reserved for season pass holders exclusively. I’m a multi year season pass holder there and am very interested to see how it plays out. From what I’ve gauged from neighbors and friends, everyone hates it but I really don’t. The more I think about it the more I love it.

A full day pass last year was $220 if I remember correctly, not many people are paying that anyways. I have tried unsuccessfully dozens of times to try and convince friends to come up and ski with me but for a day pass it’s just too much. I did convince one friend to come with me last year and he was blown away, said he hadn’t felt like that since skiing Alta as a teenager 20 years ago.

I used to love skiing the cottonwoods and park city and nowadays I just can’t. I hate the crowds, the parking, the red snake. I know there has been massive population growth, but the mega passes have seriously changed the Utah ski resorts. Two years ago we also had ikon passes and I almost always ask people on the ski lift if they are from Utah, I would say 7/10 people are visiting and have ikon passes. Don’t get me wrong, that is great for the state, great for those resorts, great for people who want to be able to ski all these world class resorts, but it sucks for locals who have to deal with the negatives that come along with it.

I will also be the first to admit that PowMow does not even begin to compete with the terrain in Little Cottonwood or Park City, it doesn’t get as much snow either. But the lack of crowds in my mind makes it so hard to beat. It is not uncommon to be on a lift, to look up and see that there is not a single other person sitting on the chair lift in front of you. If you know where to go you can ski untracked lines all day even a few days after a storm.

A lot of jumbled thoughts here, but I think it’s cool that they are pushing back on the mega pass model and trying to do stuff that will make it worth it for the people willing to pony up for season passes.