Utah's New Ski Area: Cherry Peak

[thetrailboss]

Bump.

While this kind of crashed and burned. They did a lot of PR work over the summer and fall, sold passes, and promised a Thanksgiving 2014 opening. Well, that turned into "stay tuned" and now has turned into a "we're not opening this year." Not good:

http://www.saminfo.com/news/hemlock-bc-and-cherry-peak-utah-bag-season

Bummer that they are not going to open this season, but hope that they did not burn too many bridges so far. I know that some folks were on FB complaining about them not opening earlier this season. Probably a good season NOT to be open considering the dearth of snow.

 

[ScottySkis]

Low elevation.

 

[mbedle]

Its a shame they will most likely never get a permit to expand up hill. Probably some good skiing back on the true peak.

 

[SIKSKIER]

[h=2]We Are Making Progress![/h]February 6th 2015
@ 10:10 am
Cherry Peak Resort announced today that skiing will officially be open beginning with the 2015-2016 season. The Grand Lodge design improvements, and ski lift and snow making expansions resulted in some unanticipated delays. These upgrades and enhancements will provide years of enjoyment to the guests of the resort beginning early in the 2015-2016 ski season.

 

[thetrailboss]

Bump. They didn't open this year. They're promising next season. SAM slammed them over their terrible move. Not a good start. I'll post the SAM article.


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[crystalmountainskier]

I got to tour Cherry Peak and it's looking like they will be able to open this season as long as mother nature cooperates.

http://liftblog.com/2015/08/10/touring-utahs-newest-ski-resort/

 

[thetrailboss]

I got to tour Cherry Peak and it's looking like they will be able to open this season as long as mother nature cooperates.

http://liftblog.com/2015/08/10/touring-utahs-newest-ski-resort/

Nice update and pictures--thanks.

Did you speak to Chadwick or anyone? If so, what did they say about last year's huge PR disaster of promising to open, selling passes, and then shelving it?

I'm pretty disappointed to see that a year later they are still not done with the work, but I imagine that they are on a tight budget and have a small crew.

 

[crystalmountainskier]

I said hi to a few guys but nobody really had much to say. There were actually a lot of workers around...at least 20 on a Monday morning. None were working on the (non-existent) summit lift, however.

 

[thetrailboss]

Bump. Drove up today since I was in the area for work. It's pretty close to Logan which is pretty busy. Richmond is tiny...some farms, homes, a few manufacturers. Cherry Peak has an "office" at the crossroad that makes up the "downtown" in an old brick building. Signs but no activity. The building needs work.

You drive along a side street before turning again through a neighborhood and then climb out of town on a narrow road. The ski area sits up at the end of a canyon.

In sum, there are a lot of odd things. The parking lot is small. I did not see any obvious water sources for snowmaking. The lights are up for the lower mountain. I'd give the lower lift maybe 500 vert. Steep terrain for sure. I could see a couple hydrants for snowmaking but not much more. The lower chair looked sharp. They built one hell of a service road that climbs from the base, switch backs across the lower mountain, she goes to the top of the lower lift.

From the distance I could see equipment working on an upper lift (towers in place) and grading terrain. You can see the area from the main drag in Smithfield and Richmond if you know where to look.

The exposure is wrong--faces south and west. Low elevation for sure. They could go higher. Nice setting though even if it is an odd drive to get there.

Lodge is impressive but needs a lot of work still--I think they are going to open late. No signs or marketing going on. Seems like a personal project more than a viable business.

Pics soon.


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[crystalmountainskier]

I did not see any obvious water sources for snowmaking.

There is a pond near the top of the first lift with an adjacent pump house. When I was there a few weeks ago it was only about half full.

 

[thetrailboss]

There is a pond near the top of the first lift with an adjacent pump house. When I was there a few weeks ago it was only about half full.

Ah, OK. Makes sense. I thought I saw something on their map showing that. Interesting.

 

[thetrailboss]

Went up to Logan for business and ended up going up to Cherry Peak to ski for a few hours. I was pretty happy. The Lodge is beautiful. The lower mountain is VERY similar to the front side of Middlebury Snow Bowl with some steep pitches, nice rolls, and fun skiing. The lifts are slow, but short. The Summit Lift is not done but when it is that will add A LOT of nice terrain. The Vista Lift was flat, but had some good short runs. Lots of snowmaking installed and good grooming. Easy to get to and cheap. I will have a TR and pics soon. Having skied there, I can say that it has potential. The folks I talked to said that the night skiing has been a real boon to them...much more than they thought. They had lights on pretty much everything that was open for skiing.

 

[danimals]

Just checked out some photos. Looks like the potential to become a cool place. I know it will never happen, but I've always been hopeful of a new place opening out east.


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[thetrailboss]

Latest article from an interesting POV:

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel...resort-park-city-alta-snowbird-a7470501.html#