Three extra chairlifts are coming to Utah’s Powder Mountain over the following two years, although you’ll have to buy a home or know somebody with one to experience two of them. First, a little bit of background. Ever since Powder Mountain’s founding in 1971, the ski space struggled to generate sufficient money for progress and capital enhancements. The amount of skiers venturing past extra accessible resorts like Park Metropolis and Snowbird was by no means sufficient to match the ambition and accessible terrain at PowMow. Not a single new raise was constructed from 1976 to 1993 whereas dozens popped up throughout the Wasatch together with a complete new ski space named Deer Valley. Fastened grip doubles and triples serviced the majority of Powder Mountain’s terrain effectively into the mid-2000s. A pair completely different house owners tried their fingers at PowMow over the next years with solely modest progress.
Quick ahead to 2023 and Netflix co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings bought a controlling stake in Powder for $100 million. He shortly pivoted to a bifurcated mannequin the place actual property gross sales and personal snowboarding would subsidize a smaller public mountain. The general public facet would proceed to be often known as Powder Mountain with the personal advanced dubbed Powder Haven. Two present lifts, Village and Mary’s, have been faraway from the general public space and reserved for owners solely. Final yr, Hastings constructed 4 new lifts, three of which opened to the general public. Raintree grew to become the primary all-new raise to be reserved solely for actual property house owners. The general public gained new entry to Lightning Ridge. This season Powder will span 8,000 acres, making it the most important mountain in North America (with a number of caveats.)
Powder broke floor on three extra lifts this summer time, one in every of which will probably be public and two personal. I’m informed the preliminary plan was for all three to be accomplished this summer time however allowing delays lately pushed two to subsequent yr. The primary to open will probably be Primetime, a Leitner-Poma removable quad servicing the all-new Davenport territory and topping out subsequent to Raintree. Davenport makes up “1,000 gnarly acres of powdery glades and reduce runs on the northeast face of the mountain,” notes Powder Haven’s gross sales web site. “Serviced by a brand new high-speed removable raise, Davenport is prepared and ready for these able to push their limits and let it rip on a few of North America’s most uniquely difficult terrain.” Primetime will develop into the primary removable quad at Powder open solely to owners and their visitors. It can even be the bottom elevation raise at Powder, growing the mountain’s vertical to three,346 vertical toes – in case you have means to entry it.
Subsequent summer time a hard and fast grip quad will rise to service the personal Shelter Hill neighborhood. Its 39 homesites will embody “a mix of household retreats and bespoke enclaves, every one uncommon and distinctive in its personal means,” the gross sales deck notes. Skytrac will set up the raise, referred to as Half Pint, using CTEC gear from the previous Paradise quad. “Personal ski slopes glide down the mountain under,” says the web site. “Throughout, panoramic views and a closeness with the wild world round you.”
By subsequent season Powder Haven will swell to 2,700 personal acres, making it bigger than most US ski areas with 5 devoted chairlifts. A 73,000 sq. foot lodge is ready to open for winter 2027-28, designed by the identical architect because the Yellowstone Membership, Spanish Peaks and the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch. The personal facility will embrace a mountaineering wall, thermal swimming pools and omakase expertise, amongst different facilities.
The general public can look ahead to a brand new DMI raise, scheduled to open for winter 2026-27. This Skytrac triple will service among the steepest terrain at PowMow, at present accessed solely by way of guided expedition. The raise will rises out of Wolf Canyon and terminate on the prime of Sunset. DMI will add 900 acres of lift-served and 147 acres of hike-to entry, for a complete of 1,047 acres of public superior terrain. With the addition of DMI, Powder Mountain’s public raise fleet will span two removable quads, 4 fashionable fastened grip chairlifts and several other floor lifts. The way forward for the Dawn Poma is unclear, woefully below capability with gear over 30 years previous and a doubtlessly personal Cobabe raise earmarked for a similar neighborhood.
Powder continues to buck trade tendencies, shunning multi-mountain passes and reserving peak weekends for season passholders once more this season. “Escape the Lots,” Powder’s public homepage proclaims. I hit Powder Mountain a number of instances final winter and its was certainly uncrowded and powder-filled, even on weekends. In a letter to passholders final yr, Hastings wrote “the earlier enterprise mannequin was failing. Whereas we’ve traditionally been uncrowded and cheap, we’ve been dropping cash, not upgrading lifts or lodges, and build up debt,” he mentioned, concurrently asserting elevated costs however eliminating a cap on the variety of season passes bought. “The rise of Epic and Ikon have made the unbiased ski resort enterprise very difficult, and we doubtless would have been acquired by one of many mega move house owners had we stayed on the previous mannequin…Our Wolf Canyon growth, alongside limiting day ticket gross sales and never accepting mega passes, continues to meet our promise of preserving Powder Mountain uncrowded, unbiased, and actually a particular expertise for generations to return.”
