Alta, UT - In this era of ski and snowboard resorts building, expanding and promoting terrain parks, one ski area is bucking the trend by eliminating theirs.
Utah's Alta Ski Area will eliminate its underutilized terrain park. |
"We found that our skiers were curious about the park, and had a lot of fun times jibbing," Utah's legendary Alta Ski Area announced on their website this week. "But we were also astonished by how many more of our skiers preferred to use the natural terrain features on our 2,200 acres as their preferred 'park.'"
Terrain parks require an enormous investment in equipment time and manpower to both create and maintain. Alta's terrain park, located off Vail Ridge and served by both the Albion and Sunnyside chairlifts, was frequently empty. Many locals consider Alta's terrain to constitute one giant natural terrain park.
Alta is one of only four ski areas left in the United States that prohibits snowboarding, possibly contributing to the terrain park's lack of use. Alta shares that distinction with neighboring Deer Valley, New Mexico's Taos, and Vermont's Mad River Glen.
