Brighton United States

Legendary

Photo by Jeremy Michael

Brighton is Utah's very first ski resort. It opened in 1936, two full years before nearby Alta, making it one of the earliest ski areas anywhere in the country.

It didn't start as a real ski resort at all. A group called the Alpine Ski Club built a simple rope tow using wire and an old elevator motor.

At the time, only 15 ski areas existed in the entire United States, and none of them were in Utah. 

The resort sits at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. It's named after William Stuart Brighton, a Scottish immigrant who settled there in 1871 with his wife, Catherine.

The Brighton family built a small hotel in 1874. Miners traveling between Park City and Alta often stopped there to rest and eat Catherine's home cooking.

Skiing at Brighton grew slowly at first. In 1947, the resort added its first chairlift. In 1955, it added Utah's first double chairlift, called Mount Majestic.

Brighton became one of the first resorts in the country to welcome snowboarders. That decision helped shape the sport and made Brighton a favorite spot for early snowboarding pioneers.

Today, Brighton spreads across seven mountain peaks and more than 1,200 acres. It's known as a friendly, low-key resort where many Utah locals first learned to ski or snowboard.

Ride the lifts up for sweeping views of the Wasatch Mountains. Try the tree skiing and glades, some of Brighton's most popular terrain. Stick around after dark for night skiing, one of the resort's most popular features.