Solitude Mountain Resort is postponing its opening date, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 20, citing a lack of snow.
“Considering current conditions, as well as our goal of providing ample space for guests to distance from one another,” resort president and COO Kim Mayhew said in a news release, “we believe that a later opening date will create a higher-quality outdoor experience for our guests.”
The announcement came a day after a storm left a foot of snow or more in many parts of the Wasatch Mountains. Solitude posted pictures of the accumulation on its Twitter account Monday and KUTV reported the resort got 20 inches in the storm.
Alta, which is on the other side of the Honeycomb Cliffs from Solitude, reported 30 inches of snow from the storm.
“The rest of this week will remain cold so snow quality will stay intact,” OpenSnow.com forecaster Evan Thayer posted in his report Monday. “This will also allow resorts to blow snow all week if they so desire.”
Solitude has not started making snow but plans to in the near future, according to resort spokesperson Sara Huey.
Another storm is expected to dump snow in the mountains this weekend.
Huey said people have an expectation of having space when going outdoors, which makes skiing and snowboarding an attractive option during the COVID-19 pandemic. That can be more difficult to achieve early in the season, when terrain is more limited.
“We are conscious of that expectation and taking steps to meet it,” she said.
Brian Head Resort, Park City Mountain Resort and Woodward Park City all still plan to open Nov. 20. Alta (Nov. 21) and Snowbasin (Nov. 25) also expect to have their lifts running by Thanksgiving.
