Ski Area Anniversaries Commemorate Long, Long History In The West
As the 2025-2026 season began, the news came out that this was the 50-year anniversary for Mary Jane, the mogul mate of Winter Park that itself has been spinning lifts for 86 years.
As a result of Mary Jane's celebration, SnoCountry.com caught the nostalgia bug and now takes a look the mountains of the West where 2026 is a milestone season.
The Mountain Resort industry has always treasured its past. One reason may be that today's skiers and riders are most often pointing 'em down on the very same pitches in the Appalachians, the Rockies, the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada as those trailblazers of bygone days.
For reference, the first known ski slope with a lift in the U.S. was Howelson Hill, a ski jump hill that opened for alpine in 1915 near Steamboat Springs, Colo. Seven years later, Granlibakken debuted just off the shores of California's Lake Tahoe, and Cooper Spur did likewise in the shadow of Mt. Hood in Oregon. A year later, Mt. Hood Skibowl got going.
Last season, the year 2025 meant both Soda Springs in northern California, and Lookout Pass on the Idaho-Montana border were in their 90th year of operation.
That brings us to 2026. Ninety years ago, a ski area boom began all across the country. Nine U.S. ski mountains opened for the 1936 season -- four in the West. In the next three years before WWII, an astounding 30 more began spinning uphill devices -- half of them in the West.
So, this season in the West, we commemorate The Ancient Ones who started all of this. Now in their 90th year of operation, we have:
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Idaho's Sun Valley, where the first chairlift in the country went in at what was considered the first "destination" resort in America -- complete with classic mountain lodge, ice rink and fancy restaurants.
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Utah's Brighton, where a wire tow took Salt Lake City skiers to the crest of Big Cottonwood Canyon in 1936 because that's where it snowed more than anywhere else.
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Beaver Mountain, the northernmost ski area in Utah, that the Seelholzer family started up and has run it ever since.
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Sleeping Giant, that opened as the first ski area in Wyoming as a local family hill with a rope tow located near the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Next season in the West, the nine-decade parties continue with year-round Mt. Hood's Timberline, Washington's troika Summit at Snoqualmie and Stevens Pass, Southern California's Snow Valley and Mountain High, Front Range Colorado's Loveland, and New Mexico's first at Sandia Peak.
For the entire listing, click here.
