2024 Ended with a bang.
Following a relatively slow start to the 2024–25 season at Alta Ski Area, the holidays delivered our biggest storm cycles yet, as 110 inches of snow fell on the slopes of Alta since Christmas Eve—nearly tripling our settled snow depth at the Collins Study Plot. Skiers enjoyed a white Christmas and a series of stormy weeks to wrap up 2024 and bring a fresh start to Alta in 2025.
The stormy weather continued through the first two weeks of the New Year and we have now received 219 inches of season-to-date snowfall. All five lifts are open for the season and our terrain has expanded to over 100 open runs. It's a great time to be at Alta Ski Area, sliding over fresh snow with friends and family.
December 30th: Brett Wanek skis some holiday week powder | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
The Ballroom rope drop on New Year's Eve allowed Alta skiers to do a little powder dancing before the New Year. The snow let up just long enough for us to celebrate the New Year with a festive—and frigid—Torchlight Parade and Fireworks Show under the starlight.
December 31st: NYE Torchlight Parade & Fireworks | Photo: Tyler Struss
After the holiday storm cycles moved on, our Cat Crew, Mountain Operations and Alta Ski Patrol teams have been working around the clock to expand our terrain offerings.
We kicked off 2025 with new terrain as Supreme Bowl and the High Traverse opened for the season.
January 2025 | 63 Inches and Counting
The first storm of 2025 arrived in the early-morning hours of January 2nd, filling in the slopes of Alta with eight inches of graupel snow. It wasn't the typical mid-winter cold powder snow, but it helped fill in the post-holiday bumps and continued to build the base—it also made for some pretty great storm skiing.
Janaury 2nd: Jazz Vitale surfs some graupel | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
The next storm was a doozy. Following a day of south winds and five-star wind buff skiing, a strong winter storm made its way up Little Cottonwood Canyon in the pre-dawn hours of January 4th. The snow started falling around 5am at rates that reached five inches an hour. By noon, 17 inches of snow had fallen—creating plenty of congestion on Highway 210, a few delayed list openings and some incredible powder skiing. Around 1pm, Highway 210 closed for mid-day avalanche mitigation, which buried sections of the road in avalanche debris. With Little Cottonwood Canyon closed to vehicles and storm totals reaching 21 inches, Alta skiers enjoyed an afternoon of powder skiing at the Alta Country Club.
January 4th: Payton Lukes enjoyed her visit to the Alta Country Club | Photo: Photo-John
Interlodge went into effect and avalanche mitigation resumed at dawn on Sunday, January 5th. Ballroom, the Shoulder and Supreme Bowl opened, offering some great leftovers for those who missed Saturday's all-you-can-eat powder buffet. The new snow bumped our season-to-date snowfall to 192 inches and a settled snow depth of 80 inches. A mid-week lull in the weather allowed Alta Ski Patrol to open the Backside wall-to-wall for the first time this season. What a way to start the new year!
A storm took aim at Little Cottonwood Canyon for the third consecutive weekend. The snow started falling on Saturday morning, delivering the forecasted six inches by the time lifts started spinning. But then the Northwest Flow turned on and the snowfall didn't stop.
January 12th: Annalise Bianco getting a faceful of Northwest flow | Photo: Photo-John
By Sunday morning, almost two feet of snow had accumulated at the Collins Study Plot. Alta's teams went to work, grooming the main corridors, performing avalanche mitigation, clearing the snow from the parking lots, shoveling out the lifts and buildings and opening terrain in time for first chair.
Stay tuned to our Lift and Terrain Status page for daily grooming and terrain openings.
New Year, New Transportation Hub
We recently launched a new Getting Here page for local and visiting skiers. Our new transportation hub highlights public transportation, private shuttles, parking reservations and the UDOT Traction Law. You can also find Winter Driving Tips, learn more about the free Alta Town Shuttle and plan the best way to get from the SLC Airport to Alta.
January Is Learn To Ski Month
Is learning to ski—or learning to ski better—your New Year’s Resolution? The Alf Engen Ski School can help you achieve your goals in 2025.
- The Adult Learn To Ski Program is an all-inclusive offering to take you from non-skier to skiing greens and blues in four discounted sessions
- Kids Class Lessons and Camps help to foster a lifelong love of skiing
Alta offers plenty of Private Lessons, Adult Camps and Multi-Week Programs to take your skills to new heights in the new year.
- Want to perfect your powder-eights? Adult Camps offer unrivaled variety, elite coaching and the secrets of great skiing
- Adult Multi-Week Programs are a great tool for rounding out your foundational skills—no matter your skill level
- Private Lessons and Guides will elevate your skiing to new heights in the new year
Plan Your Trip
Parking Reservations
During the holidays, parking reservations are required Friday–Sunday and holidays from 8am–1pm. These reservations help us manage the ski experience by limiting the number of skiers to available terrain and lift capacity. If you are unable to make a reservation, catch the Ski Bus, carpool with someone who has a reservation or plan to ski after 1pm when reservations are no longer required.
We release additional parking reservations on Sundays at 3pm for the upcoming week—plan ahead.
Using Your Ikon Pass or Mountain Collective
Alta Ski Area no longer accepts the Ikon Base Pass, but we are still part of the Ikon family. Skiers must have an Ikon Base-Plus or full Ikon Pass to ski Alta. The Ikon Friends and Family discount provides 25% off an Alta-Bird day pass for a friend or family member (not yourself), available day of at any ticket window.
The Mountain Collective Pass provides two days of skiing at Alta and two days of skiing at Snowbird. Additional ski days are 50% off at Alta and Snowbird. There are no blackout dates, even during the holiday season. Alta season passholders received Mountain Collective Reciprocity at Snowbird and 22 other destinations.
Ikon Pass, Ikon Base Plus and Mountain Collective passholders are required to make parking reservations Friday–Sunday and holidays from 8am–1pm.
Ride the Ski Bus
The Utah Transit Authority has expanded Ski Bus service to Alta Ski Area. The 994 Route is now joined by Canyon Service buses (CS1 & CS2). Ride the Ski Bus this holiday season and make riding the Ski Bus one of your New Year's resolutions.
State of the Snowpack
As of January 1st, the Collins Study Plot recorded 155 inches of season-to-date snowfall from 15.04 inches of water—a higher-than-average density of 9.19%. Over the 44-year history of the Collins Study Plot, we have averaged 187.8 inches of snowfall and 16.43 inches of water by New Year’s Day.
The 2024–25 season has seen about 82.5% of our average October–December snowfall from 91.5% of our average October–December water.
The nearly 50 inches of snow that fell during the holiday week helped us make up a lot of ground, bringing us closer to average. Here’s hoping that the recent snowfall is a harbinger of a snowy season ahead. As we saw in the last week of 2024, it only takes a few well-timed storm cycles and a little Alta Magic to bring about a fresh start.
Season-To-Date Snowfall Recap
The new year is a great time to do a little self-inventory. Let’s take a look at our monthly snowfall numbers.
October 2024 | 17.5 Inches of Snow
Our first dusting of the season was on September 17th. Exactly one month later, we experienced top-to-bottom snowfall blanketing the fall colors of Alta.
October 17th: Eight inches of fresh snow | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
After a short break of summerlike weather, winter made its return at the end of October, delivering base-building snow and temperatures that allowed our snowmaking crew to fire up the snowguns.
In total, 17.5 inches of snow fell on the slopes of Alta Ski Area over the second half of October, 66% of our 44-year average (26.5"). October water clocked in at 2.13 inches, 70.5% of the 44-year average for October (3.02").
November 2024 | 66.5 inches of snow
Opening Day of our 87th season at Alta Ski Area was Friday, November 22nd. We opened the 2024–25 winter with a 23-inch base and 50-plus inches of season-to-date snowfall. It wasn’t the deepest or earliest opening in recent memory, but we were able to spin Wildcat and Collins lifts to expert skiers in Collins Gulch and the around-the-world corridor from the top of Collins to the Albion Basin.
November 22nd: Andrew Pollard finds soft turns on Opening Day | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
A quick-hitting storm dropped six inches of fresh snow at the end of Opening Weekend. The fresh snow made for some great skiing and provided additional coverage for expert skiers.
November 24th: Skiers enjoy six inches of new snow | Photo: Photo-John
Thanksgiving week brought remnants of an atmospheric river that delivered over 20 inches of new snow. Wednesday, November 27th was an all-you-can-eat powder buffet under blue skies and sun dogs. Alta Magic was in the air, welcoming skiers to the start of our 87th season.
November 27th: Ana Eyssimont comes up for air | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
The fresh snowfall and subsequent cold temperatures allowed our snowmaking crews and Alta Ski Patrol to expand our current lift and terrain offerings. Sugarloaf lift, East Baldy Traverse and Ballroom opened on Thanksgiving Day and Sunnyside opened on Black Friday—allowing intermediate and beginner skiers to enjoy some November turns and plenty of leftover powder.
In total, November 2024 saw 66.5 inches of snow, 94.1% of the 44-year average (70.7”). November water totaled 5.03 inches, 81.4% of the 44-year average (6.18”).
December 2024 | 71 Inches of snow
We entered the first full month of the 2024–25 season under an extended stretch of high pressure. While we waited for the snow to fall, our snowmaking crews took advantage of the cold December nights and added some manmade depth to groomed runs. Our first flakes of the season fell on December 8th and 9th—a smaller storm that helped open the door to a series of storms heading into the middle of the month.
December 10th: An Alta local skis the first snowfall of December | Photo: Tyler Struss
The season has seen a few storms fall short of forecasted totals, so it was quite a surprise when the next storm delivered 11.5 inches of snow on a forecast calling for a trace to two inches. The new snow made for a great day of powder skiing and helped soften up turns around the mountain heading into the weekend.
December 13th: Ryan Mulkerin dives into a sleeper powder day | Photo: Lee Cohen
The next storm arrived from the southwest, the blowing winds and a few dense inches of snow acted as Mother Nature's grooming cats. Skiers flocked to the wind-buffed slopes of Alta as it began to look and feel like winter had made its return to Alta Ski Area.
December 16th: Piper Kunst enjoys a little Ballroom dancing | Photo: Rocko Menzyk
Following a week of mild weather and only a few dustings of snow, Santa stopped by Alta to ski a few laps and deliver some presents on Christmas Eve. We must have been on the Nice List this year because the flakes immediately started falling.
December 25th: Jon White skis powder in Westward Ho Ho Ho | Photo: Tyler Struss
Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, almost 50 inches of snow fell on the slopes of Alta. The new snow made for some great powder skiing our teams worked around the clock to keep up with everything Mother Nature threw our way. The most recent storm cycle fell on a sensitive early-season snowpack, thanks for your patience as we worked through avalanche mitigation through the holiday season.
As the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, December 2024 registered 71 inches of snow, 78% of the 44-year average (90.6”). December water totaled 7.84 inches, 108% of the 44-year average (7.23").
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