A birds-eye-view of Beaver Mountains facilities currently under construction at the ski resort.
BEAVER MOUNTAIN – There are some major changes going on at Beaver Mountain Ski Resort. The owners are making improvements to their lodges during this past spring and summer to accommodate the growth in patronage.
The Seeholzer family is building a 24,000 square foot, two-story ski lodge to replace their current day use ski building built sometime in the 1950’s.
This may be the biggest investment in the resort since Harold Seeholzer stuck an old car motor up the hill at Beaver Mountain and fashioned a rope tow to it in 1936 so his friends and family could ski.
Travis Seeholzer, the operations manager of the resort, said the new building will have a café, retail ski space, restrooms and a ski school area that will be separate from the rental shop. There will be a deck over the ski school where parents or grandparents can watch their students as they leave the school and move on to the hill.
“The ticket office was built sometime in the ‘40s and some of the building was built in the ’50s,” he said. “Our ski population has doubled in the last six to seven years and we needed to upgrade our facilities.”
The current ticket office is a tiny building and home to ski school. It has a lot of history.
They think the original ticket office will be in operation until next year. Then, when the new construction is completed, it will go away.
They hope to have everything completed in the fall of 2024, including the Café or coffee shop with pizza, sandwiches and soups.
The Seeholzer family spent some time finding a design that would work for the family operation that would accommodate the thousands of recreators that use the ski hills.
“We talked to different ski resort owners, and we have a lot of experience and know our customers well,” he said. “There are some similar spaces where we needed to pour concrete and excavate to make the space fit. In ski areas it’s hard to find flat areas to build on.
They are replacing some of the power distribution stations. Some of them needed to be updated.
This summer they decided to not let campers use the area this spring and summer, which is normally used by a fair number of campers.
“We had no water. We have a lot of locals (who) like to camp up there and they will appreciate the enhancements when completed,” he said. “The parking area is also being expanded, some of it will be ready for this ski season and some will be completed at the time the lodge is done.”
The infrastructure is a large and expensive part of the project but most people will not even know it was done.
These new buildings should enhance the experience for those trying their skills on 48 runs using their six lifts.
Beaver Mountain is different than most other ski hills in the state. Other resorts have accommodations for out-of-town visitors. Beaver Mountain relies on local traffic from Cache Valley, Southeast Idaho, and Utah State University students for patronage.