Powder Mountain - Ian Matteson

It was another busy offseason over at Powder Mountain in Eden, Utah, as they opened their new lift-serviced mountain biking park. Some of their improvements for this coming winter include offering snowmobile tours and adding breakfast and an apres-ski experience to the Bower Lodge. To cap it off, on November 17th, they announced that Kevin Mitchell has been hired as the new General Manager of Powder Mountain.

Kevin has over twenty-five years of experience in the action sports and ski industry, starting as a professional big mountain skier. From 2000 to 2004, he was a member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) National Alpine Team, where he set the guidelines for snowsports instruction across the globe. Mitchell was also a key player in the growth of terrain park and halfpipe instruction and coaching.

For the past eleven years, Kevin has served as the General Manager of Homewood Mountain Resort in California. While he was there, he helped grow the ski resort’s acreage by developing its snowcat skiing program.

Last week, I got to correspond with Kevin Mitchell over email to talk about what drew him to Powder Mountain, and what his future plans for the Utah ski resort are. My questions to him are in bold, and his answers follow…

Powder Mountain – Ian Matteson
What drew you to Powder Mountain/What are your first impressions of the mountain? The immense acreage of the resort really piqued my interest and imagination initially, but I am also encouraged by the unique feel of the culture here. I can already tell this is a special place for so many people, and staying true to the soul of the resort will be important moving forward. I am very excited to be joining Powder Mountain — the views, terrain, and people are really fantastic here.

What are you most looking forward to this season? I am really looking forward to working with the great team at Powder Mountain. They have done a phenomenal job preparing the mountain for winter. As we move towards opening day, we are also focused on increasing guided side country and back county opportunities surrounding the boundary of the resort, providing incremental terrain and adventure opportunities.

How did the first season at the Powder Mountain Bike Park go? Mountain biking was a great addition to the resort over the summer, and the team is already planning trail builds for next summer! Stay tuned for additional details in the Spring, but you can count on additional trails.

I saw that you were instrumental in the evolution of terrain park and halfpipe instruction and coaching at PSIA. What are the plans for the terrain park network at Powder? While small family-focused parks will reappear at Powder this winter, the focus will really be on increased guided access to side country and backcountry terrain. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to combine some of these efforts in a unique way down the road.
What capital improvements are being considered at Powder Mountain? Are improvements in lift infrastructure being considered? Yes. We are looking at potential lift infrastructure upgrades for the resort. We are assessing the best approach that will allow us to augment operations while still preserving the unique soul of the resort.
Powder Mountain – Ian Matteson
Powder Mountain’s opening day is currently scheduled for December 8th, but it could open earlier if the snow continues to fall.

Image Credits: Powder Mountain

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Have any post ideas or corrections? Reach out to me: ian@unofficialnetworks.com.