Industry News
Powder Mountain, Utah, announces a new 1,000-acre zone of advanced and technical terrain in the Wolf Creek Canyon zone with lift access for the 2026-27 season. Powder will conduct a full redevelopment of the Sundown base area, including a new lodge and new beginner-focused infrastructure, which will collectively reshape the western-most section of the resort over the next two years and increase the skiable acreage to more than 6,000 acres.
Currently, the public side of the mountain offers 5,000 acres of skiable terrain and 3,380 feet in elevation gain, so this expansion would increase the public area by 20%. Powder is also planning to build a new lift to service the new area, which will be one of the steepest parts of the resort. The new terrain is called DMI (Don’t Mention It)—a little insider joke at Powder Mountain. It is a huge addition and will provide a variety of difficult terrain from steep glades, chutes, spines, and couloirs, geared towards expert skiers and snowboarders.
DMI is huge—1,000 acres is larger than several ski resorts’ total skiable acres in the United States. There are so many different spots to drop in at, and Powder is just one of those resorts where almost everything inbounds is open. It’s steep, technical, gladed, and will be open to the public.
“This development plan is a demonstration of our commitment to keeping Powder a thriving public ski resort for generations to come. As a local and an avid skier, the team and I are committed to our community and season passholders, and will continue investing in their on-mountain experience. We started with the Lightning Ridge Lift along with replacing Timberline and Paradise Lifts, and now will continue with the DMI expansion and reimagining the Sundown base area, and there’s more to come. This is an exciting adventure to share with those that love Powder.”
— Brandi Hammon, President, Powder Mountain
A new Skytrac fixed-grip triple chair serving the DMI expansion, allowing lift served access to 90% of the area. The new chair will cover 2,200 feet of vertical, making it the steepest lift Skytrac has ever constructed.
Powder Mountain also plans to break ground this summer on a new Sundown base area lodge for the 2027-28 season, which will service DMI. The lodge will be 15,000 square feet, with a ski school, ski and snowboard rentals, food and beverage, annual lockers, and skier safety services. The project is designed to improve skier circulation, guest experience, and comfort while aligning with Powder Mountain’s long-term vision for intentional growth.
The mountain has been viewed as a ski resort that doesn’t offer enough expert terrain. Adding DMI cements Powder Mountain as a legitimate big mountain with extreme and technical terrain that is lift-serviced. Adding another 1,000 acres of new terrain only bolsters Powder’s already massive size to a ski resort that prides itself on ensuring small crowds and short lift lines. There are also plans for the 2027-28 a new lodge to service DMI, which will be 15,000 square feet, with a ski school, ski and snowboard rentals, food and beverage, annual lockers, and skier safety services.
Powder Mountain is also planning to replace its existing Sundown Lift with a new Leitner Poma of America (LPOA) high-speed quad for the 2026-27 season. The new lift will increase uphill capacity and reliability from one of the resort’s primary base areas, also enhancing night skiing capacity. Powder Mountain will introduce the Doodle Lift, a short fixed-grip quad, designed specifically for beginner progression. The lift will consist of repurposed infrastructure from the original Sundown Lift and serve dedicated ski school terrain, creating a purpose-built learning environment for first-time skiers and riders.
Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix, purchased Powder Mountain in 2023 from the founders of the Summit Series, who had bought the resort in 2013. Under Hastings, the resort switched to a semi-private model, limiting some terrain access to the public, which would only be open to property owners. Some locals have expresed concerned that the Powder would someday become totally private. However, Hastings has emphasized that he is committed to ensuring that Powder Mountain remains public.
The model has been successful since its implementation, and the resort continues to make improvements and upgrades to the mountain, which are financed by the sale of private lots. During the 2024-25 season, a total of four new lifts were installed at Powder, consisting of two new lift lines (Raintree on the private side and Lightning Ride on the public side), as well as the replacement of two old fixed-grip lifts (Paradise and Timberline, both on the public side) with new, high-speed lifts.
The overall objective is to continue upgrading and improving the mountain, which was known for its backcountry, wide-open spaces, and die-hard locals. The model of using the sale of private properties to finance infrastructure upgrades is not just for the private side of the mountain, but also the public side, and has been successful and sustainable.
The ski industry is in a period of finding and developing solutions to the challenges of either operating in the black or in the red. Hastings didn’t want Powder Mountain to become a mega-pass resort. He wanted to create a model in which the resort could generate revenue from the private sector to grow and improve the mountain in the future. The bottom line is creating a business model that provides stability and longevity for Powder Mountain.
Brandi Hammon was appointed as President of Powder Mountain in 2025 and oversees the resort’s operations, real estate, and hospitality. “The goal is not to sell thousands of private lots at Powder Mountain,” Hammon said in an interview with SnowBrains. The objective is to have the public side of the resort be financially stable on its own. Attracting potential home owners who truly love skiing and snowboarding is paramount to Hammon and Hastings. They want Powder to keep its soul, atmosphere, and history. “If you only care if people know that you are a billionaire, then Powder isn’t the mountain for you,” Hammon said, regarding potential buyers interested in purchasing property at the mountain.
Another objective is keeping the slopes at Powder Mountain uncrowded. While ski resorts rely on skiers and snowboarders to drive revenue, Hammon stressed that keeping the ski resort from becoming overcrowded is part of the vision. And it shows—there are practically no lift lines at Powder Mountain, even on peak days. However, if wait times were to increase in the future, then the resort would have to reevaluate, assess, and solve that issue, Hammon said. That’s great news for the skiers and snowboarders who go to Powder to escape the masses.
What sets Powder apart under Hastings is that it is keeping its authentic heart and soul despite creating a private side and it is using the private side to fund a better experience on the public side.
If the private side only offers a lot for sale how is it “funding the private side” sounds like the public side is funding the private side with a big scoop of BS.
Despite the increase in public terrain and new lodge, I’m still turned off by the resort being partly private.