- Big snowfall this week breathed life into the slow start of Utah's ski/snowboard season.
- Resorts in the Cottonwood canyons received four feet or more of new snow since Jan. 1.
- The weather forecast calls for dry conditions into the foreseeable future.
Old Man Winter — finally — smiled upon Utah ski resorts this past week with enough snow to breathe life into a lagging start to the season.
Record-warm temperatures that hampered efforts to make snow and the lack of precipitation in November and December left the mountains more brown than white. Social media was rife with grumbling posts about the lack of snow.
That changed over the past few days and posts now show skiers and snowboarders enjoying the powder Utah is known for.
“The NW flow delivered! A primo powder day today, especially in Little Cottonwood Canyon. High pressure takes control for the foreseeable future,” OpenSnow forecaster Evan Thayer posted Friday.
The Cottonwood canyons were the biggest beneficiaries of the storms.
The two Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts — Snowbird and Alta — picked up 53 inches and 50 inches of snow, respectively, since Monday.
“As soon as we saw this big wave of snow come in, especially after New Years, where we’ve received north of 50 inches in the week, it’s really brought back the full sense of winter and excitement and everyone’s stoked to be on the mountain,” said Jacob Marquardt, Snowbird communications director.
“It doesn’t really matter if it’s a weekend or a weekday, if it’s a powder day, everyone wants to be up here skiing ... Nothing sells a ski resort like snow.”
Brighton and Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon also received hefty amounts.
“2026 is off to a great start! Back-to-back storms have delivered 5 feet of new snow to the mountain since January 1, including 16 inches since Wednesday. Coverage and conditions have greatly improved wherever you point your skis. Our recent storm has wrapped but you’ll find lots of packed powder and loose fluff on the hill today,” according to the Solitude website.
Is winter here to stay?
Although it was a slower start to the season than anyone would have liked, it seems like Old Man Winter has arrived, Alison Palmintere, Ski Utah communications director, said via phone from the slopes of Alta where skiers hit powder and packed powder runs. “It’s looking great and everyone’s having a blast. I’d say winter is here to stay.”
Palmintere expressed optimism about the season’s future. “The temps are cold. Resorts are making snow. I think it’s really all on the up from here,” she said.
Despite the big snow this week, resorts have yet to open all their terrain.
Park City Mountain Resort had 24 of its 43 lifts running and 104 of its 349 trails open as of Friday. At Snowbird, eight lifts and the tram were running with access to 88 of 174 runs.
Resorts across the state, though, are expected to open more terrain over the weekend.
Brian Head in southern Utah posted this on Instagram:
“Sound the alarm - 100% lifts will be open THIS Friday 1/9/26! This will bring us to 95% of the resort open, and keep an eye out for Giant Steps Terrain Park opening Saturday 👀. We are so stoked to have a great mix of natural and man-made snow to get us here. As of Friday, we will officially have more of the resort open now than last season!"
Snow-making guns fired up
The big week, though, is tempered by what’s ahead. The high pressure Thayer mentioned means another dry spell will dominate the weather pattern across the West for a while.
That’s not all bad. While it won’t bring more snow, it allows mountain operations and ski patrol to move into new areas that they haven’t been able to work on yet and open that terrain, Marquardt said.
“Even if we’re not getting powder days from precipitation in the form of snow, we might still be in for bluebird powder days because more terrain is opening,” he said.
Also, the now-colder temperatures will keep the snow-making guns firing. While resorts can make snow at 32 degrees, the optimal temperature for the guns to operate at full capacity is between 27 degrees and 14 degrees.
Many Utah resorts poured millions of dollars into upgrades ahead of the 2025-26 season, including snowmaking equipment, new chairlifts and gondolas and expanded terrain.
Utah’s 15 resorts totaled 6.5 million skier days last season, down from the two previous years, including the all-time high of 7.1 million in 2022-23 when 12 areas had record snowfall. Skier/snowboarder spending in the state was $2.5 billion in 2024-25 — nonresident at $1.88 billion and resident at $630 million.
Last season started slow as well and though it wasn’t a banner year, some resorts put up impressive totals before shutting down in the spring.