Eden, Utah — It’s hard to think of a ski resort that’s changed more in the past year than Powder Mountain. Four new chairlifts, art installations, the return of terrain parks, and the partial privatization of the ski resorts have some people stoked, and others grabbing their pitchforks. The new owner, Reed Hastings, who co-founded Netflix, brought forth these changes. With all the pushback, how’s the new owner feeling about things?
It turns out he’s happy with how things are going. During an appearance on the First Time Founders with Ed Elson podcast, Reed Hastings discussed his life after his retirement from Netflix. Around the 28 minute mark, Reed discusses his retirement from Netflix and moving on to this new endeavor.
Reed detailed that the ski resort was in financial trouble before he took it over in 2023, which adds up. Reed interestingly pointed out that most major ski resorts are real estate development projects. He’s asked about the similarities between managing Netflix and Powder Mountain. The two similarities, he pointed out, were painting the subscriptions (comparing them to a season pass) and shaking up the status quo model (public-private model versus the rise of mega passes).
One interesting point he brought up was how February weekends were the most popular for the ski resort, which is why they decided to stop selling lift tickets for these periods. This move is intended to grow passholder loyalty to Powder.
In terms of how this experiment will work out, we’ll get our first look this upcoming weekend. Powder Mountain is opening for the season on December 6th. However, terrain will be limited to the Sundown area, as its currently low tide conditions in Utah.
Image/Video Credits: The Prof G Show – Scott Galloway, Powder Mountain
