Powder Mountain Utah Review

Powder Mountain, or Pow Mow for short, is where you’ll find your own secret powder stash. It’s a little known resort, and many visitors to Utah don’t even realise that Powder Mountain exists. The skiable terrain is huge, larger than Park City and Vail, and it is the biggest ski resort in the USA, yet of course it all depends on how you measure it!

The locals understandably try to keep the Powder Mountain Ski Resort as their own private playground. The secret has been slowly leaking out and it’s become busier in recent years, but it’s still pretty quiet relative to the big name Utah ski resorts.

Pros and Cons of Powder Mountain Ski Resort

Pros 

• Powder Mountain Ski Resort only releases 1,500 lift tickets daily and there are no Epic or Ikon crowds. Powder hounds will feel like they have this piece of paradise to themselves.
• The lift serviced terrain is very large and there more zones that are serviced by buses, snowcat shuttles, and guided backcountry tours.
• Pow Mow receives abundant snowfall.
• Powder Mountain Utah is pretty friendly on the hip pocket.
• The vibe is delightfully chilled.

Cons

• Most of the lifts are primitive and slow.
• There are not many chair lifts considering the massive size of the terrain, so there can be lots of drudgery to access some of the terrain.
• The elevation of Powder Mountain is lower than many other Utah ski resorts.
• Steep gnarly terrain is very limited in the lift-serviced areas, such as you’d find at Snowbird, Alta or Solitude.

Pro or Con Depending On Your Perspective

• There aren’t that many groomed runs considering the magnitude of the Powder Mountain Ski Resort.
• The amenities are no frills and the ski area provides a relaxed approach for those who don’t appreciate the glitz of nearby Snowbasin, although it’s not so relaxing on peak weekends when the inadequate day lodges are bursting at the seams and you can’t get into the pub to get a beer. 
• Powder Mountain doesn’t have the village infrastructure to rival the key Utah resorts. There is no nightlife or restaurants on the mountain.

Pow Mow Ski and Snowboard Terrain

Powder Mountain Ski Resort has 8,464 acres (3,425 hectares) of skiable terrain, yet it only has 154 trails and 9 lifts (6 chair lifts + 3 surface tows), so you can start to imagine how much off-piste terrain there is. In addition to the traditional lifts, there are zones that are serviced by buses and two vast areas serviced by snowcat shuttles, plus there’s some skin-to terrain.

For the piste terrain, the official breakdown is 25% beginner, 40% intermediate, and 35% advanced. Most of the off-piste terrain is ideal for advanced riders, whilst there aren’t a lot of challenging steeps for expert riders in the lift-served areas.

Occasionally there are lift queues, but powder hounds can be rest assured that they will find plenty of freshies, especially if they push further afield. The slopes are almost devoid of skiers and riders, as it would take a tremendous number of people to fill up the many acres of terrain, and lift ticket sales are capped. You won’t clock up many vertical feet in a day, but the emphasis at Powder Mountain Utah is on the quality of powder skiing rather than quantity.

Powder Mountain Snow

The Powder Mountain ski area prides themselves on not needing snowmaking facilities, and with an annual snowfall of over 500 inches (12.7 metres), you can see why they don’t bother with artificial snow.

Storms can be pretty ferocious at Pow Mow and there are times when lifts close due to high winds and the road closes until the abundant snow can be cleared.

Where is Powder Mountain Utah?

Powder Mountain is 55 miles (about 75 minutes) north of the Salt Lake City International Airport in the Ogden Valley area. This is further away than some of the major ski resorts in Utah, but it’s really close when you compare the distances from gateway airports to Colorado ski resorts.

Lodging

The village is a sleepy hollow and is refreshingly undeveloped at the moment, but this is set to change with a major Summit Village development. The quiet nature of the village typically suits many families who don’t need fine dining or any action beyond the skiing and snowboarding.

There are various options for on-mountain Powder Mountain lodging including condos and vacation rentals, and much of the lodging is ski-in ski-out.

The other option is to stay in Ogden Valley in a town such as Eden. Staying off-mountain provides flexibility for those who want a little nightlife, and want to rip up both Powder Mountain and nearby Snowbasin. There are shuttles from Eden up to Powder Mountain who those who don’t want to drive.