Vail Earnings Call Reveals Big Changes For Park City
Shop Now
Gondwana '98 Hawaiian Tee
$40.00
Grateful Dead x TGR "Uncle Sam" Tee by Peter Forsythe Tie Dye
$39.95
Grateful Dead x TGR Mountain Time Bear Tie Dye Long Sleeve Tee by Peter Forsythe
$44.95
Vail Resorts is doubling down on Park City Mountain. In its latest earnings call, the company confirmed what many locals suspected: the coming years will bring a full-on transformation of Utah’s biggest ski area. The plan includes two new gondolas and another attempt to push through the long-delayed Eagle and Silverlode lifts.
Vail CEO Rob Katz described the new lifts as part of a “multi-year transformational investment plan” for Park City, centered around the Canyons base area. The company plans to replace the open-air Cabriolet with a 10-passenger enclosed gondola in partnership with the Canyons Village Management Association. The upgrade comes with a new covered parking garage that will include an additional 1,800 spaces.
That new gondola could open as soon as 2026–27, joining the just-completed Sunrise Gondola, which connects Canyons Village to Red Pine Lodge and starts spinning this winter.
"This new gondola will provide an upgraded arrival experience to the resort."
-Rob Katz, Vail Resorts CEO
Perhaps the juiciest part of the story, Vail plans to re-submit permits to replace the Eagle and Silverlode lifts. Those projects were originally approved, then delayed, after locals successfully appealed the resort’s plans in 2022. Courts sided with residents who argued Vail hadn’t proven the new lifts wouldn’t make congestion worse.
With 1,800 new parking spots on tap, Vail is taking another swing at approval. If the plan goes through, both lifts could be up and running for the 2027-28 season. Still, those proposals have to clear the Park City Planning Commission.
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
With skier visitation down this year, Vail is looking to bring more people back to the mountain. Nearby, Deer Valley is in the midst of a major expansion that will double the resort's skiable terrain. Both factors make the company's latest round of investment at Park City read like a counterpunch. Only time will tell if efforts to modernize Park City's infrastructure might help reclaim some goodwill with skiers turned off by crowds, traffic, lift lines, and bad press.
For now, the message is clear: Vail’s spending big to reshape Park City’s future. Whether locals will let them finish the job is another story.
