Being a no-show could be a major uh-oh at Alta Ski Area this season.

The resort will begin issuing $100 fines to people who make parking reservations but don’t use or cancel them. The penalty period starts Dec. 11 — when Alta begins requiring reservations to park on weekend and holiday mornings — and will run through April 4 plus closing day.

Mike Maughan, Alta Ski Area’s outgoing president and general manager, said too many spots have gone unused in recent years, and resort operators felt they owed it to skiers to do something about it.

“It’s this fine line that we’re balancing,” Maughan said. “We want everyone that comes here that has a reservation to have a parking spot, and I never want to turn somebody away. But at the same time, I don’t want to have people not come because we haven’t had cancellations.”

Parking has seemingly always been in high demand in Alta — the town also announced a fivefold increase in the cost of its parking tickets this season. Yet at the ski area, the no-show problem is fairly new.

A growing no-show problem

Located at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta began requiring reservations to park in its lots during the 2021-22 ski season in an effort to try to tame the red snake — the nickname for the logjam of cars that can fill State Route 201, usually on powder days and weekends. The thinking was that reservations would spread out traffic by allowing visitors to arrive at their leisure rather than rushing up first thing to snag a parking spot.

Alta and Alta-Bird season pass holders were given two free, revolving reservations while all others had to pay $25 per reservation, which are only required on weekends, holidays and closing day. Those who paid would lose their money if they didn’t use their reservation and it wasn’t canceled by 8 a.m. the day it was valid. Season pass holders were told they could lose their reservation privileges if they made a habit of no shows.

For the first few years, the system worked. Maughan said about 95% of reservations were fulfilled. Over the past couple years, though, skiers have apparently become more lax. Last year, Maughan said, there were days when up to 20% of people with reservations flaked on them.

“When we got no shows approaching 20% or more,” Maughan said, “we decided, well, it was time for us to figure out how to take some action so we could change some behavior.”

Maughan acknowledges that Alta contributed to the problem by not taking away reservation codes from repeat offenders in the past. Still, he said, yanking codes to correct the problem felt extreme.

So, taking its cue from patrons who pay $25 to park — and who, he said, almost never no-show — the resort decided to aim its punishment at passholders’ pocketbooks.

Reservation holders will be sent a warning message the first time they fail to show up before parking reservations expire at 1 p.m. On the second offense, they will be issued a $100 fine.

“Our goal is to change behavior so that people will cancel their reservations when they’re not coming,” he said, “and allow others to use those spots so that they can come and ski and enjoy Alta.”

Maughan said last year Alta sent warning messages to any season pass holders the system showed had reneged on a reservation. Several people who received those warnings called to refute the accusation or to explain what happened.

“In that process,” Maughan said, “we discovered there’s a wide variety of circumstances.”

More parking changes at Alta

He said the resort has done its best to address license plate scanning hiccups and other issues that might provoke a no show. It has also instituted a cap on how many reservations a person can have at one time. Previously, Maughan said, some pass holders would pay to book every weekend and holiday, then cancel as the date approached, get their refund and rebook it with one of their two free, revolving reservations. That led to people forgetting what days they held reservations, he said.

So, for 2026-27, Alta is sending out reminders 24 hours in advance and setting a reservation limit of four per account.

In addition, Maughan said skiers who believe they were warned or fined in error or who had extenuating circumstances will be able to call and plead their case. In most cases, he said, the resort will be lenient. The intent of the fine, he said, is to open up parking spots not to make more money off Alta guests.

“In the ideal world,” he said, “we don’t give anybody a $100 fine.”

That fine, though, is a pittance compared to what skiers will be charged if they try to park illegally in a space controlled by the Town of Alta this season.

The town controls the area’s only public parking outside of the resort. Last month, it increased the fine for parking overnight or in a no-parking area to $250 (or $125 if paid within 10 days). Last year, according to town manager Molly Austin, the fines for the same infractions were $50. Austin said the town increased its fines “to align with parking fines throughout the Cottonwood Canyons.”

Brighton Resort, at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon, uses that same fee schedule for people who park there illegally. On the other hand, the Town of Brighton issues $150 fines for illegal parking.

Alta Ski Area expects to open the 2026-27 season Nov. 20.