Park City planners discuss upgrades to the Eagle chairlift. Photo: Park City Government // YouTube
Park City Mountain has been approved to upgrade two of the lifts out of Mountain Village. As the Salt Lake Tribune reports, the development comes after four years of efforts, and opposition from some dissenters up until the very end.
On Wednesday, the Park City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve conditional use permits to allow the resort to begin upgrading the Silverlode and Eagle lifts. The Silverlode lift will go from a six-person to an eight-person detachable lift, increasing its capacity from 3,000 to 3,600 people per hour. Meanwhile, the Eagle and Eaglet lifts will be replaced with a single high-speed, six-person lift, increasing total capacity by 1,000 people per hour. Director of mountain operations Zach Perdue told the commission the changes would allow guests to “access substantially more terrain.”
The decision brings to a close a four-year-long effort for the Vail Resorts-owned mountain. Managers originally sought an expedited conditional use permit in 2022, which was denied after it was challenged by local residents who asserted that the increased lift capacity would lead to overcrowding on the slopes.
In its second attempt, Park City Mountain applied for two separate non-expedited permits, which did not require the resort to reveal calculations on how much the updated lifts would affect slope traffic. “Four years have gone by. I don’t feel like it’s a big ask for the resort to provide new CCC calculations in 2026,” said commissioner John Frontero. “What is the reluctance on the resort’s part to not present updated CCC calculations for the 2026 application? Why are you asking the commission to go back four years and look at a dated report? I just find that to be troubling.”
At the end of the day, though, even Frontero ultimately still voted in favor of the permit. Part of what swayed the commission this time around was a raft of backers who showed support. They sent 63 letters of support and another 20 weighed in during the public comment period.
“We’re very pleased with the result and approval for both Silverlode and Eagle and the investments that we are excited to make here at this mountain and for our community, for our guests and our employees,” said Park City Mountain COO Deirdra Walsh. Walsh declined to give a timeline for when the upgrades would be complete, but asserted that they could be expected to be built in “one construction season.”
