“Without ever seeing Park City, I packed up and headed West in 2006.” That sentence captures the adventurous spirit of Caitlin Willard, the VP of Communications at Summit Land Conservancy. “Today, I work for the place putting the ‘park’ in Park City!” she laughs.
But she got to know us first - ski instructing at PCMR, substitute teaching for PC Schools, summer camp counseling at Basin Rec, and serving on the Young Riders mountain bike board. “I waited tables and drove the bev cart at Park City Municipal golf, too,” she remembers.
A University of Mass/Amherst grad (“where the hippies roam free!” she smiles), Caitlin grew up skiing in the Berkshires “surrounded by forests, rivers, and mountains. It’s where the outdoors became part of my life.” She noticed Park City on a list of Best Party Ski Towns while working at a Massachusetts ski shop. “I felt Utah skiing was still off the radar back then, and I wanted to see what ‘The Best Snow on Earth’ was all about.”
The mission of the Conservancy was initially a revelation. “I assumed our open spaces would always be there,” she says, “But Park City is surrounded by privately owned land,” making conservation essential.
Though she and husband Joe are busy with one-year-old daughter Quinn, Caitlin still squeezes in skiing, hiking, biking and flyfishing, “I love to play loud music and dance in my kitchen while cooking,” she smiles. “I am a hardcore 90s/early 2000s hip-hop fan who enjoys Disney movies,’ she adds.” I studied in Mexico and can speak Spanish well enough to once talk myself out of going to jail in Colombia.” Wow. Anything else? “I believe in ghosts and can whip up a hot pepper jelly that’ll knock your socks off.”
Our socks are already knocked off, Caitlin! Find out more about the Conservancy and her work at WeSaveLand.org.
