Powder Mountain adds downhill mountain biking, aims for summer visitors
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- J.P. Goulet, the Powder Mountain spokesperson, prepares to go down one of the new downhill mountain biking routes at the resort. Powder Mountain officials unveiled the downhill mountain biking offerings on Monday, July 11, 2022.
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- Mountain bikes head up the Hidden Lake lift at Powder Mountain on Monday, July 11, 2022. The ski resort unveiled a new downhill mountain biking operation.
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- A sign shows the mountain biking routes down the mountain at the Hidden Lake area at Powder Mountain. Officials from the ski resort unveiled the new mountain biking offerings on Monday, July 11, 2022.
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- Phil Hansen, left, the Powder Mountain interim general manager, and J.P. Goulet, the ski resort spokesperson, take a break on one of the new downhill mountain biking routes at the resort. Powder Mountain officials unveiled the downhill mountain biking offerings on Monday, July 11, 2022.
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- Mountain bikes are shown parked near Hidden Lake Lodge at Powder Mountain on Monday, July 11, 2022. The ski resort unveiled a new downhill mountain biking operation. Phil Hansen, the interim Powder Mountain general manager, is shown on the right.
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- Phil Hansen, left, the Powder Mountain interim general manager, and J.P. Goulet, the ski resort spokesperson, take a break on one of the new downhill mountain biking routes at the resort. Powder Mountain officials unveiled the downhill mountain biking offerings on Monday, July 11, 2022.
EDEN — Powder Mountain isn’t just for skiing.
As with many ski resorts, Powder Mountain operators are aiming to give the public more reasons to visit in the off season, and on Monday, the Eden-area operation unveiled its latest offering — Powder Mountain Bike Park, aka Dirt Mountain.
Some 30 miles of cross country mountain biking paths already wind around Powder Mountain. The Dirt Mountain offering, which opens to the public on Thursday, brings things to a new level — giving riders access to lift-accessed downhill mountain paths, three of them for now but more in the works.
“You let gravity take you down, which is awesome,” said J.P. Goulet, the Powder Mountain spokesman. The flow trails — one each for now geared to beginner, intermediate and expert mountain bike riders — start at Hidden Lake Lodge.
The initial investment to develop the trails and retrofit the Hidden Lake lift with mountain bike carriers totaled around $500,000. Lift tickets will cost $40 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday while Thursday riders will be able to choose between $25 or $30 tickets, depending on the time of day they visit.
Bikes and safety equipment will also be available to rent.
‘NO MORE PEDALING UP’
The trails give riders a thrilling downhill ride and, at the bottom of the 3.5-mile or so path, a lift to take them and their bikes back up so they can do it all over again. As you fly down, your main concern is how much brake pressure to apply.
“No more pedaling up,” Goulet said.
Other Utah resorts may have areas where mountain bikers can ride. But Phil Hansen, Powder Mountain’s interim general manager, said the new engineered trails are unique in Utah, with only the Deer Valley resort in Park City, perhaps, offering something on par with Dirt Mountain.
Alison Palmintere, director of communications with Ski Utah, which promotes Utah’s skiing industry, was on hand for Monday’s unveiling at Powder Mountain. “We’re not just a winter destination here in Utah. Summer is amazing as well,” she said.
The first phase of Dirt Mountain was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now that it’s complete, more trails are coming. Powder Mountain officials envision 15-20 of them within the next five years or so.
“I think downhill mountain biking has gotten really popular,” Goulet said, noting the growing number of competitive mountain bikers at the high school level. “It’s just a growing sport.”
Whisper Ridge launched a heli-mountain biking operation in 2019 in partnership with Powder Mountain, ferrying riders via helicopter to remote locations to ride their bikes. But the offering is no longer available, according to Goulet.
News of the new Powder Mountain offering, meantime, comes as Weber County’s other ski resorts, Snowbasin and Nordic Valley, mull massive expansion plans, both for winter activities and otherwise. A new 300-room hotel is planned at Snowbasin, among other things, while Nordic Valley’s owners mull development of a ski village near the base of the resort.
Hansen, addressing the potential to tap ski resorts for summertime use, noted the year-round activities at operations like Deer Valley. “You get the same access rate in the summer that you do in the winter,” he said.
Adding the lifts for mountain bikes and new trails is “a big first step” for Powder Mountain in the direction of bolstering summer visitors, and Hansen indicated that more change could be afoot. Powder Mountain officials, he said, are in the “imagining stage” of determining how to use the thousands of acres that belong to the resort.