Powder Mountain Adding Several New Lifts, Going Semi-Private
Powder Mountain is expected to break ground on three new lifts this summer, but two existing lifts will be taken away from the resort’s public footprint.
Earlier today, Utah’s Powder Mountain announced an extensive suite of changes spearheaded by its new ownership.
Over the summer, the resort plans to break ground on three “public” lifts: (1) a high-speed quad replacement for the Paradise fixed-grip quad; (2) a fixed-grip quad replacement for the Timberline triple, and; (3) a brand new fixed-grip quad from the base of Timberline to the top of Lightning Ridge, replacing snowcat service there.
In addition, the resort plans to designate a handful of currently public areas for “private homeowner-only” skiing and riding. The Village and Mary’s lifts, as well as a new lift on the currently cat-served Raintree footprint, will be reserved for those who own real estate on Powder Mountain’s property. The resort says that they need to make these changes in order to “pay their bills.”
It’s unclear whether Powder Mountain’s three public and one private lift project will be complete for the 2024-25 season, but we’re expecting at least some of them to be finished by then. Private-only access to Mary’s, Village, and Raintree is expected to take effect in late 2024.
An inset of Powder Mountain’s trail map. The new Paradise high-speed quad is highlighted in dark blue, while the new Timberline quad is highlighted in light blue. The newly private terrain is shaded in red, with the Mary’s and Village lifts highlighted in red. Theoretical lift lines for the public Lightning Ridge quad (light blue) and Raintree lift (red) are shown as dotted lines.
Our Take
New Public Lifts
Today’s announcement brings a number of welcome developments for Powder Mountain’s lift fleet. The existing Paradise lift serves some solid advanced terrain, but it takes a grueling 12 minutes to ride—and due to the resort’s layout, guests must ride the lift at least twice to access any of the truly interesting terrain off this lift. A detachable quad will presumably cut the ride time down by at least half, which should make for a much more enjoyable experience. Upgrading the Timberline triple to a fixed-grip quad likely won’t change the ride speed, but replacing this 52-year-old lift should provide a significant increase in reliability for the years to come.
Perhaps the most game-changing update will be adding lift service to the top of Lightning Ridge, which will bring two substantial benefits. First off, guests will now have direct access to Powder’s only true expert chutes, eliminating a combination of a snowcat and short hike that’s required in today’s setup. Secondly, the resort will be fixing a considerable missing lift link, finally providing lift service from the main section of the resort to the beginner-oriented Sundance area. While some may mourn the loss of low-volume snowcat service in this area, we’re excited to see where this route ends up being relocated to.
Homeowner-Only Skiing
With considerably limited ticket sales and 2,900 acres of lift-served terrain, Powder Mountain is already the least crowded destination mountain we’ve ever reviewed. In fact, it’s the only ski resort we’ve ever awarded a perfect 10 in our Crowd Flow category.
Changing the Mary’s lift, Village lift, and Raintree area to private-access only comes across as a much more elitist move than a practical one. With the exception of a lightning-related weather hold, we’ve never experienced a wait on either of the existing lifts, and with the exception of making real estate owners feel special, we don’t think excluding the public from this terrain will have any tangible impact to those who live on the slopes.
These areas serve some of the most diverse beginner and intermediate terrain in Utah (and in the case of Raintree, some solid advanced-level glades), and while Powder Mountain does offer plenty of terrain like this elsewhere at the resort, we expect returning guests to be less than happy with losing access to these areas. Moreover, we’re disappointed that a resort that focuses so much on its size will now be excluding most guests from not-insignificant parts of the mountain.
Ultimately, today’s announcement brings a huge barrage of welcome developments, but also a notable disappointment in taking away some public terrain. We hope that turning parts of the resort into homeowner-only access will generate sufficient revenue for Powder Mountain, since it’s sure to anger a great deal of long-term loyal guests—even with the investments in still-public areas.
Considering a ski trip to Powder Mountain? Check out our full Utah ski resort rankings, as well as our comprehensive Powder Mountain review. You can also check out our Utah rankings in video form below.
