Nation’s Biggest Ski Resort Will Limit February Weekends to Passholders Only

Powder Mountain, Utah , continues to march to the beat of its own drum. 

This upcoming winter, all four weekends during the month of February will be passholders-only. Powder Mountain may be the only major resort that has implemented such a program in the U.S., excluding ultra-exclusive private winter sports destinations, like the Yellowstone Club.

"When we say 'Escape the Masses,' we mean it. This new offering is about preserving the core value of the Powder experience, providing passholders with unique access to the mountain on the very best days," said Reed Hastings, Powder Mountain's CEO. "Our team continues to look at novel ways of creating exceptional value for our passholders."

Day tickets, which go on sale tomorrow, October 16th, won't be available for February 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd. Ski Utah Passport redemptions will also not be available on these days, but Ogden Valley Adaptive Sports Lessons and their respective day tickets will continue as normal.

Powder Mountain is technically the largest ski resort in North America by skiable acreage when you include their backcountry access and cat-skiing terrain.

The news follows another larger change at Powder Mountain announced last winter. This coming season, the resort will adhere to a unique public-private hybrid model , with some portions of its terrain reserved for on-mountain homeowners.

"To stay independent and uncrowded, we needed to change, and we didn't want to join the successful but crowded multi-resort pass model (ie, Snowbasin) or sell to a conglomerate (ie, Vail)," wrote Hastings in a letter explaining the decision to include private skiing on Powder Mountain's slopes.

More recently, Powder Mountain shared this fall that it had hopped on the paid parking bandwagon . On Saturdays, Sundays, and holiday periods this winter, parking will cost $12 per vehicle. Vehicles with three or more passengers will be able to park for free. Weekdays have no parking charge. As is often the case with anything involving parking and ski resorts, individuals expressed frustration on social media below Powder Mountain's recent Instagram posts.

With each step—from the private-public skiing to the passholders-only month in February—Powder Mountain has strayed further outside the usual model for major ski resorts. The resort's refusal to accept multi-passes like the Ikon Pass or Epic Pass further cements this approach. This path has proven new, different, and, at times, divisive. 

Season passes for Powder Mountain remain on sale. Adult passes currently cost $1,649, teen passes are $1,149, youth passes are $799, and senior passes are $1,349.

Related: Paid Parking Implemented at North America's Biggest Ski Resort

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