Courtesy of Ski Utah
Last year Utah earned a record-breaking season of 4.5 million visitors, outdoing our previous record by five percent. To learn more about what is in store for the 2016-17 season, see below.
WHAT’S NEW:
After spending $35 million on capital improvements last season, Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort has rebuilt the Creekside Lodge. The lodge, located in Gad Valley at entry one, is currently undergoing massive reconstruction to triple the square footage of the building. The larger facility will now be the base of operations for all Snowbird Mountain Ski and Snowboard School lessons, eliminating shuttling students and allowing for a lot more time skiing and snowboarding on the mountain.
Powder Mountain Resort is installing two new high speed quads and adding 1,000 acres of new terrain, making this the largest expansion in US history. The resort continues to strive to maintain the wide open, adventurous experience “Pow Mow” is known for by capping ticket sales at 2,000 per day and establishing a limit of 2,000 season pass holders annually. Powder Mountain aims to keep its skier density less than a skier per two acres.
Other news out of Ogden Valley is the official opening of Whisper Ridge Cat Skiing, starting on December 26. Boasting over 30,000 acres of private ski and ride terrain and eight custom PistenBully snowcats for access, Whisper Ridge is an exciting new facility to add to Utah’s world-class skiing. Whisper Ridge is offering single to multi-day cat-skiing tours and optional first descent helicopter drops for an added dimension. Unique to their operation are three mountaintop overnight yurt villages for multiple day immersion experiences. In each village you will find wood-fired hot tubs and wellness offerings with a diversity of lodging options, including Suite and Master yurts for romantic getaways. All lodging packages are fully inclusive, with chef-prepared meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Sundance Resort is installing a new Arrowhead Lift in order to replace the old triple chair. The new Arrowhead Lift will be a quad-chair with new safety bars and improved loading and unloading areas. As a result, this will increase uphill capacity by over 500 people per hour and assist in decreasing lift lines.
In its second year of operations, Cherry Peak is continuing to expand by adding a third lift. The new Summit Lift nearly doubles the mountains’ skiable terrain to over 400 acres. Cherry Peak also has installed lights in this area to continue operating night skiing on 100 percent of the resort.
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