“Suicide Chute”— Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT: A Soft and Isothermal Bootpack Report from April 8 Despite having skied Utah’s Little Cottonwood countless times, I had never made my way across the road and onto the famed Mount Superior — until today. For our first excursion up this iconic peak, the original intention was to ski Superior proper, but knowing the state of the Utah snowpack, we always had Suicide Chute in […] Trip Report Zach Suffish | April 9, 2026 1 Comment
The Top 10 Most Unique Chairlifts In The World In the world of skiing, most people don’t think about chairlifts, but some are very unique. Here is a list of the 10 most unique chairlifts in the world (we excluded trams and gondolas). #10 Challenger at Sun Valley Resort, ID The Challenger lift at Sun Valley is unique for its unparalleled vertical rise among North American chairlifts. Opening in […] Brains Luke W. Smith | January 27, 2026 1 Comment
Salt Lake City, UT’s, Snow Crisis: The Least Snowy Winter on Record Salt Lake City, Utah, typically a premier destination for world-class skiing, is currently experiencing its least snowy winter on record. According to Matthew Johnson, a Salt Lake City-based meteorologist, the disparity is staggering. While the average snowfall for this point in the winter is 28.2 inches, a measly 0.1 inches has fallen in Salt Lake City. The primary culprit of […] Climate Greg Wedow | January 23, 2026 3 Comments
UDOT Will Fight The Red Snake This Winter With Buses, Despite Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT, Gondola Lawsuits The Utah Department of Transportation has announced that it will pursue expanded bus service and tolling in Little Cottonwood Canyon over the next two winters, reversing its decision to wait until a lawsuit plays out in Federal court over its decision to construct a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon. UDOT said it plans on adding 30 more buses over the […] Industry News Zach Armstrong | December 22, 2025 0 Comments
SnowBrains Forecast: Significant Snowfall Returns to the Intermountain West This Week. But When and How Much? Source: maps.weatherbell.com Big Picture This last week, if not the whole season, has been bleak for skiers in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. The latest trend was a series of atmospheric rivers hitting the Pacific Northwest, at the same time that a series of clipper systems were hitting the Great Lakes and Northern Plains. This has resulted in wet, but mild, […] Weather WeatherBrains | December 15, 2025 0 Comments
The Ultimate Ikon Pass Odyssey: How to Spend a Year Skiing Across 5 Continents As the mega passes grow in both mountain access and price, being a casual skier is no longer worth the hefty cost. The Ikon Pass nearly spans the entire skiable world, covering both hemispheres, five continents, 13 countries, and 70 resorts. So what’s the most value someone can get from one Ikon Pass? Did you know that access to Southern […] Brains Zach Suffish | November 13, 2025 0 Comments
Deep Powder, Deep Pockets: Major Investments Drive the Competitive Utah Ski Scene It’s been six months since Utah ski resorts closed in April, and major projects have been set in motion since to enhance the ski experience for guests this winter and beyond. Skiers and riders may already be familiar with Deer Valley’s massive terrain expansion, which includes a new base village and around 2,000 new acres of skiable terrain. While Deer […] Industry News Luke W. Smith | October 4, 2025 0 Comments
[VIDEO] Snowbird, UT, Sees First Snow of Winter 2025-26 Season The first snow of the 2025-26 season fell at Utah’s Snowbird resort on September 30, starting the transition from autumn to winter in Little Cottonwood Canyon. While only a few flakes, it was enough to dust the upper reaches of the mountain around the Mineral Basin chairlift and tram terminus. Related: Utah Mountains Receive First Snow of Winter 2025-26 The […] Industry News SnowBrains | October 1, 2025 0 Comments
5 Future Inventions to Change Skiing Forever Technology is rapidly evolving, and there’s no reason to think ski resorts will lag behind in this age of innovation. As artificial intelligence and automation continue to expand, it’s natural to wonder how skiing will adapt. The activity itself—sliding downhill on planks, powered only by gravity—hopefully never changes. But many aspects of the skiing experience could be revolutionized. To envision […] Zach Suffish | September 25, 2025 0 Comments
Snowbird, UT, Brings Back Oktoberfest—And This Time It’s Bigger & Bolder Bring your lederhosen, Utah, because Snowbird’s renowned Oktoberfest is back—bigger, bolder and built for anyone who wants more than the ordinary. Every weekend from August 9 through October 12, including Labor Day, Snowbird will celebrate Oktoberfest. This year, it will offer enhanced guest experience with easier access, a wider footprint, and a lineup that caters to diverse interests for every […] SnowBrains | August 6, 2025 0 Comments
The Income Needed to Own a Home in Top U.S. Cities Close to Skiing Skiing and affordable are two words that aren’t generally used in the same sentence. While ski towns across the U.S. are famously expensive, such as Aspen, Colorado, and Park City, Utah, these types of towns generally don’t offer the same career opportunities that larger metro areas do. As a result, many professionals prefer to move to larger cities that offer […] Brains Joseph Kaufmann | June 9, 2025 1 Comment
Today’s Deepest Open Resorts—North America’s Biggest Snowfalls on May 15 It’s dumping. Kinda. The last time I compiled this list was in early April, and I was honestly glad that I wouldn’t have to trawl hundreds of ski resorts’ conditions pages every day until at least November. But I take that back and am delighted to report significant accumulations at these open resorts today. May powder days. Who’d have thought? […] SnowBrains | May 15, 2025 0 Comments
Will The Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT, Gondola Ever Get Built? In 2020, the Utah Department of Transportation announced three possible strategies to help reduce traffic in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The proposed solutions were a cog railway or a gondola to shuttle visitors to ski resorts Alta and Snowbird or a new and improved bus system to shuttle more skiers up the canyon. The gondola was the option that was chosen […] Industry News Gregg Frantz | March 25, 2025 2 Comments
Snowbird, UT, Report: Absolutely Ridiculous–First Tram After 30 Inches Of New Snow Report from March 19, 2025 Today was electric at Snowbird, Utah. It had snowed 31 inches since Monday night, and only the lower half of the Gad Valley was open yesterday, leaving most of the mountain wide open today. It was scheduled to be a perfect bluebird day. In the morning, the energy was palpable, everywhere. People were lined up at […] Conditions Report Spencer McLaughlin | March 23, 2025 0 Comments
Today’s Deepest Resorts—North America’s Top 5 Snowfalls on March 19 Meteorological spring is here, meaning winter is over—already. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to stop snowing. Related: 9 Deepest Snowpacks in North America This Weekend At the time of writing, these resorts across North America had the most snow in the last 24 hours. Others with bigger totals may still need to update their websites. All numbers were taken […] SnowBrains | March 19, 2025 0 Comments
[VIDEO] 3 Cars Trapped by Avalanche on Little Cottonwood Canyon Near Snowbird Ski Area, UT Got hit by an avalanche and lived to tell about it. We are lucky. @Snowbird @skiutah @KSL5TV @KUTV2News pic.twitter.com/bmesM5Zsw9 — Jp (@2investjp) March 19, 2025 State Route 210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon was hit by an avalanche on Tuesday evening, trapping three vehicles and forcing the Utah Department of Transport (UDOT) to close the road. No injuries were reported, but […] Avalanche AvyBrains | March 19, 2025 0 Comments
Mineral Basin Chairlift at Snowbird, UT, Has Now Been Closed Almost 3 Weeks Due to Mechanical Issues Mineral Basin is arguably one of the most significant lifts at Snowbird. It services hundreds of acres of epic bowl terrain on the backside and is a key part of the Alta-Snowbird interconnect. Unfortunately, the resort seems to be having trouble with it. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Snowbird (@snowbird) Snowbird Announced on February 28 that […] Industry News Spencer McLaughlin | March 17, 2025 0 Comments
Today’s Deepest Resorts—North America’s Top 5 Snowfalls on March 14 Meteorological spring is here, meaning winter is over—already. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to stop snowing. Yesterday, California got dumped on; today, it’s Utah’s turn. Miracle March, anyone? Related: 9 Deepest Snowpacks in North America This Weekend At the time of writing, these resorts across North America had the most snow in the last 24 hours. Others with bigger totals […] SnowBrains | March 14, 2025 0 Comments
SnowBrains Forecast: Decent Refresh for Utah This Week This forecast was created at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18 A potent midweek system will drop moderate snow totals in the northern and central mountains tonight into Thursday before a broad ridge brings several days of mainly dry, milder weather. Expect a quick-hitting shot of fresh powder followed by a significant warming trend heading into the weekend and early […] Weather WeatherBrains | February 20, 2025 0 Comments
These are the Oldest Aerial Trams in North America That are Still in Use for Skiing Aerial Trams are an incredible marvel of engineering wonder. These mega machines can move large crowds to impossible destinations with ease. Aerial tramways were originally utilized in North America to transport mining ore from precarious locations to mills that refined the precious metals. It wasn’t long until they began to use these tools to shuttle people uphill which gave way to […] Industry News J.T. Pulfer ll | December 16, 2024 2 Comments
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