Cokeville, Wyoming — In a low-snow winter, any slight on a ski trail can make a big difference. That’s what Pine Creek has been dealing with over the past week.
On March 8th, a dumbass UTV driver decided that it was appropriate to ride through a beginner trail at Pine Creek. As the vehicle reached a steeper section, it brought up dirt and mud, damaging the trail and its snowpack. In a winter where there hasn’t been much natural snow, and a warm front is on the way, that’s a tough break.
“As a small ski area, with a rural demographic, we don’t get the same mega volumes of skiers coming through,” said Alicia Etcheverry, one of the managers of the ski resort, to BuckRail. “We don’t have the same resources as the big ski areas. … With the warm temps, we’ve been burning through and grooming everything we can. It’s a punch to morale.”
They did end up finding the culprits, who were surprisingly remorseful about their actions. The ski resort decided against drawing charges.
“When you get damage like that, it just exacerbates what we’re already facing,” said Alicia. “We talked with the people who did it, they were apologetic, and we aren’t pressing any charges. They were remorseful. It was just poor decision making and they didn’t realize the effects of what they’d done. It could have huge financial ramifications.”
About Pine Creek Ski Resort
Pine Creek’s lodge was originally known as the train station in town, but was moved up to service the ski area. Originally, a rope tow was added to service the slope. In 1970, the expansion of Pine Creek was made possible by the acquisition of Brighton’s old Milly single chairlift. Their lift network has since modernized, with Pine Creek acquiring a fixed-grip quad chairlift in 2002. The ski resort features over 32 trails across 640 skiable acres, one lift, and a vertical drop of 1,450 feet. It features a poignant slogan: “skiing the way it used to be.” Pine Creek is owned by Lincoln County and Lincoln County.
Pine Creek typically operates on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The ski resort also offers mountain rentals during its slower days (Monday-Thursday). Pine Creek is aiming to remain open until March 29th, but we’ll see if the warm weather upcoming will impact that.
Image Credits: Pine Creek Ski Resort
