Midway's Nordic Season Is Waiting on a Pile of Last Winter's Snow

From the lodge deck at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center you can see a long white mound in a field about a quarter mile off. The Salt Lake Tribune put it at about the length of a football field, as wide as a big rig and about 20 feet high. Its bright white tarp reflects the sun, and underneath it is still cold. Over the summer it drew a steady stream of visitors. The Tribune reported that operators from Deer Valley Resort and Woodward Park City came by, along with University of Utah ski coaches and snow researchers.

The mound is last winter's snow. When the covers come off in the next few weeks, whatever is left will set the start of Midway's cross-country season. It will also settle a question for anyone in the valley deciding before November 15 which trail pass to buy.

Why a Low Valley Needed a Summer Snowbank

Soldier Hollow's base sits at 5,463 feet, the lowest of Utah's outdoor venues, and last winter showed what that elevation can cost. The Tribune reported that Utah had its warmest winter on record. By the end of January the Nordic center had received just 3 inches of snow, and it closed in late March, about a month earlier than usual.

General manager Luke Bodensteiner responded by building a snowbank to outlast the summer. His crew made the snow with eight snow guns and covered it with insulated panels topped by a white tarp. With help from a Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation grant, he bought 16 panels from the Finnish company Snow Secure for roughly $150,000. He chose them after Idaho's Bogus Basin, which has a similar climate, tested a new blanket in 2024-25. KSL described the mats as foam boards about 2½ inches thick over a geotextile layer, and said crews covered the pile in about a day.

Last winter shrank the pile too. Only 13 of the 16 panels went on, because by February it was too warm to keep making snow. The pile ended up about 80% of its planned size, and the covers went on during a downpour instead of the snowstorm the method calls for. Then it sat through one of the hottest summers in state history. Bodensteiner told KSL that some July days went over 100 degrees.

What Comes Out From Under the Tarp

As of KSL's October 16 report, the pile was still covered. KSL said the snow had been there since March, and Bodensteiner estimated from his summer observations that 75% to 80% of it remained. Those figures are estimates, not measurements. Crews plan to remove the tarps, measure what survived, and use snowcats to spread it across the cross-country trails.

The target is modest. Bodensteiner told the Tribune he hopes to find enough snow for 1.5 kilometers of trail. Two dates are in circulation for the first day on it. The Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation, which runs Soldier Hollow, says on its annual trail pass page that 2026 early-season skiing is projected to open November 5. KSL reported the hope as mid-November. Neither is a confirmed opening. The snow under the tarp will decide.

"The idea is to have a training facility and be able to get the ski season started about two weeks earlier than we might normally ski," Bodensteiner told KSL.

November on 1.5 Kilometers

A short strip of snow can't hold everyone at once, so the Foundation has split November into sessions. Its early-season schedule gives high-performance groups and the public separate windows, and the order flips on weekends.

Premium Annual passholders can ski the public sessions automatically. They can also buy time in the high-performance sessions for $25 a day or $85 for four or more days. Passholders who aren't on a team must wear a bib in those sessions, which takes a $15 deposit.

That puts the stored snow behind a pass decision with a deadline. An adult Regular Annual pass costs $185 if bought before November 15 and $235 after, and it starts the Monday after Thanksgiving, November 30 this year. An adult Premium pass costs $265 and starts on early-season opening day. For a skier who would buy early, the gap is $80, and it pays for whatever November skiing the pile supports. The covers may come off close to November 15, so the decision could land before the measurement is in or just after. The Foundation suggests the Annual pass for anyone planning to ski more than eight times this winter. Both versions are good through October 31, 2027, not for a year from purchase.

The Order of Midway's Winter Has Changed

In a normal year, Soldier Hollow opens with the same holiday wave as everything else in town. If the stored snow holds up, the Nordic trails will open weeks before the tree on Town Square is lit. Midway City has rebranded its holiday season as Christmas on the Square, which keeps the familiar traditions and adds new activities. It begins Saturday, November 28, with the traditional tree lighting, and the full schedule hasn't been posted yet. Two days later, regular passholders and day-ticket skiers get onto the trails.

These are the dates the venues have published so far:

The two Soldier Hollow races in the Utah Nordic Alliance's Wasatch Citizens Series use wave starts and end with a community lunch. The series allows registration for single races, and spectators are welcome. The December 11 SuperTour is on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard calendar, though the listing doesn't say whether spectators can attend. Soldier Hollow's tubing runs in two-hour sessions on 1,200-foot lanes, and ticket prices change by date and time.

Homestead's holiday listings fill the second half of December. Christmas in the Crater adds lights and the scent of cinnamon to the soak from December 18 through January 3. A free gift-wrapping and Santa-letter station opens in the Virginia House Sun Room from December 18 to 25. Movie nights in 1886 run every Monday in December at $25 per person. AETHER Apparel will park its Airstream retail trailer at the resort over the same dates, with hours not yet posted.

The season will also be missing some things and wind down early in a few places. The Ice Castles site lists New Hampshire and Montréal as this winter's locations, and Midway isn't on the list. The Crater keeps its 60-minute soak sessions at $30 this winter. It will close for renovations in April and May 2027, and Homestead says updated infrastructure is planned by summer 2027. On the dining side, the Milk House has an expanded menu and 1886 Grill is back. Simon's Tavern is planned for spring 2027, after the snow is gone.

A Rehearsal for 2034, Held in a Midway Field

The pile matters beyond this November. Utah 2034 lists Soldier Hollow in its proposed venue plan for Olympic biathlon, cross-country skiing and Nordic combined, and for Paralympic biathlon and cross-country. The organizers' June 2026 Games Plan says final sports and venues will be confirmed in 2028. It also names climate-responsive snow management as a priority for winter venues.

According to the Tribune, Bodensteiner expects to have five or six piles around the venue by the summer of 2033. Utah State climate researcher Scott Hotaling told the paper that a method proven at a site this low, dry and warm could work almost anywhere skiing happens in Utah. Bodensteiner is not calling it a fix yet. "It's definitely still an experiment," he told the Tribune.

At Echelon Luxury Homes, Jenny Mecham keeps track of the Heber Valley through details like the date Soldier Hollow opens. If you're weighing a home within reach of those trails, or would like a quiet read on how Midway's winter is changing, schedule a private consultation.