A510-acre piece of land at the base of Nordic Valley ski resort in Eden could soon become home to an affordable, thriving ski community. Through a team effort, Skyline Mountain Base, Mountain Capital Partners, Nordic Valley Ski Area, and the Ogden Valley community are bringing Nordic Village to life.
The master-planned community will include hotel space and overnight accommodations, up to 550 new residential units, and over 38,000 square feet of commercial space. The developed land will cover 61 acres, leaving 88 percent of the 510 acres as open land.
According to the Nordic Village Proposal, “The Master Plan proposed in this rezone document for the Nordic Valley Village promotes Weber County residents’ health, safety, and welfare by creating a family-centered distinct year-round resort. This variety will provide stability and long-term benefits to Weber County and the Ogden Valley while also preserving significant open space within the project.”
While Skyline Mountain Base is the owner of the land, Mountain Capital Partners has been the operator and manager of the Nordic Valley resort since 2018. Since the companies entered a partnership, the resort has undergone numerous upgrades and improvements.
“This will ultimately be a win for our community and everyone who calls Nordic Valley home,” says Stacey Glaser of Mountain Capital Partners. “While Skyline plans are still preliminary, we are happy to see many improvements that will enhance the skier experience at Nordic Valley, including better parking, improved access to the mountain and on-mountain services, and additional restaurants with more seating.”
While Nordic Valley ski resort gained recognition for being one of the best downhill training ski areas during the 2002 Winter Olympics, it’s long been overshadowed by the larger, better-known resorts in the Salt Lake area. Developers on the project anticipate that the construction of Nordic Village will be part of an ongoing effort to put Nordic Valley on the map as one of Utah’s world-class ski resorts. So far, one of the most significant updates to the resort was the expansion project in 2020.
“The importance of this expansion, (which is ongoing: last year we added 15 trails, this year we added three more) has been nothing short of revolutionary,” says Glaser.
The 2020 expansion project was the largest in the resort’s history. With the addition of Nordic Express, the resort’s first high-speed detachable six-person chairlift, and the development of 300 acres of undeveloped land, the resort is growing to meet the needs of locals and visitors alike.
“We developed a part of the mountain that Nordic Valley pioneers only dreamed of. We added intermediate and advanced terrain our guests had been asking us for,” Glaser continues. “We’re now one of three ski areas in Utah to offer a lift of this kind, and with our ongoing trail development, we will eventually more than triple our skiable acres. This expansion has improved the experience for everyone at Nordic Valley, especially for the local community.”
While Nordic Valley expands with new trails, new lifts, and now a ski village, it aims to continue to be one of the most affordable ski options. With some of the most expensive ski resorts in the country located to the south, Utah is in desperate need of affordable ski options.
Glaser, who believes skiing should be an option for everyone, says, “Our purpose at Mountain Capital Partners is to give people the freedom to ski, and that includes making skiing accessible to everyone. Removing barriers to skiing is something we talk about regularly and, more importantly, create products and plans to address.”
With day passes to nearby resorts setting visitors back upwards of $200, Nordic Valley has days where passes are available for as low as $9. Children can access completely free season passes at Nordic Valley, and lodging at Nordic Village is expected to be priced lower than lodging at other Utah resorts.
To minimize traffic and the environmental impact of the village, the Nordic Village master plans call for a pedestrian-oriented, compact design. To accomplish this, the developers are seeking a rezone for the land.
According to the master plan, the rezone “establishes design guidelines and sustainability practices within the rezone application far superior to current zone development requirements minimizing the overall impact of the community.”
Without the requested rezone, current zoning laws will require Nordic Village to build new units on a larger portion of the land, leaving less open space. The county is still considering the rezone request and gathering public opinion on the issue.
As is common in the rapidly expanding state of Utah, some residents wonder if the current infrastructure in the area can support a new development. Dwindling water resources are always a concern, and highly congested roads are increasingly common in areas with many new developments.
With proper planning for water usage and traffic management, however, the new ski village has the potential to bring significant benefits to the area. An analysis performed by Lewis Young Robertson and Burningham Inc. the project’s overall economic impact will reach $471.74 million over the next 25 years. This includes the tax revenue generated for the county and the creation of an estimated 538 new jobs.
Scott Perkes, a Weber County planner, spoke to the Standard Examiner in March 2020 about the feedback he’s received from the public, “I’ve received very few outright detracting comments of the proposal,” says Perkes. “Several property owners adjacent to the project have offered very positive feedback and are excited about the changes.” However now, several weeks later, public input against the project is fierce.
These economic benefits, combined with the potential to spend time in the entirely public new ski community, could lead to new opportunities in Weber county should the proposal pass.
Note from the Editor: We have added the link to the Standard Examiner article where Scott Perkes was quoted.
Note from the Editor: We have updated the number of residential rooms from 763 to 550.
Note from the Editor: We have added a new link to an article on the public outcry from The Standard Examiner.