Nov. 29, 2016—UTA Ski Bus service will officially begin on Friday, Dec. 2, after all ski resorts in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons announced they will all be open for business this weekend thanks to the recent snow fall. Snowbird and Brighton opened on a limited basis over the Thanksgiving holiday, but now Solitude and Alta are also opening their runs.
Initially the new and improved Cottonwood Ski Service will run on weekends only—Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Full daily service will begin on UTA Change Day December 18. Starting the service earlier than UTA’s official Change Day on the weekends is in response to comments from the public who wanted to ride the Ski Bus as soon as the resorts opened.
Up north, Ski Bus service to Powder Mountain and Snowbasin will begin on Saturday,
Dec. 17, including the new Ski Bus route, route 677, from the Layton FrontRunner Station to Snowbasin. Ski Bus service to Sundance heading up Provo Canyon will also begin on December 17, however skiers should be aware the route does not run on Sundays.
The newly-configured ski service in the Cottonwood Canyons and the new route to Snowbasin increases the number of canyon ski service trips by 35 percent, expands parking capacity, and provides ski service all day, with 15-minute frequency during peak times. The new service also improves connections with TRAX and FrontRunner, and bus route 220, providing increased all-day ski service access to riders from downtown, the University of Utah and other areas of the valley.
In recent years, Ski Bus service in the Cottonwood Canyons has experienced increasing challenges with crowded buses, limited parking capacity and a lack of all-day service. In response, UTA planners worked for months with the ski resorts and community partners to address these issues and improve service in the canyons. After developing proposals to reconfigure the ski service, UTA held public hearings, took comments online and worked with riders and Cottonwood Canyon ski resorts.
In addition to new Ski Bus routes in the Cottonwood Canyons, UTA is debuting other schedule changes in December, which will take place on the agency’s scheduled Change Day, Sunday, Dec. 18. All changes are posted online at www.rideuta.com.
