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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Brighton Ski Resort opened, joining Solitude and Brian Head for the season.
• A snowstorm is expected to bring up to 10 inches to Cottonwood Canyons.

SALT LAKE CITY — Brighton Ski Resort opened Thursday ahead of a snowstorm expected to bring as much as 10 inches of powder to the Cottonwood Canyons over the next two days.

Dozens of skiers and snowboarders lined up to ride the Majestic and Explorer lifts at the Big Cottonwood Canyon resort, the third to open in Utah this season. Neighboring Solitude opened for the weekend last week and will start spinning the lifts for the 2024-2025 season on Friday.

Brian Head in southern Utah opened last Friday. Other areas plan to start winter operations around Thanksgiving and in early December.

When will it snow again?

Skiers and snowboarders might have some fresh snow to ride in the next few days. A storm is moving into the state beginning Friday and into Saturday, according to KSL-TV meteorologist Matt Johnson.

"We're not expecting a ton from this storm system," he said.

Johnson anticipates the storm will drop 2 to 5 inches in the mountains and 5 to 10 inches in the Cottonwood Canyons. The storm will clear out Saturday afternoon.

And more could be on the way next week.

OnTheSnow meteorologist Chris Tomer is forecasting 6 to 8 inches at Alta, Snowbird, Solitude and Brighton in the Cottonwoods and less accumulation at Park City, Deer Valley, Powder Mountain, Brian Head and Snowbasin.

SKI Magazine recently named Snowbasin as the best ski area in the West based on reader surveys. Alta also made the Top 5.

Utah ski resorts current opening dates:

• Alta — Nov. 22
• Beaver Mountain — TBA
• Brian Head — Open
• Brighton — Open
• Cherry Peak — TBA
• Deer Valley Resort — Dec. 7
• Eagle Point — Dec. 20
• Nordic Valley — Dec. 7
• Park City Mountain — Nov. 22
• Powder Mountain — Dec. 6
• Snowbasin — Nov. 29
• Snowbird — Nov. 28
• Solitude — Nov. 15
• Sundance — Dec. 4
• Woodward Park City — Nov. 29

What else is new?

Deer Valley released a new trail map Thursday to reflect its expanded terrain and three new chairlifts — Keetley Express, Hoodoo Express and Aurora. Renowned illustrator and graphic designer Rad Smith, known for keeping up the tradition of hand-painted ski maps, designed and drew the new guide using an aerial perspective to accurately portray the resort's varied terrain, chairlifts and amenities.

"Deer Valley's new trail map is more than just a guide to our expanded terrain; it's a work of art that captures the essence and intricacies of our mountain landscape," Susie English, vice president of marketing, said in a press release. "This map not only provides a preview of this year's enhancements and the new terrain coming in future seasons, but it also showcases our dedication to elevating every aspect of the guest experience."

Also Thursday, Snowbird announced the addition of more carpool-only parking spaces to help ease winter traffic congestion in Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Utah weatherUtahOutdoorsSalt Lake CountySouthern Utah

Dennis Romboy

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Dennis Romboy is an editor and reporter for the Deseret News. He has covered a variety of beats over the years, including state and local government, social issues and courts. A Utah native, Romboy earned a degree in journalism from the University of Utah. He enjoys cycling, snowboarding and running.