A new ski season brings with it new terrain, lifts, improvements, and more. Out West, resorts in California, New Mexico, and Utah are showcasing new updates for the 2024/25 season. Continue reading for some of the major ski resort updates out West.
What New in the West
California
In California, Palisades Tahoe is celebrating 75 years of operation. In addition to a jam-packed calendar of events, the resort has also invested $500 million in renovating the Alpine Lodge. New updates include an updated rental and demo shop with improved decor, lighting, storage, and a brand new Wintersteiger Jupiter automated tuning machine to provide top-quality services to guests. Across Lake Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe was recently added to the list of Ikon Pass destinations.
Down in the Eastern Sierra, Mammoth Mountain continues to make progress on its expansion plans. The new Broadway Express is set to open this season, marking a milestone update to the resort’s very first chairlift. The upgrade will increase capacity by 25% and reduce ride time by 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The new 6,000 square-foot Woolly’s Day Lodge will also complete construction during the 24/25 season featuring restrooms, ticket offices, dining, retail, and an outdoor patio.
Utah
Utah’s Snowbird Resort will be saying goodbye to one of its original lifts this season. Built in 1971, the Wilbere double lift, affectionately named after the founder’s wife, will be transformed into a fixed-grip quad chair. This update will double the lift capacity from 1,200 to 2,400 skiers per hour. The loading zone of the lift will also be repositioned for easier access to the Creekside parking lot.
Brighton Resort is excited to introduce night skiing off the Millicent Chairlift. In addition, as part of a commitment to increased sustainability efforts, its operations team has added electric snowcats, an electric truck, and an electric snowmobile to its fleet. Powder Mountain will open new terrain and a new lift at the start of its season. The new lift will be in the Wolf Canyon area and provide access to Lightning Ridge. This will open up 900 new acres of lift-served terrain and an additional 147 acres of hike-to terrain.
In Park City, Deer Valley Resort will open three new chairlifts and over 300 skiable acres. Guests at the skier-only mountain can expect the Keetley Express to open in December as the resort’s first six-person bubble chairlift. This lift will provide access to terrain in the Deer Valley East Village. The Hoodoo Express and the Aurora lifts, set to open later this season, will serve new beginner-level terrain in this area.
Snowbasin, plans to wrap construction on the new high-speed Becker chairlift before next winter. The fixed-grip triple will become a detachable quad and increase mountain capacity by 1,800 riders per hour. Bear Hollow, Slow Road, and Snowshoe trails will all be widened as an additional improvement to the Family Zone. And rounding out the updates in Utah, Brian Head is celebrating its 60th season with the introduction of three new trails: two for beginners and one for intermediates.
New Mexico
Big improvements are happening at a couple of New Mexico’s top ski areas. Ski Santa Fe is opening a new high-speed quad this season, the Santa Fe Express Quad, which will replace the old Super Chief Quad. Taos Ski Valley has invested nearly $1 million in resort improvements. Advanced snowmaking, grooming, lift maintenance, and a new ski and snowboard rental fleet are all on the list of upgrades. Two base area restaurants, Tenderfoot Katie’s and the Martin, were also redesigned for increased capacity and a new modern feel.
January 15, 2025
