Washington School House
SKIING IN UTAH
THE GREATEST SNOW ON EARTH With the 2034 Olympic Winter Games confirmed in Utah, this year marks one of the most transformative periods in the state’s ski industry history, including major terrain expansions, new lifts, reimagined base areas, and enhanced guest experiences.
Pendry Park City
Grand Summit Hotel
PARK CITY Park City Mountain offers the most liftaccessed ski and snowboard terrain in the United States, with more than 7,300 acres of terrain, 330 trails, 42 lifts, and 6 terrain parks. Dedicated learning areas like High Meadow Park are perfect for beginners, while adventure seekers can challenge themselves on high-alpine terrain like Jupiter Peak, Ninety-Nine 90 or Pinecone Ridge. As a selected venue for the Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake CityUtah 2034, Park City Mountain is the only resort in Utah where you can ski or ride directly to town and enjoy historic Main Street in charming Old Town Park City. · Where to Stay: Washington School House, Hyatt Centric, Pendry Park City, Grand Summit Hotel, a RockResort, Lift Park City, Sundial Lodge, Silverado Lodge, Waldorf Astoria, Yotel · Where to Après: Legends Bar, Après Pendry, The Pig Pen Saloon
www.reallygreatsite.com
· 2025-26 Winter News: Park City Mountain is set to enhance access and elevate the guest experience for the 2025–26 season with the debut of the Sunrise Gondola —a high-speed, 10-person lift that nearly doubles uphill capacity from Canyons Village and streamlines access to Red Pine Lodge and the resort’s improved beginner terrain. Designed for reliability and reduced wind holds, the new gondola will ease base area flow and create a smoother experience for families and first-timers. Complementing these upgrades, a reimagined Ski & Ride School zone at Red Pine Lodgeintroduces varied beginner terrain, playful learning features, and two new magic carpets, along with a dedicated children’s lunchroom for mid-day breaks. Additional investments in snowmaking —replacing 1,400 feet of pipe and adding 700 new feet—ensure optimal early-season coverage and highquality snow surfaces across the mountain. New this season, Epic Pass Holders will receive 6-10 Epic Friend Tickets, depending on when they purchase their Pass. Epic Friend Tickets provide 50% off lift tickets at the company's 37 North American resorts for the 2025/26 winter season. In addition, friends can apply 100% of the cost of one redeemed Epic Friend Ticket toward an eligible 2026/27 Epic Pass. Just like the Epic Pass, Epic Friend Tickets can be purchased through EpicPass.com and then activated in the My Epic app for direct-to-lift access, cutting out the need to stand in line at the ticket window. Guests can also enjoy a playful new treat, the Orange Bubble Bite, inspired by one of the nation’s most iconic lifts.
DEER VALLEY Deer Valley consistently rates number one for its impressive operation, attention to detail, and reputation as the "bestgroomed resort." This luxury skiers-only resort is truly a skier’s dream, boasting some of the world's best slope-side hotel lodging anywhere, in addition to hundreds of properties for sale right on the mountain, including new ski-in ski-out communities like Velvære and Marcella Club within Deer Valley’s Expanded Excellence initiative. The après-ski scene is so abundant and satisfying that guests may hasten their last run of the day to secure a good spot. Where to Stay: Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, Empire Residences, Stein Eriksen Lodge & Residences, Montage Deer Valley, St. Regis Deer Valley · Where to Après: Chute 11, The Vintage Room, Après Lounge at the Montage Deer Valley, Sticky Wicket at Silver Lake · 2025-26 Winter News: “Expanded Excellence” initiative - This season, the resort has more than doubled in size, 2025-26 including 2,900 acres of newly skiable terrain. Deer Valley will debut seven new chairlifts this season—including the East Village Express, a 10-passenger gondola linking the new East Village to Park Peak. This comes following the addition of 10 lifts since December 2024, which resulting in 31 total lifts, 202 ski runs, and 4,300 skiable acres. Stein Eriksen Lodge
BRIGHTON Brighton, one of Utah’s oldest ski resorts, has been sharing its love for snow sports since 1936. What started as a simple rope tow has evolved into a 1,000+ acre playground with five high-speed quads, making it easy for everyone to enjoy the “greatest snow on earth.” Located just 40 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, Brighton offers a convenient escape with a laid-back vibe. Whether you’re a skier or snowboarder, Brighton welcomes travelers to experience its rich history and fantastic terrain. · · Where to Stay: Brighton Lodge · Where to Après: Molly’s Greens 2025-26 Winter News: The Waffle House, a new slopeside spot, will serve up golden waffles and warm beverages at the base area. Guests can also enjoy the new Snake Creek Gondola Cabins, featuring private outdoor seating and heated interiors for a scenic, comfortable ride from Snake Creek Lodge. Enhanced snowmaking in the Snake Creek zone will further improve earlyseason coverage. Additionally, guests can look forward to the Holiday House, a mid-mountain, Christmas-themed cabin near Crest 6 offering cozy indoor seating alongside festive food and beverage service.
Brian Head Resort
BRIAN HEAD RESORT Having set a record last winter with 181 skiable days, Brian Head Resort saw the longest season in its 60-year history — thanks to snowmaking and grooming improvements. This year, expanded snowmaking on Navajo Mountain will allow more beginner and intermediate terrain to open earlier and stay open later. Guests will also discover new gladed terrain on Navajo Mountain. · Where to Stay: Brian Head Lodge · Where to Après: Last Chair Saloon 2025-26 Winter News: Brian Head Resort announced it is investing more than $1.4 million in upgrades for the 2025–26 winter season. Enhancements include expanded snowmaking, new gladed runs, upgraded rentals, and new ski patrol equipment, all aimed at improving the guest experience and extending the season. Brian Head Resort
Brighton
ALTA Alta, a renowned skier’s paradise nestled in Utah’s best canyons, offers over 2,600 acres of slopes with 118 runs. Even snowboarders are drawn to Alta’s legendary terrain. With a dedicated following of “Alta-holics,” this winter haven is conveniently located less than 45 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport.
annual snowfall, this hidden gem rarely has a lift line (even with only five lifts up the entire mountain), given the number of high-profile resorts nearby. America’s biggest mountain also has one of the best cat ski rates around.
·Where to Stay: Alta Lodge, Alta Peruvian Lodge, Alta’s Rustler Lodge, Goldminer’s Daughter Lodge
Where to Après: The Powder Keg
·Where to Après: The Peruvian Bar 2025-26 Winter News: Alta’s initiative to realign the Supreme chairlift is on track for completion ahead of the 2025-26 season, which will increase access across the resort. This summer, Alta Ski Area broke ground on an expansion to the existing Albion Day Lodge, providing additional dining space, a new home for the popular Alta Java coffee shop, along with new administrative offices and employee housing, which is slated to be complete during the 2026-27 ski season.
Alta Lodge
POWDER MOUNTAIN With over 8,000 acres, Powder Mountain has the most skiable terrain in North America, plus the pow to back it up. Averaging an impressive 360 inches of
Where to Stay: Horizon Cabins, Moose Hollow Condos, Cascade Townhomes
2025-26 Winter News: Powder Mountain is rolling out major perks for 2025–26 passholders, including new eight half-price Buddy Tickets with no blackout dates and early-morning lift access off Hidden Lake on select dates. Passholders will also enjoy 20% off lessons, rentals, retail, and dining, a free OpenSnow account, UTA Ski Bus access, and unlimited skiing from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. The resort is in the planning and construction stages of a new triple lift in Wolf Canyon that will offer lift access into the “DMI” area for the first time, adding 900 acres of lift-served and 147 acres of hike-to access. While the area will remain out of bounds during the 2025/26 season, those interested in getting a first look can book a guided backcountry tour through the resort. Following the August 2024 launch of Powder Art Foundation, a new nonprofit celebrating land art and contemporary creativity on Powder Mountain, the organization will debut its first phase of commissions and acquisitions for its outdoor art gallery ahead of the 2025/26 ski season. Last season’s additions, Listener and Reflector by Davina Semo, set the tone —inviting guests to pause, reflect, and connect with the mountain’s natural rhythms.
SOLITUDE Solitude Mountain Resort truly lives up to its name, offering a relaxed environment with 1,200 acres of terrain for all levels, including an abundance of powder stashes. Intermediate skiers will especially enjoy Solitude, as nearly half of the 82 runs cater to them. Despite its secluded feel, this gem is conveniently located within an hour of Salt Lake City International Airport. Where to Stay: Eagle Springs Lodge, Powderhorn Lodge, The Inn at Solitude Where to Après: Thirsty Squirrel ·2025-26 Winter News: During summer 2025, Solitude invested $4.5 million in snowmaking improvements, installing a new pipeline to import water for our snowmaking system. Solitude has also added four new Wyssen avalanche towers to Fantasy Ridge, allowing patrol to remotely mitigate avalanche hazards in extremely difficult terrain, improving patrol safety and speeding up their ability to open terrain more quickly. Solitude is pleased to offer free midweek parking for the 2025-26 season! Solitude has also partnered with Brighton and the town on parking reservation dates to make it more seamless for Ikon Pass holders visiting Utah.
Alaska Inn
SNOWBASIN The transformation of Snowbasin’s Becker Chairlift not only enhances the lift itself but also brings improvements to the surrounding beginner terrain. The bottom terminal will be repositioned adjacent to the Wildcat Chairlift, allowing for easier access. In conjunction with the lift installation, Bear Hollow, Snowshoe and Slow Road will be widened to improve flow and safety in the Family Zone accessed by this lift. Where to Stay: Alaskan Inn, Compass Rose Lodge, Wolf Creek Resort Where to Après: The Cinnabar, The Overlook ·2025-26 Winter News: Snowbasin has completed a full replacement and upgrade of its iconic Becker Lift, first installed in 1986. The new high-speed detachable quad will cut ride time from 12 minutes to under seven and increase capacity to approximately 1,800 riders per hour. As part of the project, the lift’s bottom terminal has been moved closer to Wildcat Express, creating additional beginner-friendly terrain at the base. The 2025–26 season will mark the debut of RFID gate access across all base-area lifts at Snowbasin.
SUNDANCE This classic log cabin-esque skiing resort that Robert Redford built is only an hour from Salt Lake International Airport. Compared to the glamour of its neighboring Utah resorts, Sundance has a cozy rustic elegance, capturing the hearts of skiers. The resort’s 72 runs across more than 540 acres, pack in 2,150 vertical feet with spectacular powder all season long and the chance to ski beneath the stars. Simply put, Sundance is first-class with endless activities for all, not just skiers, who are looking for a place to disconnect and reset. Where to Stay: Sundance Resort, Inn at Sundance Resort (opening January 26) Where to Après: The Foundry Grill, The Owl Bar 2025-26 Winter News: Inn at Sundance Resort - Opening this winter, The Inn at Sundance Mountain Resort will feature 63 ski-in/ski-out rooms steps from Outlaw Express, offering mountain views of Mt. Timpanogos, a riverside covered bridge, and a rustic, artful design. Guests can enjoy amenities such as an on-site art gallery, daily yoga at the Wellness Center, and convenient ski valet service. As part of a two-year expansion, Sundance is also adding 165 acres of new terrain and the upcoming Electric Horseman Express high-speed quad for 2026–27. This season, skiers can explore 60 acres of new terrain in the Far East area and a 1,800-vertical-foot ridgeline run with sweeping views of Heber and Utah Valleys. Other Non-Skiing Activities Snowshoeing/cross-country skiing: Visit Solitude Mountain Resort’s Nordic and Snowshoe Center to get suited for a thrilling Utah snowshoeing or crosscountry skiing excursion.
Sundance Resort
Snow tubing: Make a trip to Woodward Park City’s Tubing Park for a 1,200-foot descent on the exhilarating tubing lanes. Ice climbing: Utah’s ice climbing season runs from December to February, drawing beginners and pros alike to destinations like Provo Canyon, which offers routes for all levels—from the 800-foot Stairway to Heaven to easier climbs like Miller’s Thriller and Bridal Veil Falls. For gear, Utah Mountain Adventures provides a list of local rental shops and equipment tips to help climbers get started. Bobsledding: At Utah Olympic Park near Park City, visitors can ride with a pro pilot down the 2002 Olympic bobsled track, hitting 15 turns and speeds up to 60 mph. The park also offers a slower skeleton run, ziplines over the ski jump, and free access to watch Olympians train. Stay in a Yurt: About 20 minutes east of Park City, the Utah Nordic Alliance yurt sits three miles from the Mirror Lake Highway trailhead, offering an easy backcountry getaway for novice adventurers. Stocked with firewood but otherwise pack-in only, it’s a peaceful base for skiing, snowshoeing, or simply relaxing beneath the aspens at 8,600 feet.