From ski bum to celebrity host

THIS Aussie traded wine country for a life in the mountains and she’s met some pretty cool people along the way.

Showing celebrities the slopes is all in a day’s work.

This Aussie traded South Australia’s wine country for the peaks of Utah, fell in love and never came home.

Brenda Lytle, 42, originally from the McLaren Vale in South Australia now lives in Park City, Utah as the International Sales Manger for Vail Resorts. Here’s her story.

Married in four months

I stumbled across my soulmate on a Monday night, at Tommy Africa’s in Whistler, Canada. He had moved to Utah because of the amazing powder snow. We met at the edge of the dance floor, and were married four months later with him moving me to Utah after three months of us trying the long distance relationship thing.

Brenda, left, found love on the slopes.

Being that it was over 16 years ago, before the Winter Olympics were held here, I had barely even heard of Utah. After visiting the picturesque, historical mining town of Park City, with its three ski resorts and great dining and night-life, I knew this is where we should live.

Over the years, I have thought about how I’d like to bring my two daughters up in Australia but it is really hard to tear ourselves away from the amazing skiing and the outdoor lifestyle that we are so lucky to have here in Park City.

A little over five years ago we purchased a property in Noosa Heads, so that allows us to get in a beach fix every year. Now my kids aged seven and 10 are skiing all the runs at the resorts here and are on the race team, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else.

Waking up to this everyday is a dream.

Landing the dream job

After years spent working all kinds of jobs in ski resorts all over the world, including waiting tables, housekeeping, nannying and selling lift tickets. I finally landed my dream job of International Sales Manager, promoting the destination of Park City to skiers and boarders coming from all corners of the globe.

Part of my job includes hosting travel agents, celebrities and press that visit Park City, as well as going to the countries that we are trying to bring in visiting skiers from.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktail parties in cities and resorts all over the world is a tough job, but someone has to do it!

As they say, a bad day skiing is better than a good day in the office, and for a couple days a week during the winter season, the mountain is my office.

The sales team of Park City.

Celebrity host

We host all manner of celebrities, from Mexican soap opera stars, to the Chinese version of Tom Cruise. Given the amazing food scene here we have hosted a lot of celebrity chefs, including Pete Evans, and will be hosting Neil Perry and his family this winter.

We have a lot of music celebrities that come in, and I’ve hosted such a variety, from Kesha to Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction and more.

A lot of celebrities visit Park City for the Sundance Film Festival but end up buying their own home here as they can get here from Hollywood quicker than they can get to the Californian ski resorts.

This means that now we have stars like Will Smith, Michael Jordan and Katherine Heigl. Park City offers celebs all the finer things they are used to in a very laid back, unpretentious place for them to kick back, be themselves without harassment by gawkers, and enjoy the skiing and scenery of the mountains.

Magic on Earth.

When we host celebrities, sometimes it involves a lot of hand-holding and other times we just set up their lift tickets and they take off and enjoy themselves.

Robert Redford is absolutely one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. George W. Bush was the guest speaker at a dinner recently so we were invaded by the Secret Service but the whole affair was surprisingly low key.

I mostly enjoy the ski and snowboard athletes because they work so hard at their disciplines and are so passionate about their sports.

Seeing the world

With this job I have visited countries all over, including Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Argentina and Russia. The best part is that I get to interact with fellow winter sports enthusiasts and no matter how huge the cultural differences you run across, a shared love of the mountains has helped me make great friendships all over the world.

The language barrier can be a challenge and it doesn’t matter what I think I order in restaurants in Russia, I always seem to end up being served raw bacon fat, cow’s tongue and pickled vegetables with a pile of fresh dill on top.

This is what a day in the office looks like.

Favourite spot

My favourite destination outside of visiting my homeland would have to be Mexico. Those people know how to party and are the warmest people you will ever meet. The Brazilians are heaps of fun though, too.

During our last visit there we were hosting a luncheon at a very upscale restaurant at the horse racing track, when we noticed some guys in hazmat type outfits, carrying a pole with a net as well as a pet carrier, walking towards our private reception room.

It turns out that a wild cat had given birth to kittens in the planter box in the room, and they were going to remove her and her offspring. After several escapes from the net, copious amounts of cat urine, and a screaming lady with a cat phobia standing on a chair, it took about four guys to remove the cat and clean up the mess, just minutes before our guests arrived.

It’s a foodie town.

So can you get a drink in Utah?

As someone who grew up around wineries and in the hospitality industry, I honestly could not live here if you couldn’t get a drink.

While the wines made in Utah are not something I recommend trying, the local beers are extremely tasty, and the ski-in whiskey and vodka distillery in downtown Park City offers fantastic cocktails and tasting flights.

The drinking laws in Utah are set by a mostly Mormon group, but they realise that tourism is a growing industry here and so they are fairly reasonable with their rules. I enjoy listening to stories about how you used to have to buy your alcohol in the little mini bottles in bars and then mix it yourself. I also remember when I first moved here that you had to have a membership similar to an RSL club or the like to go into a bar or nightclub in Utah, but nowadays they don’t have any of those rules so you just roll in and order whatever you like for the most part.

High West Distillery in Park City.

Favourite US food

The Mexican influenced Southwestern cuisine is what I look forward to when I come back here from my trips away. Pulled pork or fish tacos made with simple, fresh ingredients and herbs on freshly made soft shell tacos — yum!

The locally grown and produced movement is huge in the US too which has led to a lot of creativity amongst the dining scene here in Utah. They grow amazing corn and peaches here and incorporate game meats like buffalo (bison), elk and venison to make some outstanding food that it is hard to find elsewhere. Park City has over 100 bars and restaurants, so there is no lacking for choice.

Just one of the many dining spots in Park City.

So what do Americans think of Aussies?

Americans love Aussies! They almost all dream of visiting or have visited at one point in their lives. Sometimes they are surprised that we are such avid skiers and snowboarders given that most of them don’t even know we have snow in Australia. They definitely still think of our beaches and Crocodile Dundee’s outback.

I have to bust out a, “that’s not a knife”, comment or, “throw another shrimp on the barbie”, every now and then to keep them happy.

What do you miss about Australia?

The beach, of course! I like to say that if Park City had an ocean beach, it would truly have everything. It goes without saying that I also miss my family and friends back there but they all have a great place to come and visit me so I still get to see most of them somewhat regularly, between their visits and my trips back for work and for pleasure.

Full of history, this Aussie now calls Park City home. Picture: Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau and Mark Maziarz

Park City, Utah is home to three year round resorts and world class events including the renowned Sundance Film Festival.