I thought @jamesdeluxe was thinking about just connecting DV with Park City.
He also links to a Wasatch Interconnect thread.
However, DV and Park City are perhaps less likely to connect due to Deer Valley's marketed, and perceived elite, crème de la crème ski experience (get over yourself, Deer Valley; it's not like you're the Yellowstone Club). Lech/Zermatt/Courchevel/Verbier are all luxury resorts within larger ski complexes; however, Americans appreciate that they can purchase exclusivity and status.
The idea of connecting ski resorts in the Wasatch Mountains has been floating around informally for decades. As early as 1982, leaders in the Utah ski industry began discussing a “Ski Interconnect” that would link Park City with resorts such as Brighton, Solitude, Alta, and Snowbird.
Obviously, some progress has been made:
- Alta is connected with Snowbird.
- Solitude is connected with Brighton.
- Park City is connected to The Canyons. It is also connected to/shares a boundary with Deer Valley.
I have purchased all these tickets in the past: the Altabird pass, SolBright pass, and Deer Valley pass - plus ducking the boundary to ski a few laps on Park City's McConkeys lift, since there was/is no ticket checking. This does not work in reverse.
What to you mean by RFID for lift access "not in place everywhere"? Took a long while for DV to install RFID but that did get done. Brighton added RFID in 2013, Snowbird in 2015, and DV in 2019. Pretty sure all the SLC resorts are using Axess except Park City.
RFID? You will need a standard system on every single lift in the Utah Wasatch: LCC, BCC, ParK City/Parley's Canyon, to support revenue sharing between partner resorts, and a software system allowing for the Utah Interconnect to track lift usage by individual skier per day, and what 'rights' they have to individual lift usage. This would be an undertaking.
But look at the European model. I will use the Arlberg as an example:
Main Lift Companies in the Arlberg
Here are the key operators (note: there are even smaller ones):
- Ski Zürs AG – runs most of the lifts in Zürs.
- Bergbahn Lech–Oberlech – operates the lifts in Lech and the Oberlech area.
- Bergbahnen Oberlech (smaller subsidiary company, sometimes grouped with Lech).
- Bergbahn Stuben – responsible for lifts in the Stuben area.
- Galzigbahn AG / Arlberger Bergbahnen AG – based in St. Anton, Nasserein, Galzig, and Valluga; the biggest operator in the region.
- Rüfikopf Seilbahn AG – historically separate from the Rüfikopfbahn in Lech (now closely tied into Ski Arlberg operations).
How They Work Together
- These companies are independent businesses but collaborate under the Ski Arlberg lift pass system.
- Since the 2016 Flexenbahn link, the entire Arlberg has been fully interconnected, making it Austria’s largest connected ski area.
- Collectively, they operate over 85 lifts and cover 305 km of pistes, plus extensive freeride terrain.
The Arlberg works because independent lift companies agreed decades ago to form a cooperative ticket/pass system and eventually invested in the infrastructure to make it physically seamless. The Wasatch, by contrast, faces ownership fragmentation, regulatory hurdles, environmental opposition, and brand conflicts — so while the vision exists, the execution will never materialize beyond tours. It's a pipe dream and will not happen within any of our lifetimes.
Wasatch Interconnect (Utah) problems:
Structure of Lift Companies
- Resorts are owned by different corporate entities: Vail Resorts (Park City/Canyons), Alterra (Deer Valley), Powdr Corp. (Snowbird—minority stake), plus private entities (Alta, Solitude, Brighton).
- No overarching cooperative structure exists. Each company has its own ticketing, branding, and strategy.
- An interconnect would require brand-new agreements on revenue sharing, liability, skier policies (e.g., Alta banning snowboarders), and capital cost-sharing.
Water & Environmental Constraints
- Salt Lake’s Little Cottonwood and Big Cottonwood Canyons are protected municipal watersheds. By law, no new ski connections can cross specific drainages, and land management agencies (Forest Service, Salt Lake City Public Utilities) tightly control expansion.
- Utah’s population includes strong environmental advocacy groups opposing canyon overdevelopment, as well as local skiers who fear European-style mega-resorts will overwhelm already congested canyons.
Geogaphy
- Steep canyons above a major metro (Salt Lake City). Fragmented valleys separated by protected watersheds and private land. Any interconnection requires big engineering projects (tunnels, trams, gondolas).
Band Identity
- There is no desire for the various owners to create an overarching brand for the Wasatch Interconnect.
- In the Wasatch, you have competing corporate players:
- Vail Resorts (Park City/Canyons)
- Alterra (Deer Valley, Solitude)
- POWDR Corp (Snowbird minority, Woodward)
- Private Snowbird ownership
- Alta (independent, skier-only, resistant to gondola links)
Each has a different business model and little incentive to cooperate at the scale required for an actual interconnect.
The Arlberg works because independent lift companies agreed decades ago to form a cooperative ticket/pass system and eventually invested in the infrastructure to make it physically seamless. The Wasatch, by contrast, faces ownership fragmentation, regulatory hurdles, environmental opposition, and brand conflicts — so while the vision exists, the execution will never materialize beyond tours.
