Industry News
The idea of returning Park City Mountain Resort (PCMR) back to local ownership was revived by Park City local Matthew Prince. In an October 27 Zoom video conversation with SnowBrains, the billionaire founder of Cloudflare said local ownership of PCMR is inevitable. It reignited a debate that began in May 2025, when Prince bought the historic Townlift Plaza, saving it from demolition. In that same announcement, he offered to buy PCMR from owner Vail Resorts, to help restore Park City Mountain to its former glory. Vail Resorts acquired PCMR in 2014 from its former owner, Powdr Corp., which was owned by Talisker Land Holdings. Since the purchase, PCMR has been plagued by issues that have caused many, including Prince, to question the future of the resort.
Prince currently resides in Park City and his ties to the mountain are strong. Prince fondly recalled learning to ski and later teaching at PCMR. At the time, the resort was under local ownership and there was little to no friction with the Park City community. Employees, locals, and the PCMR owners were happy with this arrangement. Since Vail took ownership, things have gone downhill. There is concern that Vail is siphoning PCMR profits away from Park City and onto corporate balance sheets and dividends. Prince wants to change that narrative and return PCMR to local ownership.
When asked point blank, the one thing he can do to improve PCMR, Prince responds simply “buy it.” He believes if he were able to gain control of the mountain, he wouldn’t be beholden to paying out dividends to shareholders. Prince stated “I don’t need to make money off this…And so, all the profits every year just go right back into two things: salaries for staff and on mountain upgrades.” Prince doesn’t want to remake PCMR into a private club or change its philosophy; he just wants to create the most fun, world-class and modern ski resort. He was clear in our conversation that he is open to working with Vail on maintaining the Epic Pass at PCMR.
Perhaps the most ambitious of his proposals is to connect all six major Wasatch resorts and PCMR is the key to making that happen. Plans for the ‘One Watsach’ concept date back to the early 2010s. This plan would link the Park City area to both Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, creating the second-largest connected lift-served area in the world. Prince said in our conversation, “I have buying the mountain as one of my side quests, but the other one is building a gondola that will go from downtown Park City, up through PCMR down into Solitude, up over Solitude and down into Alta…It would be between 22 and 26 minutes end to end. And in doing that you would connect 6 of the resorts, Deer Valley, PCMR, Solitude, Brighton, Alta, Snowbird and I think that Park City is at the center of that, and we should be dreaming up big plans. We should be doing it in a way that makes the experience for skiers and snowboards so much better…That sounds like a really fun project for the second half of my life.”
The most obvious connection point is the shared ridgeline from Deer Valley to PCMR. The only thing separating the two is a boundary line. Prince suggests that a major barrier to an easy ski connection between PCMR and Deer Valley is the vast difference in food quality for the same price. “The answer is because a cheeseburger at PCMR costs the same as a cheeseburger at Deer Valley. ” Therefore, improving food quality at PCMR would be necessary prior to any resort connection; otherwise, skiers from PCMR might overwhelm the dining establishments at Deer Valley.
Prince also mused about connecting the Wasatch resorts and leaving out PCMR. “You could imagine a world where Alterra buys Brighton, they already own Solitude and Deer Valley, and then you could even connect Alta, Snowbird, and now PCMR is cut out of the whole thing.” He does not want to see this happen to Park City. He reflected, saying, “This might sound crazy to some people, but what I want to do in the second half of my life is to find ways to give back to the community that’s given so much to me.” These amazing proposals could include PCMR if Vail Resorts gives local control of it to a long-term resident of Park City.
The past few years for PCMR have not been easy. They have had many notable challenges, including chairlift accidents, employee shortages, and others. PCMR has also had troubles getting lifts upgraded, specifically on the Mountain Village side, where it had two new lifts waiting to be installed. Approval was appealed by Park City residents, citing the fact that Vail Resorts was not giving adequate information on the upgrades. There was also the infamous 13-day ski patrol strike initiated on December 27, during the 2024 holiday week. During this time, there was chaos from communication failures to two-plus hour long liftlines with guests chanting “pay your employees.” This ended up going viral online, and news about the strike went national across all platforms. The strike went on for 13 days, resulting in a class-action lawsuit against PCMR owner Vail Resorts.
Park City Mountain has been a world-renowned ski resort for decades, and it has been struggling for the past few years. Prior to Vail ownership, locals and visitors loved exploring what used to be two separate resorts, Park City and Canyons. Both resorts had great vibes, terrain, food and employees. Locals and visitors were happy. Prince said during our October meeting, “…up until recently I skied there probably 50 or 60 days a season.” He has loved the mountain for years. Regarding PCM’s recent fall from grace, Prince stated, “it’s kind of been like stages of grief for me…and I think a lot of the town kind of had a reflexive, negative reaction toward Vail. I actually found myself for quite a while trying to kind of defend Vail in various ways, pointing out that the city hadn’t made it particularly easy, with things like lift upgrades and other things.”
Prince has shared his thoughts on Vail Resorts. Vail’s main competitor is the Ikon Pass from Alterra Mountain Company. In August 2025, Prince posted on X in response to an announcement of the Ikon Pass adding five new mountains in the Italian Alps that Alterra has a “better model than Vail.” The Altera model includes partnering with resorts and not owning the underlying assets. Vail owns almost all the underlying assets and sells the Epic Pass on top of it.
Prince believes if Vail sold off the individual resorts and kept the Epic Pass, Vail Resorts would be worth significantly more than what they are today. Prince feels that Vail is sitting on $25 billion of assets, and yet the company is only worth $5 billion. Prince feels that in this higher interest rate environment, “the right strategy is to divest some of their properties.” More recently, Vail Resorts has undergone leadership change including a CEO change, bringing back previous CEO Rob Katz, who has been emphatic that PCMR is not for sale.
Interestingly, Prince feels that Vail deserves a lot of credit for saving skiing. “For a while in the ’80s and ’90s, the fear was that skiing was going to get so expensive that everyone was going to get priced out of it. And Vail, with the Epic Pass…the price of season passes has appreciated at half the rate of inflation.” However, Prince was critical of PCMR’s management of infrastructure upgrades. “Some lifts at this point are 35-years-old. So, that makes me nervous.” Prince discussed some of these potential upgrades at PCMR, which he had previously detailed in an OP-ED from the Park Record dating back to April 2024.
The outline features Prince’s plan for upgrading lifts, specifically on the Mountain Village side. Prince envisions upgrading and extending the Motherlode chair to the top of Pioneer Ridge. Prince would also plan to upgrade Pioneer to a high-speed chair starting near Bonanza lift, giving guests more options to spread out to. A brand new lift could start in the Miner’s Camp where the Quicksilver Gondola is located, transporting skiers out of that congested area up to the top of Crescent Express. Last but not least, he would also try to upgrade the infamous Silverlode and Eagle lifts. Vail attempted to upgrade the same two lifts in 2022 but failed due to issues with the Park City Town Council. PCMR skiers could have all these upgrades if Vail agrees to sell it to him, he says.
Prince purchased the Park Record in March 2023, where he has written multiple Op-ED pieces about his vision for the future of PCMR, even if he isn’t the owner. On October 4, 2025, Prince posted on X, writing, “When I own Park City Mountain I’ll (obviously) not take any pay or dividend but, more importantly, create a profit sharing plan where 100% of annual profit goes back to employees and infrastructure upgrades,” stating that he would invest largely into the resort’s aging infrastructure.
Public sentiment in Park City among locals largely supports Prince’s aspirations. There is a strong anti-Vail sentiment due to the many management missteps impacting the skier experience on Park City Mountain. Under Vail, prices have gone up, services have gone down, and morale on the mountain is low. According to locals, that once prominent sense of community has been lost in favor of profits for the corporation. There is hope that a local person who is a frequent user of the mountain will take more care to honor the desires of the local community.
Just next door to PCMR is Deer Valley Resort, known for its high-quality guest experience, from mountain grooming to dining and everything in between. Deer Valley is currently undergoing an ambitious expansion set to redefine the ski resort and Prince supports those developments. Prince had some thoughts about management at Deer Valley. “Todd [Bennett], who runs Deer Valley, is just world-class. We’re lucky to have him in the town.” Prince lamented, though, saying that last season was the first season that he’s skied more days at Deer Valley than PCMR because he got so frustrated with Vail, even though he can ski from his backyard to PCMR. “I only skied PCMR about six days, and I was over it. I skied at Deer Valley probably 50 or 60.”
The hardest part of selling resorts is finding a buyer and Matthew Prince is just that. Despite Vail’s reported rejection of his initial bid, this sustained interest from a key local stakeholder introduces external pressure and calls attention to improving the resort’s operational success. Prince hopes that the energy and enthusiasm he brings to the debate alone will help make PCMR the best ski resort it can be for residents and tourists alike, regardless of who owns it. Despite what the outcome will ultimately be, Prince’s challenge has changed the conversation about Park City’s future under the world’s largest resort operator.
It would be great if Mathew Prince buys PCMR I think someone local who loves the mountain owning the resort would be great!! I wish Matt the best of luck, he is obviously smart and love PC.
Sounds like progress.