Powder Mountain, UT, Report: PowMow Has it All

Jardon Weems, enjoying some morning liftoff at PowMow. (PC: Nicky Blumm)

Report from March 26-27, 2024

Powder Mountain, Utah, stands out among American ski hills. It’s massive, multi-faceted, and has an exciting future. ‘PowMow’ was a cold, wintery paradise, even in late March. Our day began with a top-to-bottom run which was 95% fresh tracks.

We quickly navigated from Hidden Lake Express Lift to the Paradise Chairlift. Built in 1999, the Paradise Fixed-Grip Quad situates riders on a ridge from which they can choose to drop either side. Either side of the ridge offers formidable cliffs and chutes amidst large rock features.

Crags just off the Paradise lift line. (PC: Jardon Weeems)

The Paradise Lift is 5,770 feet long (taking riders up 1,600+ vertical feet). It currently takes about 16 minutes to ride from bottom to top, if the chair is running full speed (without stops). Assuming next year’s high-speed Paradise is the same length, the duration of the journey to Paradise will be halved. That addition, alone, speaks wonders about PowMow‘s future.

Touted as PowMow is as a mountain, its owner and new leadership seek to create a resort. It’s easy to see why: the jaw-dropping valleys (some of which currently offer cat skiing) and cliffs surrounding the resort look enticing. It’s hard to deny that the type of ownership which elected to install two new high-speed lifts next year makes anything less than a sensation in the world of skiing.

Related: Powder Mountain, UT, Owner Reed Hastings Reveals $20m in Changes and Semi-Private Model Coming to Ski Area Next Summer

The view from Paradise to Lightning Ridge: soon-to-be lift-served terrain. (PC: Nicky Blumm)

The PowMow culture is special. The genuine and kind interactions we had with everyone, from ticket sales and parking attendants to lifties and patrollers was exemplary. The Powder Keg was a warm spot every time we walked in the door. PowMow has a wonderful community.

Developing a resort can detract from the local mountain feel. It can also run the risk of restricting access for people who have spent their whole lives skiing in a place that has been their home mountain. It will be fascinating to see how PowMow navigates these nuances in the years to come.

Sadly, we are leaving PowMow for the week; on the bright side, we are heading back to Snowbird. Snowbird’s forecast calls for heavy snow so the fat planks are out again this “spring.”