Park City, Utah — Park City Mountain Resort is in a tricky place. This past season at PC will be remembered by a ski patrol strike that resulted in many unhappy customers and lawsuits. It’s the latest problem in a series of debacles at the Utah ski resort.
On the Park City side of the mountain, new lift projects have been stuck in limbo after a group of locals were able to halt two projects before the 2022-23 season. That lawsuit remains in court after a few years of legal mitigation. The Town Lift’s future was put in jeporday after the landowners filed a lawsuit against Vail Resorts after the corporation didn’t protect them from liability. Meanwhile, its neighbor and rival, Deer Valley Resort, is embarking on one of the biggest terrain expansions of all time.
One part of the puzzle solved itself yesterday, as the Park Record reports that the Sweeney family sold the Town Lift Plaza to Matthew Prince. The purchase includes a few outlets that are currently home to restaurants, a series of retail spots facing Main Street, a ticket plaza used by Park City Mountain Resort, most of the parking below the Plaza, and the Town Lift Plaza.
Matthew Prince is one of the wealthiest people who calls Utah home (In case you’re curious: Gail Miller is the richest). He’s the CEO of Cloudflare and has increased his influence over the past few years in Park City. He bought a local newspaper (Park Record), and his attempt to build a new home that would pay tribute to the town’s mining past has drawn national headlines. He’s an avid skier who has increasingly spoken out about the difference in the skiing experience at Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort.
Matthew Prince confirmed to KPCW that he has even offered to buy Park City Mountain Resort from Vail Resorts. The corporation declined the offer, but Prince is saying he’s still interested. And now, he has a valuable chip that is an important part (although arguably not vital) to Vail Resorts’ operation at Park City Mountain Resort. The prior owners of the Town Lift area said they considered ending their relationship with Vail, but Matthew can actually do it.
However, Matthew Prince does seem like he wants to improve the area and is aiming to replace the triple chairlift with a gondola. Part of his dream, which seems a bit more ambitious, is to have the gondola extend to Solitude and Alta. This news could lead to a restart of the One Wasatch proposal, which was considered in the 2010s.
As much as Vail Resorts probably doesn’t enjoy what has transpired in PC, it’s one of their most essential pieces to their puzzle. Utah is a very important skiing market, and losing it would mean they’d be out of Utah entirely. I don’t see a sale unless Vail found a way to keep it as an Epic Pass partner.
This is a spicy twist to this saga, and I imagine we’ll be hearing more from this Prince guy in the years ahead.
Image Credits: Benjamin R., Park City Mountain Resort
Update 5/20: A prior version of this article stated that Prince bought the land that’s home to the bottom terminal of the Town Lift. Vail Resorts confirmed to us that this is not the case, and the wording in the subheader has been corrected.
