"Keeping Powder open, independent, and publicly accessible is possible due to the real estate that surrounds it." Powder Mountain put that line in its May 2026 operations update. The same update confirmed that the Sunrise Poma will run for the last time this winter.
The 2026/27 season is the last one in which a public pass or day ticket gets you into Cobabe Canyon on a lift. After that, the canyon stays open to the public, but you'll have to hike to it. This winter the resort is also bringing in new public lift capacity on the other side of the mountain, aimed at expert terrain. Public lift access is moving across the mountain this season, and the gentlest of the canyons is the one being lost.
The oldest lift on the mountain
Sunrise went in in 1994. It's a surface lift that pulls skiers and riders from the Hidden Lake area up toward Cobabe Canyon on the northeast side of the resort. It isn't much of a lift. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that it rises only 155 feet over a little more than a quarter mile. Even so, it is now the only mechanical link between the public side of the resort and Cobabe Canyon and the terrain east of Hidden Lake Lodge.
The same Tribune story called Sunrise one of the mountain's most polarizing lifts. It said the lift is "despised by many, especially snowboarders," and loved by others for where it goes. Cobabe has a reputation for powder stashes that last long after storms. It's also home to the "Magic Bus," an old, brightly painted school bus that the paper called a favorite Easter egg for visitors.
Powder Mountain describes Cobabe as a mix of blue and green named runs, open slopes and scenic tree skiing. The Tribune described it as known for blue and black runs. Either way, Cobabe is mostly intermediate terrain, and that matters for what comes next.
Why it is coming out
The resort says Sunrise is "unique in its location." It sits inside the residential development footprint, so removing it is "essential to support the neighborhood growth that directly subsidizes our ski operations." A September 23 update is more specific. The lift comes out in summer 2027 to make way for a Powder Haven neighborhood built on that footprint.
Powder Haven gets a new lift in the same canyon. Foxtrot is a private chairlift under construction in Cobabe Canyon and planned to open for 2026/27. It will connect the Raintree and Primetime lift areas with Powder Haven's future village core. Public lift tickets and season passes will not work on Foxtrot.
So for one winter, Cobabe will have two lifts. Foxtrot will run for homeowners, and Sunrise will run its last season for everyone else.
The Tribune reported that rumors Sunrise would be a casualty of the changes had circulated since the 2023 ownership change. At first, some skiers hoped it would be turned into a chairlift.
What the hike will look like
Starting with the 2027/28 season, public access to Cobabe moves from the surface lift to a short hike of about 150 feet of vertical gain over a compact stretch of terrain. The Tribune noted that the way back is unchanged. You can still return to the public side from the bottom of Cobabe Canyon on the Paradise Express.
The 150 feet is close to the 155 feet Sunrise climbs today, so the hike roughly covers the lift's own rise. In practice, every Cobabe lap from 2027/28 on will start with a bootpack or skin about the height of the lift you used to ride. A strong expert may hardly notice it. For a family skiing the green and blue runs, that climb is the difference between Cobabe being part of an ordinary day and Cobabe being a project.
When | Sunrise Poma | Foxtrot | Public Cobabe access |
|---|---|---|---|
2026/27 winter | Operating, final season | Planned to open, private | By lift |
Summer 2027 | Removed | Private network | Summer season |
2027/28 onward | Gone | Private network | Hike-to, about 150 vertical feet |
Where the public lift investment is going instead
The resort presents its public investments as the other half of the deal. In March, the Tribune reported that Powder Mountain would spend $40 million on upgrades to the public side of the ski area. The two lifts scheduled for this winter both serve the public side.
DMI. The new public DMI lift opens more than 1,000 acres of advanced terrain in Wolf Creek Canyon. That includes 900 lift-served acres and 2,200 feet of vertical. SAM's September 2026 construction report identifies it as a Skytrac triple. Its 21 towers were flown in during May 2026, and the top-drive terminal followed in June. Powder Mountain's own construction update says both terminals are installed and lists cable hauling, splicing, chair installation and load testing as the remaining phases.
Sundown Express. This lift replaces the old Sundown lift, a Skytrac fixed-grip quad, with a Leitner-Poma detachable quad that should carry more skiers uphill and improve day and night skiing. SAM's most recent status is only current as of July, when the towers were set and both terminals were still waiting to be installed. The resort lists it as expected to start spinning this season. The new 15,000-square-foot Sundown lodge, which will hold the ski school, rentals, food and beverage, and lockers, is planned for 2027/28, not this winter.
Put those next to the Sunrise news. The public side is gaining 900 lift-served acres of advanced terrain in DMI and losing lift service to an intermediate canyon in Cobabe. On a public ticket, the total lift-served acreage goes up, but the terrain you can reach by lift tilts toward experts.
As of mid-October, neither new public lift has a published load-test completion. Both are scheduled, not finished. A beginner lift called Doodle was first announced for the Sundown area. In May, the resort said it is studying a better location and will share Doodle's new location and timing once those studies are complete.
Planning a winter with Sunrise still running
Opening day is Friday, December 11, 2026, conditions permitting. Season passholders get first lifts at 9 a.m., and ticket holders join for night skiing. On the day DMI first opens, season passholders get three hours on it before ticket holders.
There are no Passholder Weekends this season, so passholders and day-ticket holders can both ski every day, though the resort still limits day-ticket sales. The changes that matter most if you live in the valley and ski on short notice:
- Afternoon ticket. The new $99 Afternoon Ticket runs from 1:30 to 8:30 p.m. A $29 Night Ticket covers 4 to 8:30 p.m.
- Parking. Weekend and holiday parking costs $12. It's free Monday through Friday, after 1 p.m., and for carpools of three or more. Pairing an afternoon ticket with the after-1 p.m. parking rule gives you a half day on the mountain without a parking fee.
- Bus. A season pass or lift ticket includes free rides on the UTA Ski Bus, which runs from Ogden and Eden to Powder Mountain seven days a week.
- Day ticket prices. All-day tickets are priced dynamically. The official ticket page shows a range of $63 to $229 a day, so check the price for your date when you buy.
Passes for 2026/27 are listed at $1,599 for an Adult Unlimited, $1,349 for Senior and Military, $849 for Teen and $549 for Youth. Kids 6 and under ski free. Each Adult, Senior or Military Unlimited pass includes up to two free Youth passes for kids 12 and under, and teen pass prices dropped by up to $300. For new skiers, the Standard-Examiner reported on the new Powder Pathways program. For $799, you get three group lessons, rentals for the year and a season pass once you finish the lessons.
The pricing matters for Cobabe. A newer skier who comes up through Powder Pathways this season is learning in the last winter Cobabe's green and blue runs can be reached by lift. A kid on a free youth pass can ride Sunrise this year without the climb that will come with every Cobabe lap starting in 2027/28.
A final season, on the record
Powder Mountain gave notice early. In May it wrote, "We want to be transparent well ahead of any changes." It also said that its "commitment to keeping Powder public is not wavering," and it has backed that with lift investments in DMI and Sundown. Under the resort's posted timeline, Sunrise runs from opening day this winter until the 2026/27 season closes. It comes out in summer 2027.
The changes at Powder Mountain affect the whole valley, from which canyons are served by lift to what goes up around them. If you want to talk about what this winter's lift changes and the growth around the resort mean for your plans in Eden or on the mountain, Range Realty Co works on the same roads and slopes you do. Connect with a Valley Expert, and we'll talk it through.
