Brighton Ski Resort is a ski area in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located in

Big Cottonwood Canyon Big Cottonwood Canyon is a canyon in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The -long canyon provides hiking, biking, picnicking, rock-climbing, camping, and fishing in the summer. Its two ski resorts, Bright ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. About from

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, it is owned and operated by

Boyne Resorts Boyne Resorts is an owner and operator of ski and golf resorts in North America. The company employs over 10,000 full-time and seasonal staff. It operates 12 resort properties including 10 ski resorts, an adventure park, and 12 golf courses. T ...

Description

Brighton Ski Resort was the first ski resort in

, and one of the first in the United States. Brighton was started in 1936 when members of the Alpine Ski Club built a

rope tow A surface lift is a type of cable transport for mountain sports in which skiers, snowboarders, or mountain bikers remain on the ground as they are pulled uphill. While they were once prevalent, they have been overtaken in popularity by higher ...

from wire and an old elevator motor. The resort was named for Thomas W. Brighton, who is credited with constructing the first buildings in the area. In 1943, Zane Doyle and Willard Jensen purchased the T-bar from K Smith. In 1954 when there was talk of expansion, Willard insisted that going out on a limb to build a double chair lift instead of another T-bar was worth the risk. Those important changes were able to come about when in 1955 Zane's brother-in-law, Dean L Jensen sold his Idaho business and joined Willard and Zane to build the first double chair lift, Mt Majestic, which was constructed parallel to the old T-bar. Mary Lift was installed in 1959 and in 1963 the trio bought out Brighton Recreation Company, which owned Millicent Lift, and Brighton Ski Bowl was off and running. The Doyle and Jensen ski operation became successful and was owned and operated by Willard, his son Dean and grandson, Gilbert Jensen, as well as Zane and his sons Michael and Randy Doyle.

purchased the resort in 1986, sold Brighton to CNL Lifestyle in 2007, but continued to operate the property under a lease. CNL sold the property to

Och-Ziff Capital Management Sculptor Capital Management (formerly ''Och-Ziff Capital Management Group'') is an American global diversified alternative asset management firm. They are one of the largest institutional alternative asset managers in the world. The company oper ...

in 2016, and Boyne repurchased it in May 2018. Brighton claims to be a "no-frills" resort whose sole business is to provide skiers and snowboarders with top-notch trails. While it does provide lodging, dining, and shopping, the extent of the facilities does not make Brighton what is typically seen as a destination ski resort. Most Brighton skiers and riders are Utah locals. Most visitors do not stay at Brighton-run lodging; many visitors stay in the greater Salt Lake area, many of whom also plan trips to other ski resorts in the area. Brighton is also known for its extensive backcountry access, visitors can purchase single ride lift tickets to reach the backcountry access gates at the top of the resort. Although the terrain inbounds at Brighton can rival that of the backcountry, Brighton is known for its cliffs, chutes, bowls and natural features. Brighton was voted to have the 2nd best snow in North America, losing the top spot to Snowbird in adjacent

Little Cottonwood Canyon Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and "Community Council" designated by Salt ...

. Brighton is on

public lands In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Commonwealth realms). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries. ...

; all of the resort's land is part of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, meaning the whole resort is open to the public year-round, though tickets must be purchased to use the lifts. Brighton is a local favorite. The resort offers a variety of special deals throughout the year that allow locals to ski cheaply. Generally, during the first Wednesdays in December, the resort offers a promotion called "Quad Wednesdays" where, if one brings an item to contribute to a local charity, one gets his or her lift ticket for one fourth the cost of a regular-priced ticket. Brighton is adjacent to

Solitude Mountain Resort Solitude Mountain Resort is a ski resort located in the Big Cottonwood Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains, thirty miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. With 66 trails, and vertical, Solitude is one of the smaller ski resorts near Salt Lake Ci ...

, and the two ski areas offer a common "Solbright Pass" which provides access to both resorts for a nominal surcharge. Transit between the two mountains is provided from Solitude to Brighton via the Solbright run off the Summit Express on Solitude, or via the Evergreen trail off the Milly Express on Brighton. Brighton has some of the most extensive night skiing in the western U.S., with over , six lifts, and its main mountain terrain park. Night-skiing occurs from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, from early December through early April. Brighton is closed for night skiing on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve.

Snowboarding Legacy

From the early 1990s through the 2000s, many top

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

and

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

snowboarders called Brighton their home.

Trivia

The

Disney Channel Original Movie Since its launch on April 18, 1983, American cable and satellite pay television channel Disney Channel airs and/or releases/distributes original first-run television films under the banner names of Disney Channel Premiere Films until October 1 ...

s, ''

Johnny Tsunami ''Johnny Tsunami'' is a 1999 American sports drama film released as a Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM). The film focuses on a young surfer from Hawaii who must adapt to new challenges when his father's job forces the family to move to Verm ...

'' and ''

Cloud 9 In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, ice crystals, frozen crystals, or other particulates, particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or var ...

'', were filmed at Brighton Ski Resort.

References

External links

Brighton Resort Official Site

3dSkiMap of Brighton Ski Resort

Brighton's Snow Report
{{Ski areas and resorts in Utah Ski areas and resorts in Utah Sports venues in Salt Lake County, Utah Event venues established in 1936