“I love everything about this proposal. This is exactly why we were created and is exactly our purpose.”-Mike Ostermiller, Utah Military Installation Development Authority board member.

It sounds like Sundance Mountain Resort will be getting a new hotel.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Sundance Mountain Resort plans to build a sixty-five-room inn. They applied for funding from Utah’s Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), which helps with the development of land that benefits military members.

Yesterday, MIDA approved this proposal, meaning tax-payer money will be used to build the hotel, albeit not the whole $35 million price tag. The MIDA funds will be going towards “the hard costs associated with Sundance Inn construction.” As part of the deal, Sundance will be adding benefits to veterans. The lodging will be free for wounded veterans, and the building will be ADA-accessible. Sundance will also be creating a veteran’s program, allowing those who served a place to unwind and heal.

This isn’t the first time that the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) has been involved with a ski resort development. They’re developing the base village around what was known as Mayflower Resort. The terrain around this development will ultimately become part of Deer Valley Resort.

The $35 million hotel is a joint partnership between Sundance Mountain Resort and Utah County. This move is Sundance’s next step in becoming Utah’s next destination ski resort. Since Broadreach Capital Partners and Cedar Capital Partners bought the ski resort from Robert Redford in 2020, they have spent millions to modernize the ski resort. This has included adding new chairlifts, a terrain expansion geared toward beginner and intermediate guests, and more.

The $35 million hotel will still need private investment to move forward, although that seems more likely with this news.

Image Credits: Sundance Mountain Resort

Can you guess what ski resort has the fastest chairlift in the state of Utah?

Despite the lack of ritz and glamour compared to its relatively nearby competitors, the answer is Brighton Resort. On December 8th, Brighton opened up the new Crest 6 chairlift. While I was in Utah for vacation, I decided to take the UTA Ski Bus up to Brighton to check the new Doppelmayr D-Line high-speed detachable six-pack chairlift out on its opening day.

Here’s what I liked about the chairlift: it’s fast, carries more riders, and is modern. The trip to the top only takes 5.3 minutes, an improvement compared to the former’s ride time of around 6.5 minutes. This thing feels like riding a roller coaster, dashing up the mountain. While this resulted in a cold ride up when I went, it’ll feel nice on those Spring days. It can carry 2400 guests per hour, an upgrade from the 1200-1400 people per hour that the Crest Express could carry. The chairlift also features innovative tech like a loading conveyer that’s easy to ride and a video board that displays various notifications.

I have one key problem with this new chairlift though: the journey to reach it from Milly is going to suck. You see, the old Crest Express had two loading mazes: one on the Milly Chalet, while the other was located next to the end of the Majestic Access trail.

With the lift shack now located on the side closest to the Majestic Access trail, there’s now only one lift maze area, which is right next to Molly Greens. In addition, to reach this trail from the Traverse, it appears as though there’s an incline under the lift line (pictured below). From what I saw, you’ll now need to garner a lot of speed to avoid skating across a little hill, and then skiing over to the lift maze.

Overall, the Crest 6 is an overdue replacement for the Crest Express, with modern technology and more capacity than its predecessor. However, reaching it from Milly is going to be a little bit more tricky for those who like to traverse between Brighton’s peaks.

Image Credits: Ian Wood

Over the past couple of years, one of the ski resorts that has been on the rise is Nordic Valley in Utah. Located near the city of Ogden, it added a huge terrain expansion during the 2020-21 season. However, the ski resort has been dealt a bad hand for this ski season.

Last week, Nordic Valley announced that the Apollo chairlift, which accesses the majority of the terrain at the ski resort, will be closed for “an undetermined period of time.” The Apollo chairlift suffered a mechanical breakdown back in March and has been closed since then. While dealing with the repairs, Nordic Valley’s maintenance team discovered further issues with the chairlift. With this being an older chairlift, finding the parts took an extended period of time due to the required customer engineering and manufacturing.

In response, Nordic Valley has acquired two Alpina Sleds to carry guests up to the Nordic Express and potentially to the top of the Apollo terrain pod. Each one of the Superclass 1.2L twin-tracked utility snowmobiles will be able to carry eighteen passengers. These people movers will be able to move 200 people per hour. I’m not gonna lie, those things look pretty sick.

It’s not all bad news for Nordic Valley though. They added two hundred parking spots, and two new trails to the Nordic Express terrain pod. Currently, Nordic Valley is open for the season with two trails and two lifts.

The ski resorts around Ogden are in a precarious situation. Snowbasin is an awesome ski resort, but it’s too expensive to visit unless you are a season/Ikon passholder. Powder Mountain just announced its plan to become a semi-private ski resort and has become more expensive this year (outside of night skiing tickets). Wasatch Peak Ranch’s future is in question after a judge ordered that the private ski resort stop construction and halt real estate sales.

Then there’s Nordic Valley. It’s an affordable ski resort with impressively cheap lift ticket deals and a brand-new terrain pod. What currently holds it back is the Apollo chairlift, which is the only way to reach the Nordic Express pod under normal circumstances. I’m a big fan of the place, and the Ogden skiing community needs this place to succeed.

My ultimate viewpoint is Nordic Valley’s future success depends on replacing Apollo. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fixed-grip or high-speed detachable chairlift, Apollo needs to be replaced within the next few years.

Image Credits: Nordic Valley, Alpina Snowmobiles

Solitude’s newest chairlift is taking flight next week. Yesterday, the Utah ski resort announced that they’ll be opening the new Eagle Express chairlift on Wednesday, December 20th. The opening ceremony will begin at 8 a.m. with a DJ and complimentary cookies at the base of the Eagle Express chairlift. At 9 a.m., they’ll have the official ribbon-cutting

The new Doppelmayr chairlift is replacing the old Eagle Express, which was constructed back in 1989. The high-speed detachable six-pack chairlift will have a vertical rise of 1337 feet and a ride time of around six minutes.

For more information, check out Solitude’s official press release below.

SOLITUDE TO UNVEIL NEW CHAIRLIFT, EAGLE EXPRESS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20  

BIG COTTONWOOD CANYON, UTAH, Dec. 14, 2023 – Solitude Mountain Resort’s newly completed Eagle Express chairlift will open to the public this Wednesday, December 20 at 9:00 a.m. The new high-speed 6-pack chairlift has replaced the original Eagle Express that was built in 1989.  

With improved uphill capacity, the new Eagle Express will enhance access to signature runs such as Sunshine Bowl, Inspiration, and Challenger.

“Guests will love the convenient access that Eagle provides to some of our best intermediate and advanced groomed runs straight from the parking lot. We know that this lift is where so many of our locals will start and end their day, and it’s crucial that we’re able to get them up onto the hill efficiently,” says Amber L. Broadaway Solitude’s president & COO. “I’m tremendously proud of our team and their hard work and effort that has gone into this chair.” 

Festivities will begin at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday morning with a DJ and complimentary cookies at the base of the lift. A ribbon cutting and first-chair ceremony will be held at 9:00 a.m. to commemorate the new chairlift as it opens for the 23/24 season.  

This new chairlift is part of $16 million in capital improvements taking place at Solitude. Other projects included Solitude Bike Park (opened September 2023) and three new Wyssen remote avalanche control systems (completed October 2023).

Eagle Express stats and facts 

• Vertical rise: 1,337 feet 
• Rope speed: 1000 feet/minute 
• Ride time: 6 minutes 
• Manufacturer: Doppelmayr 

About Solitude Mountain Resort

Located in Big Cottonwood Canyon, just 30 miles from Salt Lake City International Airport, Solitude is a playground of discovery in the heart of Utah’s famed Wasatch Mountains. It offers eight chairlifts, 82 runs, and 500 annual inches of snow spread over 1,200 acres with 20 km of groomed Nordic track and 10 km of snowshoe trails. Home to the legendary Honeycomb Canyon and locals’ best-kept secrets, Solitude reveals more fun and challenging lines with every day you choose to explore. Eleven bars and restaurants offer unique chef-driven cuisine, and slopeside lodging options set the stage for mountain memories. In summer, Solitude beckons to locals and travelers alike with lift-served mountain biking, hiking, dining, and a renowned 18-hole mountainside disc golf course. Solitude is owned by Alterra Mountain Company and offers unlimited access to Ikon Pass holders.

Image/Video Credits: Solitude Mountain Resort

Today, Powder Mountain delivered some shocking news. Next offseason, Powder Mountain plans to add four new chairlifts. A fixed-grip quad will replace Timberline, a high-speed quad will replace Paradise, a new fixed-grip quad chairlift will go up Lightning Ridge, and another will service Raintree.

However, to become profitable, Powder Mountain will be limiting access to the Mary’s, Village, and Raintree (opening during the 2024-25 season) chairlifts for people who own real estate at Powder Mountain. Members of the public will still have access to the other chairlifts, such as Paradise and Sundown.

The official statement from Reed Hastings, who’s the CEO of Powder Mountian, is below.

STAYING UNCROWDED AND INDEPENDENT

Dear Powder Community,

I’m writing to you today with an update on how we are staying uncrowded and unspoiled.  

While many of you have been skiing here for generations, I joined this wonderful community only five years ago, and have quickly come to appreciate the soul and natural beauty of Powder Mountain. Sadly, Powder has been struggling financially, so I stepped in a few months ago to invest and find a sustainable path for staying uncrowded and independent.  

Our approach is going to be a blend of public and private skiing, where real estate sales help fund lifts and lodges for everyone, and some of our public guests buy real estate to access private skiing. We are fortunate that we can improve our public resort next year and also offer private skiing to help real estate sales. 

This summer we will be investing $20 million in three public lifts:

• A hi-speed detachable quad upgrade on Paradise, replacing a fixed-grip quad
• A fixed-grip quad upgrade on Timberline, replacing a 50-year-old fixed-grip double
• A new fixed-grip quad from the base of Timberline to the top of Lightning Ridge, opening up vast new lift-served intermediate and expert terrain, and enabling people to ski from Timberline down to Sundown. We’ll look to move our in-bounds cat route to somewhere else nearby. 

In order to pay our bills, we need to sell more real estate, and to do that we are introducing private homeowner-only skiing a year from now. We will be designating the Village and Mary’s lifts, which serve beginner and intermediate terrain, plus a new lift on Raintree, for this private skiing, starting a year from now. 

We believe this blend of public and private skiing secures us decades of exceptional uncrowded skiing for all, funded partially by real estate. To stay independent and uncrowded, we needed to change, and we didn’t want to join the successful but crowded multi-resort pass model (ie, Snowbasin) or sell to a conglomerate (ie, Vail). 

We are dedicated to running a sustainable business, supporting our wonderful team, and contributing to this incredible community. Thank you for your support in Powder’s next chapter, which kicks off with the three new lifts!

Of course we are keeping the Powder Country bus service, we’ve upgraded the Timberline bathrooms, and we reduced the price of night skiing from $39 to $19 to make it more accessible for our community. Come on up!

See you on the mountain.

-Reed

Reed Hastings
CEO Powder Mountain

Image Credits: Ian Matteson/Powder Mountain

What do you think the snowiest ski area in the Lower 48 has been this season? You aren’t going to believe it, but the answer isn’t Mountain Creek in New Jersey.

Unsurprisingly, the answer so far is the Alta Ski Area in Utah. So far, Alta has received 146 inches of snowfall. With a base depth of 65″, they’ve been able to open over 80 runs. On Saturday, Alta opened up the Supreme chairlift, meaning that all five of their major chairlifts are now open. This solid start comes after Alta received 903 inches of snowfall last season.

In terms of the other contenders, they unsurprisingly are also based in Utah. According to KSL, Snowbird is in second place with 138″, and Brighton is in third with 127″. Outside of Utah, the other major contenders are in Wyoming. Grand Targhee has received 126″, while Jackson Hole has gotten 125″. In terms of the leader in North America, Alyeska has received 226″ of snow.

Ironically, Alta had to delay the start of its season due to a lack of snowfall. Their snowpack has benefitted from two major snowstorms over the past two weekends. From December 1st through the 3rd, they received 48″ of snow. Another batch of snowfall came through late last week, with 20″ of powder on Friday.

While Alta won’t be seeing any major snowstorms this week, neither will most of the United States (outside of Alaska and New Mexico). The next round of storms could come around Christmas break. This is when Utah sees some excellent snowstorms, so let’s hope that these historical trends continue.

Correction 12/12, 10:00 p.m.– The title of this article has been updated to reflect that Alta has the most snow in the Lower 48, but not North America. Alyeska in Alaska has received more snowfall.

Image Credits: Ian Wood, Alta Ski Area

One of the most hotly contested expansion plans in Utah has been the Snow Park base area at Deer Valley.

This new base village would contain shops, restaurants, hotels, a transit hub, and an underground parking garage. A major part of this new base village is a gondola. The gondola, which would start at Snow Park, would connect to the Park Peak and the base area of Deer Valley’s new expansion.

Park City and Deer Valley were at odds over a few issues, mostly regarding traffic. However, an agreement was made between the two sides last week. Deer Valley will be giving Park City Municipal $15 million, which will go towards transportation and affordable housing. In addition to the new Snow Park base area, Deer Valley has agreed to a reduction of 15-20% of parking spaces compared to what they currently have there. This move, along with the planned increased transit services, would reduce traffic around town. In return, Park City Municipal has given a road vacation to Deer Valley Drive, which will be redesigned. According to Mason County, a road vacation is when “property owners [i.e. Deer Valley] can have the public’s interest in road rights of way removed.” This agreement will need to be approved by the City Council.

The core of the debate is Deer Valley Drive, which is the road that winds around the Snow Park base area. There are fears that this new road would make it more difficult to get around, and would thus increase traffic.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the road vacation is facing a lot of resistance from locals who live around the proposed village. Bill Newman, who’s the President of Pinnacle HOA, which is situated right next to Deer Valley Drive, believes that this vacation doesn’t abide by Utah state law. At last night’s meeting about the plans, locals continued to voice their disapproval of the plans.

If the road vacation ends up being approved, the Snow Park base village plan will head to the Park City Planning Commission. If approved, Deer Valley aims to do the groundbreaking ceremony next year. The completion of the project would be in 2029 or 2030.

Image Credits: Deer Valley Resort

Update 12/9: The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Judge Noel Hyde has ordered the halting of construction and real estate sales at Wasatch Peaks Ranch for an indefinite period. This order will be in effect at least until the Utah Supreme Court can hear the case. The information below is from earlier this week.

The future of Utah’s newest ski resort is in doubt after a string of victories by its local opponents.

Over the past couple of years, a group of locals have tried to stop the Wasatch Peaks Ranch development. They originally failed, and the ski resort opened back during the 2021-22 season. However, recent successes for the locals have put Wasatch Peaks Ranch in a tricky situation.

Back in September, Utah Second District Judge Noel Hyde allowed for a referendum, which would see Morgan County residents vote for whether the zoning changes that allowed for the ski resort to be built should remain in place. In addition, a temporary restraining order was issued against Wasatch Peaks Ranch, meaning that they needed to stop construction. This decision is being appealed by Wasatch Peaks Ranch and Morgan County to the Utah Supreme Court. If the referendum were to occur, the locals would need to accumulate around 1000 signatures.

While they were ordered to stop construction, Wasatch Peaks Ranch pressed forward with development, which included requesting more zoning changes to Morgan County. These zoning changes were ultimately approved. However, this is against Utah law, as you aren’t allowed to change zoning laws during a temporary restraining order.

The Salt Lake Tribune reports that because of this, Utah Second District Judge Noel Hyde has ordered that Wasatch Peaks Ranch must halt all development for 14 days. During this period, they can’t do construction or sell/transfer real estate. The only thing that Wasatch Peaks Ranch can do at the moment is protective maintenance. On Wednesday, a preliminary injunction could be issued against the ski resort, leading to further issues for Wasatch Peaks Ranch. The date that the appeal will be heard in the Utah Supreme Court has yet to be announced.

It’s unclear what this would mean for operations during the 2023-24 ski season.

Image/Video Credits: Google Earth (Featured Image), Wasatch Peaks Ranch,
Tommy Harle, Skimap.org (Skier72)

Brighton’s new Crest chairlift will be opening later this week.

On Monday, the Utah ski resort announced that they will be opening the Crest 6 on Friday, December 8th at 9 am. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will include a DJ, complimentary pastries and drinks, and prizes who dress up with the most Brighton swag.

This past offseason, the Crest Express was replaced with a Doppelmayr D-line high-speed six-pack chairlift. This new chairlift will have a ride time of 5.3 minutes and an uphill capacity of 2400 riders per hour. At the base terminal, they will have a conveyor belt to make loading easier. The base terminal will also have a video screen, which will display resort updates.

Two other major changes are happening this season at Brighton: a new mid-mountain lodge, and parking reservations. A new lodge is currently being built, which will have a food and drink venue, along with bathrooms. The new mid-mountain lodge, located near the base of the Snake Creek chairlift, will open at some point this winter.

The parking reservation change has seen a lot of criticism due to the lack of availability, especially for season passholders. Most of the 400+ comments on the post above refer to the parking reservation system, and they’re not positive.

Who knows? The author of this article may even head up there on his Utah trip this week to check this new chairlift out.

Image Credits: Andrew Kooyman (Featured Image), Brighton Resort

While the start of the ski season in Utah hasn’t been as deep compared to last year, mountains are still opening. Currently, six ski resorts are open in Utah, which include Alta, Brian Head, Brighton, Park City, Solitude, and Woodward Park City. In the next couple of days, four more ski resorts are set to open for the season. With snowfall in the forecast for this weekend, this could be a pretty good stretch for the Beehive State.

Here’s a rundown of what mountains will be opening this week…

After delaying their opening by six days due to warm weather, Snowbasin Resort announced on Monday that they’ll be opening tomorrow (November 30th). Three lifts will be operating: Needles Gondola, Middle Bowl Express, and the Littlecat Express. They’ll have nine groomed runs available on opening day, with more trails expected in the near future.

Snowbird will also be opening on Thursday. They’ll have the Aerial Tram, Gadzoom, and Chickadee lifts spinning. For the tram, the only terrain open from the top will be Regulator Johnson. Gadzoom will have intermediate and advanced terrain available, while Chickadee will have limited options for beginners. As always, the Bird is the word.

Up in Park City, Deer Valley will be starting its ski season on Saturday, December 2nd. To start out, Deer Valey will have ten trails and seven lifts open. More terrain will be opening quickly after their opening day.

In Provo Canyon, Sundance Resort will get its season going on Saturday. The open trails will be Upper Stampede, Center Isle, Lower Stampede, Bandit, Outlaw Trail, Red Canyon, Rollers, Upper Maverick, and Lower Maverick. The operating lifts will include the Outlaw Express, Jake’s Lift, and their three magic carpets. A small terrain park will be situated around Lower Stampede. Sundance will have donuts for the first couple hundred people at the Outlaw Express. If I lived out in Utah, I’d be arriving at the lift maze at 5 a.m. for that perk.

Image/Video Credits: Snowbasin Resort, Snowbird Resort, Deer Valley Resort, Sundance Mountain Resort