In 2018, Vail announced an indefinite closure of Scott’s Bowl and Pinecone Ridge after years of access to the side country off the Jupiter Chairlift at Park City Mountain Resort. The decision was made because Vail and the property owners could not work out a new lease agreement.
According to the Park City Mountain Resort Communications Manager Emily McDonald, the Scott’s Bowl area is once again open to the public.
Park City Mountain Ski patrol reported the opening to the Utah Avalanche Center this past weekend.
According to Park City Mountain Resort Communications Manager Emily McDonald, the Scott's Bowl area is open to the public. Park City Mountain Ski patrol reported the opening to the Utah Avalanche Center this past weekend.
“It partially opened on Feb. 12, and we're expecting it to be fully open later this week, and ski patrol is conducting avalanche mitigation in the area," she said.
Landowner Silver King Consolidated Inc. is a private company that owns the alpine terrain west of the Jupiter chairlift. President Mickey Gallivan said he wanted to negotiate a new lease with Vail because he knows how popular the terrain is for locals who ski PCMR.
"Vail has been very interested in getting that run open. We call it Pinecone Ridge, but it falls into Scott's Bowl. (PCMR COO) Mike Goar has been really terrific in pursuing renegotiation of the lease on the land we had some years ago. It just didn't work out to continue it when the ownership changed," he said. "We finally sat down at the end of last year and Mike was terrific putting together a proposal that made sense to us — to our company.”
Gallivan said he expects the 100-acre lease to be in place a long time.
“It’s a long-term contract. Five-year increments automatically renew unless it needs to be canceled for one reason or another," Gallivan said. "Mike was very interested in making sure that this was going to be long-term.”
Gallivan wasn't sure if the patrol shack on top of Pinecone Ridge is still there or if the resort will use a structure on the ridgeline for ski patrol operations.
"I don't think it has been moved but it's totally up to the resort. They're free to use whatever they need to patrol the area and to control the area in avalanche control and everything else," he said.
The quickest and easiest access to the terrain is from the top of the Jupiter chairlift. However, riders can get to Pinecone Ridge hiking from the Quicksilver Gondola mid-station.
