Free parking in Big Cottonwood Canyon will become even scarcer this winter with Solitude Mountain Resort announcing plans to start charging visitors $20 to park, less if they carpool. The Salt Lake Tribune reports removal of free parking is aimed at alleviating the soul sucking gridlock in Utah’s crowded ski country. It could also backfire and encourage skiers bypass Solitude and drive farther up the road to Brighton or to Little Cottonwood’s Alta and Snowbird, which currently still offer free parking. 
Vehicles carrying one or two passengers will be charged the full $20 to park at Solitude. The charge drops to $10 for three passengers and $5 for four or more passengers. The resort is also offering incentives that reward visitors who carpool and make it easier for them to leave their vehicles out of the canyon.
“It’s all about changing behavior. It’s like a science experiment. It’s an opportunity for us to jump off the cliff, do something, and then get some good data on what happened.” –Solitude General Manager Kim Mayhew
Not gonna lie…if you ski Solitude and drive a regular cab truck you might want to look at selling it before the snow starts flying.
images from solitudemountain IG
