Powder Mountain - Powder Mountain

Powder Mountain is a ski resort located just east of Eden, Utah, stretching between Weber and Cache counties, and only 55 miles from Salt Lake City International Airport. With over 7,900 acres of skiable terrain, 144 runs, snowcat skiing, side country skiing, backcountry tours and two terrain parks, Powder Mountain is the largest ski resort in the US by skiable acreage. Powder Mountain consistently tops Ski Magazine’s “Best Value Resort” category, taking home the honor five out of the past six years. With more than 300 inches of annual snowfall, Powder Mountain was ranked #2 for “Snow” and #4 for “Character” while also ranking 9th best by readers for Overall Satisfaction in 2012.

History

Powder Mountain had its beginnings as the winter range for Frederick James Cobabe’s sheep herd. Between 1902 and 1948, Cobabe continually accumulated land around Eden, Utah. Old timers say that his property was severely overgrazed by previous owners and hardly a blade of grass could be found. The watershed was so poor that Wolf Creek dried up each fall. Fred’s soil conservation practices greatly improved the vegetation and Powder Mountain now is known as one of the best watersheds in the Wasatch Mountains.

Fred’s son, Dr. Alvin F. Cobabe, bought the livestock company with its 8,000 acres in 1948. While horseback riding with friends along Lightning Ridge in the 1950s, someone casually mentioned that the terrain would make a great ski resort. The idea rang true with Dr. Cobabe and he began to amass adjacent property adding to the thousands of acres acquired from his father. When the resort opened on February 19, 1972, he owned 14,000 acres.

Only the Sundown lift was open during Powder Mountain’s first season. The area was lit for night skiing and a ski school was established. Food was prepared on an outdoor barbecue. The Main Lodge, the Sundown Lodge and the Timberline lift were added to operations in the 1972â€"73 season.

Dr. Alvin Cobabe, at age 88, sold Powder Mountain, Inc in 2006 to Western American Holdings. The resort remained under the same management team, led by Aleta Cobabe, daughter of Alvin, during the 2006â€"07 season. Western American sold Powder Mountain to events company Summit in 2013.

The resort today

Powder Mountain currently has four chair lifts (one double, one triple, one fixed quad, and one detachable quad), and an additional three surface tows. Beyond lift accessed terrain, Powder Mountain also offers all-day Snowcat Powder Safaris, single ride cat skiing and inbound and backcountry guided tours through their Adventure Center.

The slopes on both sides of the road leading up to the resortâ€"known as Powder Countryâ€"are served by a bus that will pick riders up at a waiting area halfway down the access road. There is also an $18 per-ride Snowcat service up Lightning Ridge (very close to James Peak). James Peak is one of the premier powder bowl runs in Utah.

Powder Mountain’s terrain within the lift accessible area offers a wide variety of runs for riders of every skill level, including a large assortment of green, blue and blacks runs. With over 2,500 inbound vertical feet available and over 400 inches of annual snowfall, Powder Mountain is largely considered to be one of the premier powder skiing destinations in the world.

Powder Mountain also offers ski-in, ski-out condos for rent at the summit, making it a convenient getaway for skiers of all levels.

Timeline

1971â€"72 season

• Powder Mountain opened with Sundown Lift.
• Ski School began.

1972/73 Season

• Main Lodge opened.
• Sundown Lodge opened.
• Timberline lift opened.

1975/76 Season

• Hidden Lake Lift added.

1981/82 Season

• Shuttle service for employees and for Powder Country started.

1984/85 Season

• Powder was the first Utah resort to allow snowboarding.

1986/87 Season

• Hidden Lake Day Lodge opened.

1994/95 Season

• Sunrise Lift opened.

1999/2000 Season

• Paradise Lift, a quad, opened up an additional 1300 acres (5.3 km²) of lift accessed terrain.
• Cat skiing moved to Lightning Ridge accessing an additional 700 acres (2.8 km²).
• Powder Mountain became the resort with the most skiable terrain in America.

2006â€"07 season

• Hidden Lake lift replaced with a high speed lift.

2012â€"13 season

• In 2012, Summit announced its plans to purchase Powder Mountain with the goal of preserving the throwback character of Powder Mountain while creating a permanent home for the Summit community.

2016-17 season

• Powder Mountain announced in a press release on October 28th, 2016 that they would be adding two new Skytrac Lifts: Village Lift and Mary's Lift. These new lifts will allow guests to access roughly 1,000 more acres of lift served terrain, and will bring the total skiable acreage to 8,464 (including sidecountry and snow cat serviced terrain).

References

External links

• Powder Mountain's Homepage
• The Ski Utah website
• First Tracks article on Powder Mountain