and the people who long to be near them – descends on the snowy streets of park City, Utah, to party, see films and to be seen. the sundance Film Festival, arguably more than any other annual event, is a glorious mash-up of celebrities being fabulous in thousand-dollar mukluks.
But while the festival and its parties become increasingly glitzy and difficult to access with each passing year, there is a place – in fact, the place where it all started – that beautifully resists the trappings of its star-studded legacy. thirty-five miles away from park City sits sundance resort, as tranquil as the day it began operating.
When I was growing up in Utah in the 1970s and ’80s, we were hard-pressed to see celebrities. our ski resorts (former mining towns) were the backwaters of the ski community, eclipsed in star power by Vail and Aspen. But we could lay claim to one film luminary: Robert Redford. Here, on the eastern slopes of the majestic 11,750-foot mount timpanogos in the Wasatch mountains, he had just begun work on the resort when I first spotted him (even at 10 years old, I was star-struck).
The sheltered canyon in which sundance sits carries lore of the Ute Indians who, for centuries, hunkered down here to escape the summer heat. Quite some time later, a parcel of 5,000 acres became timp Haven, a small ski resort Redford purchased in 1969.
He began transforming the pristine land into a place devoted to nature conservation, artistic expression and recreation, aptly named after his role in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In the early ’80s, he gathered friends and colleagues in a workshop at the resort to foster the work of emerging filmmakers in the first sundance Institute Filmmakers/Directors lab. the resort’s role as the incubator of Hollywood’s emerging moguls was cemented.
Despite the increasing star power filtering through the resort, Redford was determined to preserve the folksy roots of snow sports. He resisted packing the mountain with condos and the alpine “mcChalets” that had begun littering other resort areas. He promised that environmental conservation would dictate all the growth of the resort – a forward-looking promise made nearly 40 years ago.
A direct reflection of Redford’s environmental pledge, there is arguably no better time than the fall to stay in the resort. The outdoor Summer Theatre is winding down, the leaves of the quaking aspen rustle louder and turn bright yellow, and the first snows have yet to fall.
When you arrive, you won’t see a resort so much as a collection of low-rise buildings and cabins that blends in to the landscape, constructed from local materials like cedar, fir, pine and locally quarried stone.
The best way to get an overview of the landscape – literally – is to take a lift ride to the top of Ray’s Summit, where you can meander along the hiking trails, get a glimpse of far-off Stewart Falls and make out the profile of the sleeping Indian maiden locals like to point out that forms the top of Mount Timpanogos. Through mid-October, the most adventurous sports mavens can take the resort’s mountain bike lift, or a mountain biking clinic to practice their high-speed descents. (The resort provides top of-the-line mountain biking gear as well as personal guides to take you through the forested trails.)
Nearby, the Provo River has some of the best trout fishing in the world. The resort works with a local outfitter to take guests fly-fishing for rainbow trout. There’s also horseback riding and, if you come early enough in the season, river rafting.
The first place I always head following check-in is the spa. The ambiance here is best appreciated in autumn, or the cooler months, when the crackle of the fireplace and your bare feet on the natural wood plank floors are the only sounds. Inspired by the Sioux idea of Hocoka (the center part of the tipi, representing the convergence of the four directions), it’s meant to be a sacred environment for healing. Treatments are all created with this in mind – for instance, the herbal poultice massage uses steamed muslin bags of chamomile and calendula to help with lymphatic drainage and relaxation, and hot stone therapy uses the Native American principles of the four directions to balance your body and bring you into harmony with nature. It sounds mystical, but it works. When your treatment is over, retreat to your room (the Mountain Suites have the most spectacular views), where roughly hewn columns and beams give you the comforting illusion that you’re sleeping in the forest.
The art events, free film screenings and readings happen year-round at Sundance. But immersing yourself in a workshop at the Art Shack is the way to truly understand how the resort’s natural environment inspires artistic endeavor. You can take two-hour classes in jewelry making, wheel-thrown pottery, painting, printmaking, photography or drawing; or visit the glassblowing studio to learn the craft of the resident glassblowers from Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara, who create the wineglasses and dinner plates. And when you visit the restaurants at Sundance, you’ll begin to understand how the resort pioneered the use of local products.
At the Tree Room – a candlelit room decorated with Redford’s own collection of Native American art – local products are refined into haute western cuisine. Take the the barbecue sauce, made from Utah cherries, which melds impeccably to the grilled quail.
Sign up for a session of the Tree Room author series, and you’ll be treated to brunch and a reading by a well-known author.
And you can while away the evening in the Owl Bar, a restored 1890s bar – relocated here from Thermopolis, Wyo. – where Butch Cassidy’s Hole-in-the-Wall Gang did much the same thing (presumably absent the great lineup of live music on weekends). Will you see celebrities? Maybe. But unlike that 10-day festival of glitz, swag and hard partying, when they come here, they’re after the same thing you are: to relax and be inspired.
Zoom to Main St., Park City
If you’re staying at Sundance Resort, you’ll want to visit Park City, where most of the action – from shopping to dining and the namesake film festival – can be found on historic Main Street. There’s even a little piece of Sundance here: Zoom Restaurant, owned by Robert Redford’s resort, contains some of the best evidence that Park City was once a mining town. Located in what was once the Union Pacific railroad depot, the building itself is packed with history – while the food tells the story of contemporary Wasatch mountain cuisine.
The “Double R Ranch Ribs” have the twang of traditional Southern barbecue, served with cornbread, poppyseed coleslaw and mac and cheese. A Mexican seafood ceviche comes with Buffalo onion rings. Most dishes are sourced close to home, like succulent osso buco – made with buffalo – and a pumpkin seed crusted trout fillet.
And in case you forgot that Sundance and all its venues are big supporters of the arts, you can catch the music performances it holds in conjunction with Nashville’s Bluebird Café as part of the Zoom Concert Series. Check the website for coming performances: www.zoomparkcity.com.
