These 3 Ski Resorts Ban Snowboarding: Here's Why

1. Alta Ski Area, Utah

One of two major ski resorts in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon area, Alta is a buzzy destination inhabited by hardcore skiers who throw backflips and pound the local beer and coffee beverage of choice—Alta bombs.

Numerous talented professionals grew up skiing at the resort, which, in the popular snowsports imagination, is a big mountain freestyle mecca. Skiers worldwide dream of visiting Alta, whether to spin laps on the Wildcat lift or get rowdy during the resort’s famous end-of-year celebration, Frank. Snowboarders, though, are stuck watching all the fun from Snowbird, which allows single-planking and is just down the road.

Why Doesn’t Alta Ski Area Allow Snowboarders?

On its website, Alta doesn’t expound on the reasoning behind its policy, aside from the following statement: “Alta is a skier’s mountain—snowboarding is not allowed.” Speaking with KTVX, though, Alta’s communications manager, Lexi Dowdall, provided a bit more information, explaining that the resort’s powder skiing terrain “must be reached by sidestepping uphill, traveling or hiking.”

Sidestepping and traversing, if you weren’t aware, can be a nightmare on a snowboard. Alta, then, might be saving snowboarders from themselves despite their attempt to breach the resort’s boundaries by filing a lawsuit.

2. Mad River Glen, Vermont

Mad River Glen is a blast from the past in more ways than one. The ski area is still home to its famed Single Chair, which first started spinning in 1948 and deposits visitors at the top of General Stark Mountain.

Mad River Glen also features a unique management system that contrasts with the ongoing conglomeration of skiing. In 1995, local skiers transformed the mountain into a cooperative that, according to the ski area’s website, exists “to forever protect the classic Mad River Glen skiing experience by preserving low skier density, natural terrain and forests.” Shares in the cooperative cost $2,000, but, as you may have guessed, given the subject of this article, snowboarders shouldn’t bother applying.

Why Doesn’t Mad River Glen Allow Snowboarders?

Mad River Glen’s relationship with snowboarding is circuitous. The mountain became one of the first ski areas in the country to allow snowboarders starting in 1986. However, the unique layout of the Single Chair created problems. Instead of a raised disembarkment platform, the lift deposits skiers on a flat patch of snow.
 
Because of this, to exit the Single Chair, snowboarders had to push off the lift, which sometimes caused it to derail from its sheave wheels, leading Mad River Glen to ban snowboarders from the Single Chair and, eventually, the rest of the mountain in 1991. When the cooperative held a vote on continuing the ban in 1995, 75% of its members voted in support.

“We want to make clear that there is no animosity towards snowboarders per se. The ski industry is very competitive, and our Co-op owners believe that the snowboarding policy is the best course for the mountain,” reads a passage from Mad River Glen’s website.

3. Deer Valley, Utah

Unquestionably the fanciest of the three North American ski resorts that still bans snowboarding, Deer Valley offers top-notch groomers and a luxury snowsports experience. Nestled alongside another major destination—Park City Mountain—Deer Valley is endeavoring to become one of North America’s largest ski resorts through a campaign it’s calling “Expanded Excellence.”

The 3,700-acre expansion took its first major step during the 2024–2025 ski season with the opening of the new Deer Valley East Village. Once complete, Deer Valley will sprawl across 5,726 acres, and none of them will have snowboarders.

Why Doesn’t Deer Valley Allow Snowboarders?

Deer Valley, unlike Mad River Glen, doesn’t thoroughly explain the ongoing snowboarding ban on its website. “Deer Valley is a ski-only resort,” reads a short passage on the subject. Emily Summers, the resort’s director of communications, offered POWDER additional insight.

Summers explained that Deer Valley, since its opening in 1981, has defined itself by providing five-star hotel style skier services and amenities. Being a “skier’s only” mountain, too, was part of that program. The policy’s stuck and, according to Summers, has become a top reason skiers choose to visit the resort. “We obviously survey our guests constantly, and it is the number one thing we hear … ‘Please keep it ski only,’” she noted.

“The ski only policy, really is one of our differentiators and our brand promises,” Summers added.

In a crowded resort marketplace, selling something skiers can’t get almost anywhere else makes sense from a business perspective. But with Deer Valley changing and expanding so much, I had to ask: Will snowboarders ever be allowed?

Probably not. The prospective inclusion of snowboarding is discussed within Deer Valley, according to Summers. However, the result of those conversations, for now, is firm. “We are committed at this time to stay ski-only through our expansion,” said Summers. “We're just extending that same Deer Valley experience as we expand.”