Snowbasin


Snowbasin Resort is a ski resort in the western United States, located in Weber County, Utah, northeast of Salt Lake City, on the back side of the Wasatch Range.
Opened in 1939, as part of an effort by the city of Ogden to restore the Wheeler Creek watershed, it is one of the oldest continually operating ski resorts in the United States. One of the owners in the early days was Aaron Ross. Over the next fifty years Snowbasin grew, and after a large investment in lifts and snowmaking by owner Earl Holding, Snowbasin hosted the 2002 Winter Olympic alpine skiing races for downhill, combined, and super-G.
The movie Frozen was filmed there in 2009.
at Snow Basin in 1967
Snowbasin is located on Mount Ogden at the west end of State Route 226, which is connected to I-84 and SR-39 via SR-167.

History

Snowbasin is one of the oldest continuously operating ski areas in the United States. Following the end of World War I and the Great Depression numerous small ski resorts were developed in Utah's snow-packed mountains, and Weber County wanted one of their own. They decided to redevelop the area in and around Wheeler Basin, a deteriorated watershed area that had been overgrazed and subjected to aggressive timber-harvesting.
Lands were restored and turned over to the U.S. Forest Service, and by 1938 the Forest Service and Alf Engen had committed to turning the area into a recreational site. In 1939 the first ski tow was built and in service at the new Snow Basin ski park. In 1940, the Civilian Conservation Corps crew built the first access road to the new resort, allowing easy access for the general public.
In the 50's Sam Huntington, from Berthoud Pass. Colorado, purchased the ski area from the City of Ogden and proceeded to expand the up-hill capacity beyond the Wildcat single seat wooden tower lift and the old rope tow. Overall, Sam installed a twin chair in place of the rope tow, and a platter-pull tow, later replaced by a twin chair, was installed at Porcupine to the left of the steep rocky face of Mt Ogden.
In 1957 the NCAA Skiing Championships was held at Snowbasin and the downhill race course was set on the right side, of the steep face of Mt Ogden, on the slope called "John Paul Jones" named after an early Snowbasin skier. The John Paul Jones' run was only accessible if one engaged in a 45 minute hike from the top of the Porcupine lift.
Anderl Molterer, of the Austrian National Ski Team competing there that weekend, approached Sam Huntington and told him if a lift was built directly to the top of the John Paul Jones run he would bring his world famous Austrian National Ski Team to Snowbasin to train on it. Molterer said John Paul was the best downhill run in the world.
Huntington said no he had other things to do. A lift to the top of John Paul was not to be built until Snowbasin received the rights to hold the Olympic Alpine Downhill Ski Races in 2002
Sam Huntington was killed a few years later as he was replacing an electrical fuse at the Porcupine lift. Several Ogden businessmen purchased Snowbasin from the Huntington family.
One other major personality to come out of Snowbasin was M. Earl Miller who ran the Snowbasin Ski School from the mid 50's until 1987. Earl Miller played a key role in drafting the Professional Ski Instructors of America American Ski Technique in 1961.
Pete Seibert, founder of Vail, led a partnership which bought "Snow Basin" in 1978, but ran into financial difficulty in 1984. The area was sold that October to Earl Holding, owner of Sun Valley in Idaho.

2002 Winter Olympics & Paralympics

Because it was to serve as an Olympic venue site, the U.S. Congress passed the Snowbasin Land Exchange Act in 1996 as part of the Omnibus Lands Bill. The act transferred of National Forest System lands near the resort to the private ownership of Snowbasin, and identified a set of projects that were necessary for the resort to host the Olympic events.
During the 2002 games Snowbasin hosted the downhill, combined, and super-G events. The spectator viewing areas consisted of a stadium at the foot of the run, with two sections of snow terraces for standing along both sides of the run. The spectator capacity was 22,500 per event; 99.1 percent of tickets were sold, and 124,373 spectators were able to view events at the Snowbasin Olympic venue. During the 2002 Winter Paralympics, Snowbasin hosted the Alpine Skiing events, including downhill, super-G, slalom, and giant slalom.

Statistics

Mountain information

Grizzly Center Retail and Rentals: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Summer season