BRIGHTON, Utah — Utah boasts the "greatest snow on earth" for skiing. However, that quality powder comes with a price: traffic.
Big Cottonwood Canyon is home to Solitude Mountain Resort and Brighton Resort. They each have their own process for parking. But on Wednesday, representatives from both resorts and the town of Brighton gathered to discuss their strategies for dealing with the crowds of skiers and snowboarders traveling up the canyon, especially on weekends.
One of the more obvious solutions is carpooling. However, Solitude has taken an extra step to encourage this by launching its very own carpooling app. That way, people driving up the canyon with empty seats in their cars can make the most out of the trip, while others traveling solo can still conveniently get up to the mountain without adding another car to the resort parking lot and traffic on State Route 190.
Solitude president and COO Amber Broadaway also encouraged the use of Utah Transit Authority's Ski Bus, which is free for those with passes to the resorts or an Ikon pass. She also reminded riders to check the timetables for the Big Cottonwood route (#972) before showing up at the bus stops.
One of the biggest changes both resorts are making: parking reservations. Brighton began requiring reservations on Dec. 1 and will require them every day until closing.
Solitude starts their reservations on Dec. 15 and will require them on "peak" days — Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from mid-December through mid-April, as well as holidays.
Parking reservations will also be required for street parking along Big Cottonwood Canyon Road.
"If you're going to come to the canyon on peak days, we want you to have a spot. We don't want to have people in line. They're waiting hours to get up here, they get up here and then they get turned away," she explained. "The most important thing for this winter is you really need to plan before you go. Do not just get in your cars and drive up the canyons."
After 1 p.m. at both Brighton and Solitude, you can park for free, without a reservation.
Brighton marketing director Jared Winkler echoed what Broadaway said about Solitude, adding that dealing with the heavy traffic is a difficult issue, but their goal is ultimately to make sure those visiting the resort have a good time.
"When we think about how to really move the needle, we have to start down in the valley," added Barbara Cameron with the Big Cottonwood Community Association. "We know that our friends down in Cottonwood Heights have really struggled on peak days when the traffic's jammed up. They can't get around in their neighborhoods. We know that our friends here in the town of Brighton can't move up and down the canyon."
Cameron added that it's not just about reducing the headache of traffic — it's also important to cut down on carbon emissions.
Cameron, a longtime resident of Big Cottonwood Canyon, has observed just how different skiing was then versus now.
“When I first moved up here, there was never a crowd. You just got in line on the ski lift and it was great,” she said. “I live three miles down from Solitude here and it took me two hours to get home, it usually does, unless I leave way early.”
It was clear something needed to be done after last season, said Cameron.
“Some of them are putting their boots on and off on the road, and it's just so dangerous, and kids are hiking up for half a mile,” she said. “I think that's not the way to introduce a child to skiing.”
This season, both Brighton and Solitude aim to cut the number of single-occupant cars going into the canyons by requiring parking reservations.
“I think that's one of the great American liberties, right? Is, you get in your car, and you go wherever you want, when you want,” Broadaway said. “But what we know here is that there are just, there are more people than parking spaces."
The resorts have also contracted with UTA and private companies to provide shuttles for their employees. Cameron said this keeps a total of about 500 vehicles out of the canyon.
One of the biggest difference-makers, officials said, will be the parking reservation system. Instead of stressing about whether they'll have a spot once they reach the resort on weekend mornings, they reserve a parking spot in advance online, and it's held until 11 a.m. at Solitude or noon at Brighton.
Those with the resorts and the town of Brighton admit that it has been and will continue to be a learning process for both riders and "stakeholders," but they hope these strategies will help alleviate nightmarish traffic on peak days.
“I look forward to taking my kids skiing when we can, and not having to wake them up at 5:30, then get them up here and just be standing here in the cold, sitting in our car for an hour and a half waiting for the lift to open,” Winkler said. “So I think it's going to be a better experience for everyone.”
The resorts expect the parking reservations will reduce traffic in the canyon, but they will evaluate how effective their new systems are at the end of the month.
