The History of Brighton Ski Resort

Brighton Ski Resort is a ski area located in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 30 miles from downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Brighton Ski Resort was the first ski resort in Utah, and one of the first in the United States. Brighton was started in 1936 when members of the Alpine Ski Club built a rope tow from wire and an old elevator motor. Brighton claims to be a “no-frills” resort whose sole business is to provide skiers and snowboarders with top-notch trails. While it does provide lodging, dining, and shopping, the extent of the facilities does not make Brighton what is typically seen as a destination ski resort. Most Brighton skiers and riders are Utah locals. Most visitors do not stay at Brighton-run lodging; many visitors stay in the greater Salt Lake area, many of whom also plan trips to other area ski resorts.

Brighton is on public land; all of the resort’s land is actually part of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, meaning the whole resort is open to the public year-round, though tickets must be purchased to use the lifts.

The 2005-2006 Terrain Park starts out in “My-O-My” with 3 sets of 3 different sized jumps ranging from small to medium to large. To the far left are the large jumps, in the middle are the medium sized jumps, and to the right are the small jumps. A short ride after “My-O-My” is the “Candy Land” park Consisting of several boxes and rails with a few small jumps.

A short ride through the trees gets you to the “Lower Majestic” terrain park, with 2 sets of 2 different sized jumps consisting of 2 sets of large jumps and 2 sets of medium sized jumps. Proceeding these sets of jumps is the half pipe which is 400 feet (120 m) long with 16 ft (4.9 m) high walls. To the right of the half pipe there is a variety of other boxes and rails. And towards the end of the terrain park is a wall ride with two small kickers on either side of the wall ride followed by a few other boxes and rails.

The terrain park at Brighton changes on almost a weekly basis. Throughout the season, the terrain park crew will take down some features and reassemble new ones. The only features that are guaranteed to not be changed are the 3 sets of jumps on “My-o-My” , the two sets of jumps on “Big Bertha” and the half pipe.

More information about Brighton! http://www.utah.com/ski/resorts/brighton.htm