Brian Head Resort is putting on its poker face and daring Utah’s other ski areas to call its bluff.

Last week, Solitude Mountain Resorts announced that it planned to open the 2025-26 ski and snowboard season on Nov. 14.

Brian Head’s operators saw that bid and raised it a week. On Tuesday, they announced Utah’s southernmost resort expects to open Nov. 7.

That is one day earlier than last season’s opening date for both resorts. Solitude technically became the first to open by turning its lifts at 9 a.m. on Nov. 8. Brian Head opened an hour later.

In 2022, Brian Head won the race to become the first ski area in the state to start the season with its Nov. 4 opener. That was the earliest start in its history and among the top five for the state.

It has been vying to reclaim that title ever since. Last year’s start was the second-earliest in resort history. It was made possible by Brian Head’s state-leading base elevation of 9,600 feet plus improvements in snowmaking, general manager Tom Pettigrew said.

“With our snowmaking team’s hard work and Mother Nature’s cooperation,” Pettigrew wrote last season in an email to The Salt Lake Tribune, “we hope to open as early as possible and close as late as possible. The goal is to give people the freedom to ski.”

In addition to expanding its winter season, Brian Head has set its sights on expanding its terrain three-fold. In July, the Forest Service began its environmental review of the project, which includes a 45-day public commenting period. Analysis of the project is not expected to be completed until at least 2028.

Lift tickets are currently on sale online for the first month of the 2025-26 season. They range from $14 to $23 per day, including $19 on opening day.

Brian Head is owned by Mountain Capital Partners, which also owns Nordic Valley Resort near Ogden. Both are included on MCP’s Power Pass multi-resort season pass.

Correction: Aug. 20, 2025, 9:15 a.m. • Both Brian Head and Solitude opened on Nov. 8, 2024. The date was incorrect in a previous version of this article.