Backcountry skiing Park City Utah It's so close yet so far away!  There are places like summit park and empire pass where accessing the backcountry is very easy.  However, the Park City ridgeline is mostly only accessed from private property.  This means you'll want to access the Park City ridgeline from the Big Cottonwood Canyon on the Salt Lake side of the mountains or buy a Park City Lift ticket.  In 2020 the iconic 9,990 backcountry gates were closed following a couple of avalanche fatalities.  Fortunately, there is a gate atop Peak-5 for backcountry access to the Park City Ridgeline.  Although not as convenient as the 9,990 gate, the peak-5 still gets you easy access to the ridgeline.