Will there be snow? Skiing double black diamonds with 12-year-old at Park City Mountain, Utah

No lines for the six-pack chairlift at McConkey's Bowl, expert terrain only.

PARK CITY, Utah – For weeks, we nervously watched the weather.

While we were loaded with snow in Northeast Ohio, Utah was bare. Rainy. Warm.

The day before we left for a six-day trip to Park City Mountain – the largest U.S. ski resort, with 7,300 skiable acres — had 14 of its 349 trails open. Colorado resorts weren’t any better off.

Would we cancel? friends asked. Plenty of people delayed ski trips over the holidays. But our direct Delta flights were nonrefundable, and my sister and I couldn’t take our 12-year-olds another time.

The four of us bought Epic Passes this season from Vail Resorts, which also owns Boston Mills, Brandywine and Alpine Valley in Northeast Ohio, Mad River Mountain northwest of Columbus and Seven Springs east of Pittsburgh.

Cousins throwing rocks onto the ice of the Great Salt Lake at Antelope Island.

It’s a much better deal to buy the Epic Pass for less than $800 and ski any Vail resort all season long, compared to a one-day lift ticket at Park City for $300.

And Delta offers a direct flight to Salt Lake, about a half hour west of Park City, nestled in the Wasatch Mountains segment of the Rockies.

Between the mountain, the town and the city, we had lots to keep us busy.

Park City, a former silver mining town, is now home to about 8,000 residents, a slew of luxury vacation homes (average house price is $1.5 million, according to Zillow) and thousands of posh travelers.

You don’t have to ski in Park City. You may come just for the winter ambiance or the Sundance Film Festival, which the town is hosting one final time, Jan. 22-Feb. 1, before it moves to Boulder, Colorado. Or to see the Utah Olympic Park, which hosted the Games in 2002 and will again in 2034.

Temple Square in Salt Lake City, lit up for Christmas.

But if you do ski, you can choose among the wide expanse of Park City Mountain, which in 2015 merged with the Canyons ski area. There’s also the posher Deer Valley, owned by Alterra Mountain Co., not Vail, with its luxurious service and meticulously groomed runs.

The Homestead Crater is 65 deep, with 95-degree water.

(No, thank you. Give me moguls and trees any day.)

I wanted to visit Olympic Park and see the century-old McPolin barn, a local landmark. My daughter wanted to drink a dirty soda at Swig. My sister wanted to drink an apres beer in ski boots. We all wanted to swim in the Homestead Crater, a 65-foot deep, 95-degree hot spring.

We did it all, including skiing five days straight, virtually all on advanced terrain. Even on powder, thanks to two snowstorms that hit during our trip. And it was amazing.

“The best run I’ve skied in 20 years,” said my sister, after our first run one day, when 9 inches of fresh snow on moguls made it feel like we were floating over waves.

Days later, another foot of powder fell, delighting the experts on double black diamond runs.

The ski jump pool, where athletes practice in warm weather, at Utah Olympic Park.

By the time we left, more than 50 trails were open, though not the Quicksilver gondola that connects the Park City and Canyons sides of the resort.

Here’s what to do and where to go around Park City.

Base villages

Park City, Canyons and Deer Valley each have their own villages, with shops, restaurants and activities.

Deer Valley, for example, has the luxurious St. Regis hotel and spa, which offers complimentary s’mores around firepits every evening. You can access the hotel from the free funicular, a rail-powered elevator from the Snow Park base area.

Park City has a small village, with an ice skating rink and rides like the Mountain Coaster and Flying Eagle Zipline. You can also see an Olympic flame structure.

Canyons is more spread out. You can park for free and take the free open-air Cabriolet lift to the base. If you’d like to take a gondola to the Red Pine Lodge mid-mountain, it’ll cost you $73 for an adult ticket. You can watch skiers from the iconic Umbrella Bar or camp out on the red chairlifts that dot the village plaza.

You can stay at all three villages, too. While this year we chose to make the half-hour drive from Salt Lake City (which can be treacherous during snow storms), five years ago I stayed at a one-bedroom Airbnb condo in Westgate at Canyons, which features a gym, pool and hot tub, plus a shuttle to Main Street.

Downtown Park City is lined with shops, restaurants and bars.

Main Street

You can take the Town Chair lift straight from Main Street to the mountain — and back. That way, you can have ski-in/ski-out convenience, plus be walkable to shops, bars and restaurants. You can even rent skis on Main Street.

Souvenir shops are sprinkled among high-end art galleries, boutiques and sports stores. Plus, of course, plenty of spots to enjoy an apres drink.

Just note that Utah has incredibly strict drinking laws, so kids are not allowed in bars, even if they serve food. And no matter how old you look, your ID has to be scanned.

My sister and I sent our 12-year-olds to get ice cream at Java Cow, while we ordered margaritas and beer at the No Name Saloon, where antler chandeliers are bedecked with Christmas ornaments, and Santa drives a snowmobile hanging from the ceiling.

We ate a basic meal next door with the kids at the saloon’s Burger Annex.

The Canyons base has a gondola art stroll with cute dioramas.

On Main Street, you can also check out Park City Museum, where you can enter a retooled mine car that when the mountain opened in 1963 traveled 3 miles under the mountain to an elevator that lifted skiers to the surface to ski.

The 1922-built McPolin barn, in the midst of Park City getting its first big snow dump of the season.

Utah Olympic Park

I viscerally remember the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, with the pairs figure skating scandal and the Roots USA berets. So it was cool to see memorabilia from the games at Utah Olympic Park, where a free museum also catalogs the history of alpine skiing.

Over five days, we skied virtually all black diamond and double black diamond terrain at Park City Mountain, which with its Canyons area totals 7,300 skiable acres -- the most in the United States.

Athletes train year-round at the park, including on ski runs, ski jumps and the bobsled track, which you can also try out for $225 a pop.

Our kids were happy sitting in a bobsled in the gift shop and lifting a curling stone.

The park is well-lit and open until 6 p.m., so it’s an easy apres activity.

Homestead Crater

The resort surrounding the crater — a 400-foot-wide, 55-foot-tall beehive-shaped dome — is pretty luxe. But the crater itself is bare-bones, without even a bathroom. But for $25 and advance registration, you can float for 40 minutes in the 95-degree mineral water, which flows in and out at about 100 gallons a minute.

You have to wear a lifejacket, though you can also book a scuba-diving experience.

Salt Lake City

Founded by Mormon pioneers in 1847, Salt Lake City is now home to about 220,000 residents, with about 40% members of the Jesus Christ Church of Latter-day Saints.

The Salt Lake Temple is closed for renovations, but we enjoyed the lights on Temple Square downtown.

We spent an afternoon on the city’s namesake, at 75 miles long by 35 miles wide, the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere, two to seven times saltier than the ocean.

Our other Salt Lake stop was Swig, which sells soda concoctions, like Coke with lime and coconut creamer. The shop is a Mormon staple, since church members are not allowed to drink hot beverages and often sip pop instead. And since my daughter has watched too many episodes of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, she couldn’t wait to check it out.

I didn’t like my Diet Coke mix, but she was not disappointed.

Clearly, we all found what we were craving in the Utah Mountains — including lots of snow.

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