Nordic Valley's First Winter Without Crockett: What's Different on the Hill This Season

On February 15, 2025, Nordic Valley ran Crockett, Bridger and Cub until 8 p.m., and Apollo stayed parked. That was a normal night under the lights in Eden. This winter none of that lineup is fully available. Crockett is gone, and the lights meant to replace it on Apollo are now set for a later season.

This is the first winter since the resort started reshaping itself, and the changes all point the same way. The lower mountain where people learned, tubed and skied after work has gotten smaller. The things replacing it, full lighting on Apollo, a permanent lodge and more room for the Nordic Express, are planned for later winters. For anyone who skis Nordic from a few minutes down the road, 2026/27 sits between the two.

The lift that came down this summer

In a letter dated July 15, 2026, general manager Cobalt Stromberg told the community that the Crockett lift was being dismantled. He called the removal "a planned step in our development project as we move the resort into the future." His letter on the resort's site also made clear what would not come back:

"Most of the terrain that was found on Crockett is still accessible from our Apollo and Bridger lifts. The Gardens area and tubing hill will not be returning."

The resort sold the old chairs so they could "stay with the people who loved riding them most," as a porch swing or a backyard bench. The Crockett Lift Chair listing on the Nordic Valley online store now shows as sold out. It offers a waitlist and says pickup is arranged by email. If you see a Crockett chair on a deck in Eden this winter, that is where it came from.

Where the old Crockett runs live now

According to the resort, most of the terrain Crockett served can still be reached from Apollo and Bridger. Ski Utah's family guide to Nordic Valley was written before Crockett came out, but it still describes how the remaining lifts divide the mountain:

• Cub is the surface lift on the gentle beginner slope. Ski school check-in is at the base of Cub's magic carpet.
• Apollo reaches longer, steeper runs, including the green Old Barn.
• Bridger serves terrain park access.
• Nordic Express reaches Lolly, Valkyrie, Flying Squirrel, 2020 and TBS.

The resort's current conditions board lists the same four lifts: Apollo, Bridger, Cub and Nordic Express. Nordic Valley's trail map page links an updated map from September 2026, and it is the one to check before your first day.

The Nordic Express is where the resort is putting its emphasis. Stromberg's letter calls the six-person high-speed chair "a world-class lift that many in our community have not yet had the full chance to experience or explore." He says a large part of the resort's growth will run through it. Crockett's removal moves the center of the mountain uphill. If your Nordic routine never got past Apollo, this is the winter the resort is inviting you higher.

The part that slipped a season

Night skiing shows the transition most clearly. In December 2025, Nordic Valley said it was working toward electrical and lighting upgrades, planned for summer 2026, that would bring back full top-to-bottom, side-to-side night skiing on the Apollo side for 2026/27. The same post said the electrical work is also a step toward expanding snowmaking.

Ski Utah's Night Skiing in Utah 2026–27 guide now puts that target one season later. It says Nordic Valley is "in a transition phase for night skiing," with 2026/27 limited to select dates and special events such as rail jams. Full top-to-bottom night skiing on Apollo is aimed at 2027–28.

Daytime lift hours on the resort's hours page are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The resort will post its select night dates on its events page and social channels. If your weeknight laps used to start after work, check that calendar before you plan around them.

The base still runs out of the barn site

The bottom of the mountain is still temporary. Nordic Valley lost its lodge to an overnight fire. In November 2025, director of resort services Katie Gubler told the Standard-Examiner that a permanent lodge was likely a few more years out. The resort was working with its landowners and the neighboring development to rebuild it.

For this season, the resort's FAQ page describes how a first visit works:

1. Pick up lift tickets inside the temporary lodge, which stands where the barn used to be.
2. Rentals are in the Rentals Yurt, to the right of the lodge entrance. Boots are inside the yurt, and rental skis and snowboards are outside.
3. Food comes partly from third-party food trucks.
4. On select dates, tickets bought before 11:59 p.m. the night before come with a $10 Valhalla Voucher. The credit can be used that day at the snack bar, for rentals, for lessons or at the retail corner. It cannot be used at the food trucks or for alcohol.

Once lifts are turning, the resort's events calendar lists free après s'mores on the patio every Sunday at 3 p.m. "We bring the fire and the goodies, you bring the family and the fun." Nordic Valley expects to welcome guests back in December for Winter 2026/27.

What the bottom of the mountain lost, and what it kept

The Gardens and the tubing hill were the low-commitment end of Nordic Valley. They were where a family with a toddler or a visiting relative could spend an afternoon without buying a lift ticket. That part of the mountain is gone. The closest fill-in on this season's calendar is at Soldier Hollow. The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation lists its tubing season from December 18, 2026 to March 13, 2027, both weather-dependent, with variable pricing and tickets already on sale.

What the resort kept is learning to ski, which Stromberg's letter treats as nonnegotiable. "Nordic Valley is where I learned to ski, and it's where I taught my children!" is the line he says he hears most. He promised that kids 12 and under will keep skiing free, "No parent purchase required, no strings attached." The 2026/27 season pass page keeps that free Power Kids Pass for 12 and under. It adds a free Super Senior Pass for ages 75 and older.

The lesson calendar shows the same priority:

• Junior Senders, a six-week program for ages 8 to 16, starts January 9, 2027. Sessions run Saturday or Sunday, 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m. Beginner and intermediate tracks cost $329 without rentals or $429 with rentals. Lift access is not included.
• Rookie Sender is still promoted on the resort's homepage. As last posted on the Rookie Sender Package page, it is a $49 package for true first-timers 17 and older, any Monday through Thursday outside holiday periods. It includes a two-hour beginner group lesson from 1 to 3 p.m., rentals and a lift ticket. Lessons must be booked online in advance.

Pricing for grown-ups has barely changed. The resort says starting pass prices have been held since 2023. Power Pass Core is $499 for adults 37 to 64, and the one-weekday Nordic Valley Weekday Pass is $225. Two pass changes matter more day to day. Every passholder gets an RFID card for hands-free lift access, picked up at kiosks on the mountain. Nearly every season pass product also includes six tickets at 50% off the online rate. Those buddy tickets fit a winter when friends visiting Eden no longer have a tubing hill as the easy option.

Taken together, this winter has less at the bottom and less after dark, while the free kids' pass, the lessons and the pass prices all carry over unchanged. The lighting, snowmaking and lodge work is aimed at later winters. Your first day back starts at the temporary lodge on the old barn site, with Cub's magic carpet for beginners and the Nordic Express for everyone else.

The work that removed Crockett is also changing the land around the base. At Range Realty Co, we follow how each season's changes at Nordic Valley affect the homes around it, from the lift line to the lodge site. If you want to talk through what the resort's next few winters mean for your corner of Eden, Connect with a Valley Expert.