Park City Mountain submitted new applications to City Hall on Tuesday that seek to replace and upgrade three lifts at its Mountain Village area — a proposal that could reopen a long-running debate over the impact on the community of infrastructure upgrades at the resort.
The resort is seeking approval to replace the Eagle and Eaglet lifts in the First Time area with a single modern six-passenger chair and to upgrade the Silverlode Express lift from a six-passenger lift to an eight-passenger lift.
The renewed push comes after a lift upgrade proposal in 2022 that sparked controversy among residents. Some expressed concern about crowding, traffic and parking, while others supported the upgrades as a way to improve skier flow and reduce lift lines.
In August 2025, a Utah Court of Appeals panel sided with Park City officials and residents who challenged the resort’s earlier attempt for approval. The court agreed the proposal didn’t qualify for administrative approval under the city’s development agreement.
The decision centered largely on parking, with the court ruling the resort hadn’t clearly shown that increasing lift capacity wouldn’t worsen parking or push the mountain beyond its “comfortable carrying capacity,” a secret and trademarked proprietary metric estimating how many guests the resort can reasonably accommodate.
This time, the company applied for a conditional use permit from the Park City Planning Commission, a more involved process.
“When I talk to community members and guests, common frustrations I hear about are the lift lines at some base area and on-mountain lifts. I get it. No one wants to wait in a line when they have more than 7,300 acres of terrain to ski and ride,” Deirdra Walsh, vice president and COO of Park City Mountain, wrote in letter to the editor to The Park Record published Wednesday.
A resort spokesperson said Tuesday that the Eagle and Eaglet lift project would improve access at the Mountain Village base, better support ski and snowboard school operations and help reduce bottlenecks at nearby lifts including First Time, Payday and Crescent.
They said that the Silverlode Express replacement would ease congestion and move skiers and riders more efficiently between terrain and on-mountain amenities by increasing capacity from six to eight people per chair.
“If approved, the projects would make the ski day better — shorter lift lines, smoother circulation, and easier access to terrain and experiences that are in high demand. These upgrades are not about adding visitors to the mountain, they are about moving guests around the mountain better,” the spokesperson said.
“These proposed projects focus on improving the lift and on-mountain experience and do not impact parking or traffic. Parking and transportation continue to be successfully addressed through the 2022 parking plan developed in partnership with the city,” they said.
“Park City Mountain is an important community partner, and we appreciate their continued desire to invest in the on-mountain experience to benefit both locals and visitors,” said Park City Mayor Ryan Dickey. “As with any proposal, the city will carefully review the details through our established process and land management code.”
The resort will hold a public open house to discuss the proposal on Feb. 4 at the Legacy Lodge from 5 to 7 p.m.
Anyone interested in learning more or engaging in dialogue with the resort regarding the permits and proposed lift changes may RSVP at this link: surveymonkey.com/r/silverlode-eagle.