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Utah Powder Mountain Article

New2

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Some editor at The Guardian must want to make it the official newspaper of PowMow… another article we discussed last year.
I think rural Utah's been more sheltered from recent shifts in the West than about anywhere else, but change is coming. If PowMow keeps going and Nordic Valley builds their gondola into Ogden, this'll definitely be ground zero in the newest hottest ski market.
 

SnowbirdDevotee

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Let them have their mansions. I like to ski a different resort each day on my trips. But I was there last year on a Monday, 2 days after a storm, and we have powder fun all day long!
 

4ster

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Not mentioned in the article is the fact that powder mountain limits its ticket sales to 1500 per day. Also, I believe they only sell 3000 season passes a year. Across the valley another ski area sells an unlimited amount of season passes and AFAIK that number is upwards of 25,000! So although powder mountain has gotten busier over the past few years compared to the good ole days, there is still some limits on overcrowding the place. Most of this increase in business is not in my estimation due to marketing efforts by the Summit group but by word-of-mouth, other magazine articles, social media and sites like this.

I have lived in the Ogden Valley for almost 20 years and have seen powder mountain change ownership I believe four times. After the original Cobabe family owners, there were two more groups with grandiose ideas before the summit group came along. The other two were seen as shady and most likely were. The summit group has been around for a few years now and as far as I can tell they have tried to do everything on the up and up and have continued to do what they said they would. Since the summit group has been there they have replaced one old chair and added two new ones on new terrain adding to the lift served skiable acres.

Is the jury still out in the local community? Probably, yes. There will always be two sides and that is what keeps things in check. The only thing I see different around my place is there’s a lot more high fashion, some nicer cars and improvements in the local shopping and dining options.

With that said, I own the lot that this picture was probably taken from…
A7FD1D3E-1705-4634-A9AF-C6E044585F14.jpeg
If anyone is interested, make me an offer. I am ready to cash in if the price is right ;)
 
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Jwrags

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Portlandia
Not mentioned in the article is the fact that powder mountain limits its ticket sales to 1500 per day. Also, I believe they only sell 3000 season passes a year. Across the valley another ski area sells an unlimited amount of season passes and AFAIK that number is upwards of 25,000! So although powder mountain has gotten busier over the past few years compared to the good ole days, there is still some limits on overcrowding the place. Most of this increase in business is not in my estimation due to marketing efforts by the Summit group but by word-of-mouth, other magazine articles, social media and sites like this.

I have lived in the Ogden Valley for almost 20 years and have seen powder mountain change ownership I believe four times. After the original Cobabe family owners, there were two more groups with grandiose ideas before the summit group came along. The other two were seen as shady and most likely were. The summit group has been around for a few years now and as far as I can tell they have tried to do everything on the up and up and have continued to do what they said they would. Since the summit group has been there they have replaced one old chair and added two new ones on new terrain adding to the lift served skiable acres.

Is the jury still out in the local community? Probably, yes. There will always be two sides and that is what keeps things in check. The only thing I see different around my place is there’s a lot more high fashion, some nicer cars and improvements in the local shopping and dining options.

With that said, I own the lot that this picture was probably taken from…
View attachment 66085
If anyone is interested, make me an offer. I am ready to cash in it if the price is right ;)

I have been to PM twice in the past 10 years for trips. Once during a spectacular snow season and once two years ago in March on spring break. It is a fun place to ski but as many complain it is vertically challenged. I think the rate limiting factor to its growth potential will always be the road up to it. It is just way to hard to get a lot of cars up, and down, that road in bad conditions. I think it will forever be a niche place, even with the nouveau rich taking control.

@4ster, that is kind of a primo lot you have there and I suspect you will ultimately do well for yourself when you sell.
 

Coach13

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This is one of the areas we’’re looking hard at for a retirement home. Something off the beaten path. Buddy of mine skiing out there this week.
 

Vcize

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Well as a semi local (Ogden) I was out there over president's day weekend on a holiday Saturday 7" powder day and then holiday Sunday bluebird day with great snow conditions after it and waited nary 20 seconds for a lift the whole weekend, so the guy in the article claiming he wiped away tears and drove away because of the crowds is a bit melodramatic to say the least.

Obviously if the place one day becomes super crowded that will be a huge loss (though I agree with the above that the road provides a major challenge on that front), but so far Summit's additions have been for the better. I had a lot of fun skiing off village lift this weekend in areas that previously were inaccessible.

It also did provide some added laughs for the weekend. A friend of mine flew out from the east coast who was a never-ever and when he fell getting off the ski lift someone nearby asked him if he was with the summit group. My friend later asked me what the guy meant and I told him it was about the biggest insult a local could issue him around these parts. Of course he was also black which was probably just as confusing to the locals as his lack of ski skills.
 
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4ster

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I have been to PM twice in the past 10 years for trips. Once during a spectacular snow season and once two years ago in March on spring break. It is a fun place to ski but as many complain it is vertically challenged. I think the rate limiting factor to its growth potential will always be the road up to it. It is just way to hard to get a lot of cars up, and down, that road in bad conditions. I think it will forever be a niche place, even with the nouveau rich taking control.
Yes, PM will always be unique not just because of the road but also because of its topography, the way the lifts are situated, the Cat rides, the bus rides & total acreage. It will always have an adventurous feel & that is its charm.
I have truly enjoyed every day that I have skied there but you are right that it is vertically challenged. Even though there are a few spots with some steep terrain, there is no where to just go charge all day. It’s not a place to rack up huge vertical but you can certainly get a work out with all the skating, hiking, sidestepping and pushing you do to get from one stash to the next.
29CBE3BE-A1C1-4381-92D9-A33D540CEFF1.jpeg
 

Kyle

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Well as a semi local (Ogden) I was out there over president's day weekend on a holiday Saturday 7" powder day and then holiday Sunday bluebird day with great snow conditions after it and waited nary 20 seconds for a lift the whole weekend, so the guy in the article claiming he wiped away tears and drove away because of the crowds is a bit melodramatic to say the least.

It may just be a coincidence but the only 3 times my son and I rode one of the gondolas at Snowbasin on Saturday we ran into groups who told us they were turned away from Powder Mountain due to the lift ticket cap. Perhaps you can thank your 20 second lift lines on that?`
 

Kyle

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Yes, PM will always be unique not just because of the road but also because of its topography, the way the lifts are situated, the Cat rides, the bus rides & total acreage. It will always have an adventurous feel & that is its charm.
I have truly enjoyed every day that I have skied there but you are right that it is vertically challenged. Even though there are a few spots with some steep terrain, there is no where to just go charge all day. It’s not a place to rack up huge vertical but you can certainly get a work out with all the skating, hiking, sidestepping and pushing you do to get from one stash to the next.
View attachment 66096

I miss skiing Powder Mountain having not been there in years. It is definitely a quality over quantity type of place. I love the tree skiing off of Paradise and Powder Country down to the road from Hidden Lake or Sundown in particular. Maybe I should try to sneak in a day sometime this winter. Wish they did a promo for people with season passes from other areas.
 

New2

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They do try to insert themselves into rich vs poor situations in the US and Canada. Often I find they've done their research and are factual but they seem do seem to present a certain angle generally..
I guess what rubs me the wrong way is singling out PowMow like this. Truth is, every single big ski resort in the US is owned (at least in large part) by rich people. So are they singling Summit out because they're rich & young? Or because they're not "old money"?
Also, without knowing any of the backstory of the Summit vs. Wolf Creek Irrigation deal, it really sounds like nothing but a Utah-style shakedown (not saying Utahans invented it--just that it's far from uncommon there still today). The irrigation spent a couple hundred thousand bucks fighting the well, so Summit gave the president of the irrigation district $150k payoff to drop it and let them build their well. And yet the guy who took the $150k is "the protagonist."

It may just be a coincidence but the only 3 times my son and I rode one of the gondolas at Snowbasin on Saturday we ran into groups who told us they were turned away from Powder Mountain due to the lift ticket cap. Perhaps you can thank your 20 second lift lines on that?`
Kind of heartening, especially given some of the other reports about the massive crowds overwhelming Deer Valley, the other major resort in the area that claims to limit ticket sales.
 

Itinerant skier

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After Skiing there three days on my Loveland Pass earlier this month, it's my new favorite mountain. I believe the Season Pass cap is down to 1500 plus 1500 day tix. So much space!! It didn't hurt that we were in the middle of a massive powder dump, but I'll definitely be back.
 

KansasTraverse

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After Skiing there three days on my Loveland Pass earlier this month, it's my new favorite mountain. I believe the Season Pass cap is down to 1500 plus 1500 day tix. So much space!! It didn't hurt that we were in the middle of a massive powder dump, but I'll definitely be back.
The the Dr. Alvin Cobabe quote in the Timberline Lodge seems to apply to you. I know you will be back. I just returned from a month there. Miss it already.
 

Shawn C.

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How bad is the Powder Mo8ntain road as compared to the Cottonwood canyons? I haven’t skied down there in so long that I’ve lost perspective. Got sideways coming down a few months ago near the pump house. Outback with new all-season tires and using x-mode. Sporty. Haven’t had that happen to me in quite a few years!
 

New2

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I haven't tried the PowMow road in snow. But I've smelled burning brakes every time I've been on it in clear weather. Whereas on the Cottonwood Canyons or Snowbasin roads, I almost never encountered that smell.
 

Jim McDonald

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Driving along the roads at the top of the mountain, visitors encounter ski-in, ski-out mansions going for upwards of $1.5m. One $2.05m, six-bed mansion comes with a Toyota Rav4 and a snowmobile.

Vail Yawns...Aspen giggles...Sun Valley almost smiles.
 

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