Skiers at Solitude soon won’t be alone in Big Cottonwood Canyon, as Brighton Resort has set its much-delayed opening day for Tuesday.
Brighton announced Friday that it will be opening up its Majestic and Explorer lifts next week, giving skiers access to two runs — and will be opening the Bonezone Terrain Park. Lifts will operate every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Snowmaking is happening around the clock, which will allow more lifts and terrain to open as conditions permit, the resort said in a news release.
Jared Winkler, Brighton’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement that the efforts of the resort’s staff, particularly the snowmaking crew and ski patrol, “made it possible to open despite the slow start to the winter. … We look forward to an amazing season ahead and can’t wait to welcome everyone back to the mountain.”
Early-season lift tickets are $70, the resort said. Lessons, rentals and retail goods will be available starting Tuesday, too, as well as food and drink at The Alpine Rose, Blind Miner and Molly Green’s.
Solitude Mountain Resort, Brighton’s neighbor in Big Cottonwood Canyon, opened its Easy Street run for the season on Thanksgiving Day. Solitude reported receiving 4 inches of show over a three-day period this week, but most of what covers Easy Street is human-made.
More of the natural stuff may be arriving this weekend. The National Weather Service’s Salt Lake City office is expecting three snowstorms to hit northern Utah, bringing the possibility of a foot of snow or more in higher-elevation areas. The Salt Lake Valley could get about an inch of show early Sunday.
The web snow tracker OpenSnow.com on Friday predicted 4 to 8 inches of snow at Solitude and Brighton arriving on Sunday. The website is predicting similar snowfall at Snowbird and Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon; Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley on the Wasatch Back; Snowbasin and Powder Mountain in Weber County; and Sundance in Provo Canyon.
Alta aims to open Dec. 5, according to its website, while Snowbird’s website says the resort hopes to next week. Both warn that’s “conditions permitting.” Sundance also shared on its website that it plans to open Dec. 5. Powder Mountain has scheduled its first night skiing for Dec. 12, with opening day Dec. 13.
As of Friday aftrnoon, Snowbasin, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort did not listing prospective opening dates on their websites.
The only other Utah resort open, besides Solitude, is Brian Head Resort, north of Cedar City. It opened its Navajo Express lift on Nov. 21 — and as of this week had seven runs open.