During the 2024-25 season, a new ski resort will open in the United States for the first time since the 2000s. Located just outside of Park City, Mayflower Mountain is a massive development that when it’s fully built out, will feature two base villages, thirteen lifts, four new terrain pods, and much more. 4300 acres of skiable terrain will be available during the winter, with fifty miles and hiking and mountain biking trails during the offseason. With construction well underway, a lot of work is being done quickly. Here are the latest developments on Mayflower.
TownLift Interviews Mayflower’s Vice President of Development: This week, Michele Roepke over at TownLift interviewed Brooke Hontz, who is the Vice President of Development for Mayflower Mountain. The article is worth checking out to get a full understanding of what is happening at the site. The work finished so far is quite striking for those who haven’t been to Utah in a couple of years. Twenty-six miles of roads have been completed so far, with other buildings beginning to go vertical.
The interview came with a variety of interesting tidbits. The first was that the ski resort may not be known as Mayflower when it opens. This name was originally coined due to it being right next to Mayflower Mine Road. The operator of the ski resort will determine the name, whether snowboarders will be allowed, and other operational strategies. The runs will consist mostly of intermediate and advanced trail difficulty.
One of the big questions is who will operate the ski resort. Talks have been ongoing with Deer Valley for a while now, with it eventually being expected that the two sides reach an operational deal, making the development a massive expansion to Deer Valley Resort. Brooke Hontz said the following about the negotiations:
“We’ve been working with and talking to Deer Valley for quite some time, and we’re in advanced phases of making sure any potential dynamic partnership would behoove all stakeholders.”
In terms of the construction process, Brooke said that work on the property “will continue through this winter. You’re going to see a lot more at our Morale Welfare Recreation Hotel (MWR), which is also known as the Conference Hotel or the Air Force Hotel. It’s the two cranes that have been there all summer, sometimes three, sometimes four. We’re on floor five right now, and the efficient construction will continue until we start the exciting work on the interiors.”
New Wellness Center: A new development at the ski resort was recently announced at the ski resort. Called Velvære, the sixty-acre wellness community will consist of one hundred and fifteen homes, with prices ranging from $4-12 million. The area will have access to a lift, which will bring homeowners to
There are three core tenants to this development: the wellness center, adventure center, and at-home treatment facilities. The wellness center will feature “cryotherapy; a hyperbaric chamber/pod; LightStem LED; floatation pool; nutrition programs for microbiome and biohacking; lymph drainage; IV therapy, thermal and contrast bathing; fitness training, yoga, meditation, sound baths, integrative medicine, cognitive health, and more.” Some of the amenities of the adventure center will include a large apres ski beach, outdoor pool, hot tub, full-service restaurant, and gear storage. Each home will have a sanctuary space, meaning they’ll have either a plunge pool, sauna, or steam room.
The project just broke ground, and the first homes are expected to be completed by Early 2024.
My Visit There: Back when I was visiting Utah in September, I decided to go up and check out the progress being made over on the mountain. I got to chat with Sheila Hall of Marcella at Mayflower, who help quash some of the misconceptions about the under-construction ski resort.
Some of the big concerns with locals involved the lack of snow at the mountain compared to other popular Utah ski resorts, and how much water the property will use to the diminishing Jordanelle Reservoir. Sheila told me that the ski resort will have an extensive snowmaking network, with the most advanced technology. According to her, all this water usage will only result in using a fraction of one percent of the water in Jordanelle. Additionally, Sheila told me that 80% of the used water for snowmaking and other purposes will return to the Reservoir, so the effect on Jordanelle will be very minimal.
My view of the mountain is this: Is the location perfect? No. I do think though that Utah is in need of another ski resort, as the slopes have become jam-packed over the past decade. I see comments on many ski forums with people saying how there need to be more ski resorts built. But when an actual property like this is planned, everyone’s up in arms about it, in spite of plans for a ski resort being planned for the site for the past couple of decades. With other Utah ski resorts (outside of Powder Mountain and Deer Valley) not aiming for capacity limits, another ski resort should be welcomed to spread out the crowds, as it could help residents of the growing Heber City to have a local mountain.
Some photos of my trip to Mayflower are below:
Image/Video Credits: Marcella at Mayflower, Velvaere Park City, Ian Wood of Unofficial Networks
