Here's what's new at Utah's 15 ski resorts in what's anticipated to be another busy season

SALT LAKE CITY — After the 2023-2024 ski season saw over 6.75 million skier visits between Utah's 15 ski areas — the state's second-best year in terms of visitation — resorts are gearing up for what is anticipated to be another busy season.

Brian Head Resort kicked off its 60th season when it opened on Friday and was joined by Solitude Mountain Resort, which opened the Link lift for the weekend. Brighton is set to open on Thursday. The remaining 12 resorts in Utah are currently scheduled to open on Nov. 22 or later with the help of Tuesday's snowstorm and cold temperatures.

"Almost a foot of snow fell yesterday up in Little Cottonwood Canyon (and) other places," said Nathan Rafferty, president and CEO of Ski Utah, during the organization's annual start-of-season press conference on Wednesday. "As it remains cold, as we continue to get snow, we'll see opening dates fluctuate a little bit. Hopefully, to the sooner side than the later side, but I think we're looking pretty good."

With the season set to kick off soon, here's what skiers and snowboarders can look forward to this winter.

Resort expansions, additions and more access

One of the biggest changes across Utah's network of resorts is the expansion of Deer Valley Ski Resort.

The coming season will see the resort more than double its skiable terrain, opening 20 new runs comprised of over 300 acres of new skiing. That will also come alongside 500 new parking spaces and three new lifts.

While this seems like a lot — and it is — it's just 25% of the planned expansion, with the big changes coming next year, when Deer Valley plans to open 2,900 acres serviced by 9 chairlifts, including a gondola and 110 ski runs. Once the entire project is complete, the resort will feature 5,726 acres of skiable terrain, including 37 chairlifts that reach more than 200 ski runs.

"We are ramping up (staffing), and it will continue to increase because at full, we're thinking it's going to bring on about 2,000 more employees. And last winter, at our height, we had 3,000, so it's a pretty big expansion," said Emily Summers, Deer Valley's director of communications. "(It) is great having this, kind of, 25% open this year because we'll need to bring in new ski patrol (and) bringing in more guest service."

In Little Cottonwood Canyon, Snowbird has refurbished one of its original red tram cabins, which was retired after 50 years of service. The repurposed cabin will now be a centerpiece of the Tram Club's outdoor patio, where it will be incorporated as a year-round area for guests to sip and dine both in and around.

"It's super exciting," said Kelsey James, assistant director of marketing at Snowbird. "That is just sort of like an icon in Utah skiing, and that will open December-ish."

Other improvements, James said, include the replacement of the original Wilbere chair. The double chair — which opened in 1971 as one of the area's original chairlifts — has been replaced with a quad, while the lift has been realigned to start from the Creekside base area.

This new alignment will offer increased uphill capacity along with improved access to the chair, helping guests move more efficiently around the mountain. The new Wilbere Chair will also feature Snowbird's first loading conveyor.

Snowbird's Little Cottonwood Canyon neighbor, Alta Ski Area, has installed two new loading conveyors around the Albion Day Lodge that will service beginner terrain for the public and those who have booked lessons with the Alf Engen Ski School.

"Something our powder hounds will truly be excited about is, we've done some reworking of, like, the big traverses that you use to access some of Alta's most famous powder terrain," said Lexi Dowdall, Alta's communications director. "This summer, our crews spent some time hand-cutting and smoothing the entrances and traverses on the Ballroom Traverse and the High Traverse. We've tried to sculpt the terrain so it's not as prone to erosion when it's really windy out, so we're looking forward to some better traversing this season."

Carpooling and transit

Anyone who has tried to get up Little or Big Cottonwood canyons on a powder day knows that traffic can be a big derailment to an enjoyable ski day, but the canyon resorts and the Utah Department of Transportation are taking measures to help ease the congestion as much as possible.

Part of that will come with UDOT's ramped-up approach to enforcing its traction law in the canyons.

In October, UDOT announced it would partner with the Cottonwood Heights and Sandy police departments, as well as the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, to ensure that only vehicles with four-wheel or all-wheel drive or chains enter each canyon when the mountain highways are slick.

Cottonwood Heights police plan to send one or two officers to assist with traction inspections that take place near the Canyon Estate Drive gate, about 2 miles into Big Cottonwood Canyon, according to Assistant Chief Paul Brenneman. He said an additional officer or two will be assigned on busier days to make sure traffic doesn't get backed up.

Sandy Police Chief Greg Severson said his department will do something similar for inspections that take place by A Gate/Gate Buttress, about 5 miles into Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Snowbird has also expanded carpool parking spots to just under 200, along with incentivizing skiers to carpool by reducing the number of people in a vehicle to three to be considered carpooling.

Additionally, the Utah Transit Authority is adding two new auxiliary routes up Little Cottonwood Canyon, making it easier for skiers and riders to catch the bus they need to access those resorts.

Both Brighton and Solitude resorts in Big Cottonwood Canyon implemented parking reservations last year, which will again be in effect this year on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and certain holidays.

"That made a big difference in canyon traffic, and we — both resorts — encourage carpooling," said Andria Huskinson, communications manager at Solitude.

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