Powder Mountain’s operators have made it no secret to pass holders that some radical changes would be put in place at the Eden-area ski and snowboard resort for the 2024-25 season.
- Privatizing some established public lifts in a first-of-its-kind resort-management experiment? Check.
- Installing four new lifts, including two that open up previously difficult-to-reach terrain? Check.
- Raising pass prices while simultaneously dropping its unique cap on the number of season passes it sells? Check.
- Implementing paid parking on weekends and holidays? … Not so fast.
Season passholders say they were blindsided when an email from Powder Mountain sent Tuesday informed them that the ski area will require paid parking this season. The resort plans to charge $12 per car on weekends and holidays until 1 p.m. at all lots. Parking is free Monday through Friday.
Colton Rice, 33, of North Salt Lake said he and his girlfriend had no indication before buying their passes that they would also need to budget for parking. He said he feels duped by the resort and described the policy as “super misleading.”
“I think in a time when the resort is already undergoing so many changes, and people are already so skeptical, and they already closed off part of the mountain to give to landowners and all these changes,” Rice said. “And then they go ahead and just drop that bomb on all the local season passholders that they’re now paying for parking and there’s kind of nothing you can do about it?
“It’s just, like, a lot at once.”
Powder Mountain operators said they forewarned season passholders that parking changes were afoot for 2024-25. In an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune in March, when Powder announced it would be dropping its 3,000-person cap on season passes, general manager Kevin Mitchell said the resort would be tinkering with its parking. At the time, he said he expected the plan to include aspects of free parking, paid reservations and carpool incentives.
However, an email sent to season passholders in February and shared with the Tribune appeared to indicate that Powder was leaning toward adopting a model similar to Snowbird’s. In that system, most parking is free but skiers and snowboarders can pay for a reservation if they want to ensure they have a spot.
Read the full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.