What were you doing all summer?  Resorts in Utah were working full-time adding new lifts and snowmaking, smoothing out terrain, even adding major expansions.  Those improvements will come in handy in 2034, when the Winter Olympic Games return to Salt Lake City and the resorts around it.

Here’s what’s new in Utah for the 2024/25 season.  In alphabetical order, since that’s the only fair way.

Alta

Improvements have been made to the approaches at the top of the Collins lift on Mambo and on the Ballroom traverse and the High traverse.  Also, there are new covered Sunkid conveyors at the Albion Base Area for beginners.

Brian Head Resort

There are three new trails – two for beginners and one for intermediates – part of a $1.4 Million budget for capital improvements.  Brian Head celebrates its 60^th Anniversary in January 2025, with a series of on-mountain activities and events, the week of January 7.

Brighton Resort

There’s new night skiing and snowboarding at the Millicent Chairlift, and increased snowmaking off the Great Western and Snake Creek chairlifts.  Brighton also has added eco-friendly hybrid electric snowcats and an electric snowmobile for operations.

Deer Valley

Where to start?  300 new acres of terrain with three new chairlifts and a new base area with expanded parking.  

The new terrain is being called Deer Valley East Village, and is being opened in bits and pieces as it is developed.  That’s where the new lifts and 500 new parking spots are located.

Keetley Express will be Deer Valley’s first six-person chairlift with a protective bubble, scheduled to open in December.  It will connect the new Deer Valley East Village to the main area, dropping skiers near the bottom of the Sultan lift on Bald Mountain.  The other new lifts are Hoodoo Express and Aurora, both servicing beginner-level terrain.

Park City Mountain

There’s new snowmaking at Canyons Village, to allow terrain accessed via the popular Tombstone Express to open earlier in the season.

Powder Mountain

Under new private ownership this season, Powder is now a hybrid of terrain open only to members and public access. The public portion gets a new lift in Wolf Canyon to Lightning Ridge, which will add 900 acres of lift-served and 147-acres of hike-to access. 

The new owners also are upgrading the Paradise and Timberline lifts, adding new guided adventure experiences, and creating an on-mountain art gallery with outdoor sculptures dotting the slopes.

In February 2025, all Saturdays and Sundays are accessible to only Powder Mountain Season Pass holders.

Snowbasin Resort

Bear Hollow, Snowshoe and Slow Road are being widened to improve flow and safety in the Family Zone, accessed by the Wildcat Lift.  Snowbasin also is making other adjustments to prepare for the new Becker Chairlift, set to debut before the 2025/26 season.  The new lift will be a detachable quad, replacing the fixed-grip triple that dates from 1986. The new lift will be a six-minute ride, getting you to the top in half the time.

Snowbird

The original Wilbere Chair has been shifted from a slow double to a speedy quad with a conveyor for more efficient loading, and also moved to provide easier access from the Creekside base area.  The beloved original red Tram cabin has been refurbished and transformed into a new outdoor extension of the Tram Club for dining and drinks, along with new lunch and apres ski offerings at The Atrium in the Cliff Lodge.

Solitude

The news here is about parking.  Midweek parking costs have been reduced by 50% and vehicles with three or more occupants will continue to park for free.  Also, advance parking reservations – which the resort says reduced congestion in Big Cottonwood Canyon – are now required on just 46 days, down from more than 60 last season.

Sundance Mountain Resort

The new Mountain Camp Day Lodge is opening, with lockers, a ticket office, rentals and more.  It is adjacent to recently-expanded parking with 110 new spaces.  Also, under construction now and due to open in 2025/26, is a new 63-room ADA-accessible luxury inn at the base village.

What’s your favorite Utah resort?  www.skiutah.com

Mine is all of them.

See you on the slopes.

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Evelyn Kanter

Evelyn Kanter is a NYC-based travel and environmental writer and a senior skier who would rather ride a chairlift, river raft or zipline than the subway, and has done so in the more than 100 countries she’s visited, skiing in many of them. In what she calls a “previous life”, she was a TV and radio news reporter for ABC News and CBS News, now a regular contributor to major publications, including airline inflights and AAA magazines, and has written or contributed to more than a dozen travel guidebooks.Her latest are “100 Things to Do in NYC Before You Die”, Fodor’s Essential Germany and Fodor’s New York City. Evelyn's website is www.ecoxplorer.com

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