Powder Mountain's GM Answers Questions Following Announcement To Go Semi-Private
Powder Mountain, or PowMow, in Utah—the largest ski resort in the United States by total acreage (including cat skiing terrain)—announced its plans to go "semi-private" recently.
Because this was such a huge change for the resort, Kevin Mitchell, the Chief Operating Officer of Powder Mountain, rode the chair with a filmer for Instagram to answer questions from guests of the resort.
Ian Greenwood of POWDER explained in an article covering the decision Kevin addresses here, that the new operating method "involves a mix of public and private lifts exclusive to on-mountain homeowners" and will be going into effect around December of next year.
But the news is positive for everyone involved, because while Powder Mountain is building a brand-new lift that will be one of the (then) three private lifts, it is also investing more money into public lifts ($20 million, to be exact).
The decision to make the mountain semi-private is explained to be a solution to the issue of over-crowding caused by joining a Mega-Pass, which is one solution to make enough money to run a ski resort.
By improving real estate sales instead, Powder Mountain hopes to fund the resort that way without sacrificing guest experience on the hill.
The resort also reduced the cost of night skiing, to make things more accessible for the community.
Related: Nation's Largest Ski Resort Going Semi-Private
When Kevin Mitchell, the Chief Operating Officer of Powder Mountain, rode the chair to answer questions from guests of the resort, it was deemed "Chairlift Chatter" and presented an opportunity to dive into the day-to-day operations of what going semi-private will look and feel like for skiers at PowMow.
Question 1: Is Powder Mountain ever going fully private?
Kevin brushes this off with a laugh, saying, "you're starting me off with the easy questions. No! Most of our resort will stay public. One of our main priorities is to stay uncrowded. Look at these slopes right here."
He gestures to an admittedly empty, powdery run below the lift.
"Absolutely amazing. We plan on expanding our public lifts and terrain, along with expanding homeowner terrain as well."
Question 2: What are the chairlift upgrades?
"We're adding Lightning Ridge chair next summer and we're upgrading Paradise Lift to a detachable quad."
"Timberline chair has been there for a loooong time. We're planning on giving away parts of that to charity, and we're going to allow you to buy some if you want to stick one in your yard."
Kevin also informs us that they will be recycling one of their old lifts, and to let Powder Mountain know where you would like to see it placed in the resort.
Question 3: Is the Powder Keg going private?
"That's the best part of Powder Mountain, no, of course not!"
The QnA with Kevin was helpful, transparent, and a great way to keep guests in the loop whether they are weekend warriors, hardcore PowMow hounds, or homeowners in the area.
Running a ski resort sounds incredibly difficult, and it's getting harder by the minute. Kudos to Powder Mountain for running theirs with integrity, keeping guest experience in mind and doing whatever it takes to provide powder on uncrowded slopes.
There will always be pushback for any decision made that impacts large groups of people, but Powder Mountain shows that you can, at least, let people know the reasoning behind the decisions.
And that, by itself, is worth celebrating.
Related: Bros Buy Powder Mountain
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