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

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

A new high-speed six-pack chairlift, a mid-mountain lodge, mountain biking trails, parking reservations, and (possibly) a chondola are coming to Brighton Resort.

Last week, Aimee Cook from TownLift caught up with Jared Wrinkler, who is the Senior Director of Marketing at Brighton, to talk about the new Sidewinder Grill, which will be Brighton’s first mid-mountain lodge. In the article, Jared described one of their future goals for Brighton:

“In the future, we plan to have a ‘chondola’, a chairlift/gondola lift that will take people to the area so they can either ski or just ride it up. This is a solution that was needed on the mountain; restrooms, food, and the views are spectacular.”

This would be a notable difference from Brighton’s current lift fleet. Brighton currently has a six-pack chairlift under construction, three high-speed quads, one fixed-grip quad chairlift, one fixed-grip triple chairlift, and multiple surface lifts. Boyne Resorts, which owns Brighton, is no stranger to chondolas. At one of the resorts they own, Sunday River, they have a chondola, which opened back during the 2008-09 season.

These plans have yet to be submitted to the US Forest Service, which is required for construction to commence, so it doesn’t seem like it’s coming in the near future.

The TownLift article also includes some more details about the mid-mountain lodge. The new lodge will consist of three repurposed shipping containers. One of the containers will contain the bathrooms, while the two others will have the kitchen spaces. Attached to these containers will be two separate dining hall spaces, which will be able to handle more than 100 people. There will also be a 7,600-square-foot patio, which will have a heated terrace to melt snow and ample seating.

The new mid-mountain lodge and the new Doppelmayr D-line high-speed six-pack chairlift are expected to be completed before the 2023-24 season.

Image Credits: Brighton Resort, Sunday River Resort

After a record-breaking 2022-23 season, Brighton Resort is working on two major projects. The first is the replacement of the Crest Express with a Doppelmayr D-Line detachable high-speed six-pack chairlift. It will have a ride time of 5.3 minutes and an uphill capacity of 2400 riders per hour.

Last week, the Utah ski resort showed concrete being poured into the top terminal.

Yesterday, the latest update showed work is well underway on the bottom terminal.

The second major project is the construction of Brighton’s first mid-mountain lodge. Located right next to the Snake Creek Express, it will feature the holy trinity of a ski lodge: burgers, beers, and bathrooms… Amen. The details in the construction update video are scant, but the foundation is currently being worked on. It will be a nice place to stop at, especially with Snake Creek now having night skiing.

Image/Video Credits: Brighton Resort, @flanellifestyles

Brighton will see many changes this offseason, including a modern six-pack chairlift that will be replacing the Crest Express, and a new mid-mountain lodge. Unfortunately, one of these changes will be the introduction of paid parking reservations.

Parker Malatesta from KPCW reports that Brighton will require reservations for the 2023-24 season. If you are not a Brighton season passholder, a reservation will cost $20 on most days and $25 on holidays. If you park up there without a reservation, you will face a $75 citation, and stiffer penalties will ensue if you continue to go without reserving.

If you arrive after 1 pm, parking is free, and you won’t need a reservation. If you carpool with three or more people in your vehicle, parking will be free. In terms of how people will make reservations, those details will be announced at a later date.

Brighton season passholders will be able to park for free, but will still need to reserve a spot. Before the season, passholders will receive For Ikon Passholders, you will need to reserve your spot to ski (like last season) and Brighton will also require you to make a parking reservation if you plan to drive up there. You can read more about the paid parking plan here.

The move is clearly being done to try and fix the traffic mess that exists in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Solitude already has paid parking, and will likely introduce a reservation system of its own for this coming winter. Brighton’s parking capacity is pretty minimal compared to other major ski resorts in Utah, with the lot being filled up even before opening on peak dates. A change is definitely necessary, but the cost is pretty steep. We’ll see if it improves the situation when the lifts start spinning again in the late fall.

Image Credits: Brighton Resort

One of the few ski resorts that are still open in Utah is Brighton. Back in April, Brighton Resort announced that it would be extending its season. Originally planning to close on April 30th, they announced they were going to extend the season until Memorial Day.

Called the Milly Meltdown, Mt. Millicent has been open daily since May 5th. The only chairlift currently open is the Milly Express, which is operating from 9 am-2 pm daily. The celebration started in Cinco De Mayo, which included a live performance Mariachi band.

One of Brighton’s strongest attributes is its terrain parks, which typically exist over on the Crest and Majestic side of the ski resort. This month, they’ve moved their terrain park over to the Canyon trail. The easy trail, typically known for being a cruiser, now features many rails and jumps.

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A post shared by Brighton Resort (@brightonresort)

This past weekend, they hosted a dunk contest sponsored by Dang Shades. They put a hoop up on the Perris Bowl trail and let skiers and riders try to dunk a basketball into the hoop. While some went for the slam, others decided to hit the basketball hoop as a rail.

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A post shared by Brighton Resort (@brightonresort)

Over in Milly’s base area, there are many events and activities. For one, they added a mini skate ramp next to the Milly Lodge. With the many parallels between snowboarding, which Brighton has become one of the hubs for, and skateboarding, it’s the perfect addition. I think it’s something that should be added at more ski resorts as well.

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A post shared by Brighton Resort (@brightonresort)

They’ve also kept the base area lively. The Milly Chalet is open from 9 am-2 pm daily, with food and beverage service, and a Mobile Logo Shop. During weekends, they’ve had hot waxes from Milo Sport, DJs, a Tap Takeover from various local breweries, and more. For the closing weekend, they’ll have another hot wax and a beach luau.

From now until Memorial Day, the Milly Express will be open from 9 am-2 pm daily. With Brighton’s closing date set for May 29th, you still have time to make it up to Big Cottonwood Canyon and get some slushy laps in.

Image Credits: Brighton Resort, @flanellifestyles

Another contender has entered the race for the longest season in Utah. After Solitude and Snowbird announced that they’ll be open until at least late May, Brighton has entered the chat.

After they shut down for the regular season on April 30th, Brighton Resort will be reopening the Milly Express starting on May 5th. They’re aiming to make it to Memorial Day (May 29th). The chairlift will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will be accessible to season and Ikon passholders. They’ll be building a large terrain park over there, with a multitude of rails and jumps. Groomed runs will also be a part of their plans.

I’m stoked to see what this experience looks like for Brighton, as this terrain park setup could be pretty epic.

Image/Video Credits: Brighton Resort

Solitude won’t be the only ski resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon that’s adding a new high-speed six-pack chairlift this summer. After Alterra announced that the Eagle Express at Solitude will be replaced this offseason, Brighton Resort announced that the Crest Express will be replaced as well. A new lift is definitely needed for Crest. The Crest Express, which opened back in 1991, sees the biggest lift lines at the resort.

The high-speed quad will be replaced by a Doppelmayr D-Line high-speed six-pack chairlift. The new lift will have a ride time of 5.3 minutes, a loading conveyer belt at the base terminal, and carry 2400 people per hour. Construction on the lift will begin in May, with an expected opening during the 2023-24 season.

BIG NEWS! Brighton’s first 6-pack chairlift is coming to the 23/24 season! Replacing Crest, Crest 6 will have cutting edge Doppelmayr technology providing guests with a 5.3 minute lift ride to the top and will carry 2400 riders per hour. pic.twitter.com/2ljibqvmgQ

— Brighton Resort (@BrightonResort) March 22, 2023

They will also be adding their first mid-mountain lodge. Located just above the Snake Creek Express, this will feature food, drinks, and bathrooms. This is also expected to open during the 2023-24 season.

An addition that is a bit under the radar in this announcement is the introduction of parking reservations for next winter.

The parking situation at Brighton is, to put it nicely: pretty bad. The parking lot fills up quickly up there, with it sometimes even being full before the lifts spin. I think the long-term move is to add a medium-sized parking garage in between the Brighton Center, Explorer, and Great Western, but there are environmental and logistical hurdles to an idea like this.

They tried to ease this by requiring Ikon reservations this season, but they didn’t do a good job reminding people that this was the policy, so not everyone reserved their days and showed up anyways. This is from personal experience (I forgot, sorry Brighton), along with speaking to friends in Utah about it.

The most interesting part of this to me is whether we see them charge for their parking reservations like they are doing at Alta, or if it will remain free. I’m personally for the idea of the parking reservation system in order to reduce congestion in Big Cottonwood, but I just don’t want it to become a situation where every ski resort close to Salt Lake City is charging for parking.

Image/Video Credits: Brighton Resort

“I’m going Candide Thovex on them today.” –Sage Kotsenburg

Wanna see the definition of a happy camper? Check out Olympic gold medal winning slopestyle snowboarder Sage Kotsenburg cashing in on the recent influx of snow at Utah’s Brighton Ski Resort. His crew of top flight riders is straight up giddy and we can relate. These are the days you dream of:

“12 inches of fresh snow on the snow stake, a few GoPros and an all time crew made for one of the funnest days at Brighton Resort this season. Utah has been firing on all cylinders this winter and we have been taking full advantage. If you see us out there… holler!”

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A post shared by Sage Kotsenburg (@sagekotsenburg)

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A post shared by Sage Kotsenburg (@sagekotsenburg)

Brighton posted this yesterday….yeah looking pretty stellar: 

^Credit: Tyler Mower on Unsplash 

One of the great things about being a writer for Unofficial Networks is that I don’t have to hide my bias.

I have a degree in History, I once took the LSAT because I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, I had an extended stint selling colorectal cancer screening tests over the phone (poop-in-a-box-type-stuff), and basically fell into this job because I was failing at other responsibilities due to my obsession with skiing and ski news.

So yeah, I’m definitely not a proper journalist, nor do I pretend to be.

With that said, I place a heavy importance on being honest and fair with all of you.

So, let’s get this out of the way- Brighton Resort in Utah’s Big Cottonwood Canyon is one of my favorite places to ski on the planet.

^View from Brighton’s Great Western Express , Credit: Matt Lorelli/Unofficial Networks

Brighton isn’t paying me to say that (although I wish that they were), and I have no incentive to promote them.

Why am I bringing all of this up?

Well, I’m just a little bit worried that Brighton might be fudging their reported snowfall totals.

I feel the obligation to talk about it, and I’m anxious about slandering the good name of the gem that is Brighton without concrete evidence.

Now that’s all out on the table, let’s take a look at some evidence that suggests Brighton might be reporting inaccurate snowfall totals.

Twitter account Wasatch Snow Forecast (I’m going to refer to him as WSF throughout the remainder of this article) is the Utah daily snow reporter for OpenSnow.com.

His job is to forecast snow storms hitting Utah, and report on what they deliver per resort. You could say that he’s an expert on the matter.

WSF has been celebrating a fruitful year thus far for his beloved Utah ski resorts, but he’s noticed a trend with Brighton’s snowfall reporting.

In his words, Brighton’s reported snowfall totals, “…just never make(s) sense”

WSF reports that Brighton’s season snowfall total was 331 inches last weekend (1/7/23). The resort then reported a 7-day snowfall total of 35 inches throughout the following week.

Anybody with a calculator can figure out that the season snowfall total should be 366 inches at the end of the week (331+35= 366).

If that’s the case, why did Brighton report this past weekend (January 14) that their seasonal snowfall total was 406 inches, and not 366 inches?

See the Tweet below:

Brighton had 331" season total at this time last weekend on their website. They now show 406" with a 7-day total of 35". What?!? If you add up what they report every morning, they got 65" so that should be a total of 396". It just never makes sense. pic.twitter.com/SolDCIrh0z

— Utah Daily Snow (@WasatchSnow) January 16, 2023

Furthermore, WSF reports that he added up Brighton’s daily snowfall reports over the last seven days. He expected them to add up to 35 inches, as recorded in the 7-day snowfall total, but the sum was actually 65 inches.

One might think- Maybe there’s just a clerical issue in their 7-day snowfall report?

WSF breaks it down further- If they actually did get 65 inches throughout the week, their season total should be 396 inches, which is still 10 inches shy of the 406 inches that was being reported on WSF’s screenshot.

Weird, right?

I want to give Brighton the benefit of the doubt, but others have noticed discrepancies in their snowfall reporting this year as well.

Just click that embedded WSF Tweet above and read some of the comments. Many skiers and riders are skeptical about Brighton’s accuracy.

I really hope that this can all be explained by some kind of website/back-end error, and that Brighton isn’t deliberately falsifying their snowfall totals like resorts of yesteryear.

In case you didn’t know, Unofficial Networks got its start as Unofficial Sq*w back in the early 2000s due to Sq*w Valley’s dishonest daily snow reports.

It used be a common issue at ski resorts across the globe.

^Brighton announcing opening day 2022

I love Brighton no matter what.

The terrain off Milly, and the seemingly endless mellow tree runs from Great Western to Crest, have a special place in my heart.

Brighton could flat-out admit that they lie about snow reporting, and I would still show up from the east coast to ski that place.

With that said, I will continue to bring attention to this matter if more evidence comes forward.

Lying on snow reports is unofficially ‘not chill’, bruh.

Again, here’s hoping it can be explained by an inadvertent accident and not something more sinister.

Featured Image Credit: Jackson Blackhurst on Unsplash