Brighton Sets Opening Day for Winter '24/'25

Originally posted on SNOWBOARDER | By Josh Sullivan | Last updated Nov 8, 2024 11:31 AM ET

It’s only been six months since the lifts were last spinning, but that was long enough. Brighton Resort will open up for the 2024-2025 season on November 14.

The resort announced the news on social media Thursday. The Majestic and Explorer lifts will open up at 9 a.m., and more lifts will open up as the winter gets going.

“We can’t wait to see all of you up here for our first day of the season next week!” the Instagram post says. “Please note parking reservations are not required for opening day or opening weekend. Reservations will go into place on December 1st for Fridays-Sundays and blackout dates.”

Utah’s unofficial hub of snowboarding technically had its closing day at the end of last season on April 28. But it extended the season with the meltdown, which started back up on May 3 with a freak snowstorm and ran until May 19.

It’s already been snowing in the Wasatch this month, and the Cottonwood Canyons Weather Dashboard is forecasting another 12 to 18 inches of snowfall on Monday, and another 13 to 19 on Tuesday. Flurries are expected this weekend as well.

The coldest air of the season has allowed the Brighton snowmaking team to take advantage of an ideal snowmaking window.

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Brighton has an average annual snowfall of 500 inches, and has five chairlifts and two surface lifts servicing 66 runs. It has 1,875 feet of vertical drop that’s serviced by lifts, and its base elevation is 8,755 feet.

The season officially got underway in the Wasatch Mountains Friday, when Solitude Mountain Resort, just a couple of miles down the road from Brighton, started its season. It beat out Brian Head Resort, which is located 250 miles south near the Arizona border, by just an hour to claim the title of first ski area opened in the state.

Brighton and Solitude have a friendly rivalry among the two of them, trying to one-up each other as far as opening days are concerned. Solitude is offering $25 lift tickets this weekend, and riders with a military ID can snowboard or ski with their dependents for free on Sunday.

Solitude will close after operating hours on Sunday, and reopen November 15. Moonbeam express is expected to open up at that time as well.

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A post shared by Solitude Mountain Resort (@solitudemountain)

Brian Head on the other hand, isn’t shutting down anything. After its Navajo Express lift opens up, it will stay open through May 4, if all things go according to plan.

This article first appeared on SNOWBOARDER and was syndicated with permission.

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