EDEN, Utah — Earlier this week, a beloved ski resort in northern Utah had to close after the lodge caught on fire.
But they are now slowly getting back on their feet and are up and running again. Skiers, snowboarders and ski bikers are back on the slopes at Nordic Valley Ski Resort.
"There's still moving parts because there's so many amenities that we don’t have anymore that we have to bring back, but we're just excited right now to have skiers back on the hill. That’s why we're here — very stoked,” said general manager Pascal Begin.
On Monday, a fire destroyed the resort's lodge, and they were forced to close.
"Just when the season was starting to pick up steam, with all the snow we had last week, having to shut down on MLK Day was extremely hard,” Begin said.
The Morrison family was on their way to ski here that day and found out they couldn’t.
"Everyone was super bummed and we felt bad for the Nordic family,” said Dustin Morrison. He brought his family to ski on Saturday after the resort opened up. "It's great to be out here. It’s great to be back. We were very surprised that they would have everything up and going as fast as they did, so that’s awesome. And it's a great place for families.”
Nordic Valley was fully closed for just three days. Season pass holders could come back on Thursday, and everyone else could come back to the mountain on Saturday.
"Snow's pretty great today, so just thriving,” said Dustin’s son, Camden.
There is still damage from the fire, so there are food trucks and restrooms outside. So there is still work to be done, but the resort is grateful for all the support so far.
"The outpouring of support of the community, of the other ski resorts, has been awesome. Everybody offered help, everybody pulled through,” added Begin.
The resort is still working on getting ticketing, ski rentals and ski school up and running, and they hope that happens in the next week or coming weeks. But for now, the goal is to keep the mountain open for skiers to enjoy as long as possible this season.
