I think Lee Canyon should install a gondola to the highest point within their SUP. The area is extremely popular among locals in the summertime for hiking, and the scenic chairlift rides are already quite popular. There are limited viewpoints from this height in the Las Vegas area, and a gondola’s accessibility could not be matched.
Lee Canyon really needs to expand. There are no two ways about it. The only thing that keeps them in business is that Brian Head is hours away and a real pain to get to in the winter.
My two cents is that the ski market in Las Vegas has a lot of room for growth. The region is growing at an incredible clip, and a lot of the new residents are coming from California where skiing is more popular. Lee Canyon has a reputation of being geared more for beginners, and a lot of Californians, who are used to Mammoth and Tahoe, complain about the snow quality. They need to expand up the canyon to reach higher elevations and steeper terrain in order to be more competitive.
Brian Head attracts a lot of intermediate and expert skiers who want a better experience. However, it alone cannot replicate the same weekend warrior culture that exists elsewhere in the country. If given a proper investment and a more aggressive marketing strategy in Las Vegas, I think Eagle Point could attract a lot of skiers as well. The terrain and snow are on par with Brian Head, and there is more room for expansion without a national monument next door. However, its lack of name recognition is a killer. Honestly, I think the market is large enough for all three resorts to expand, with an emphasis on Lee Canyon and Eagle Point. Until then, Vegas skiers will continue primarily taking fewer trips to resorts farther away.
Eagle Point is nearly 4 hours. Mammoth is 5, Snowbird is 6. That’s 25-50% further for skiing that’s at least twice as good. If I lived in Vegas, I’d try to ski most of my weekends at Snowbird and Mammoth. I just don’t know why you’d do the 4hr drive to Southern Utah to ski 1k vertical runs.
I used to live in Vegas. Brian Head is under 3, Eagle Point is 3.5, and Park City/LCC is 6. However, all of those times can be shortened depending on your tendency to follow the speed limit, as the drive to all is almost entirely on I-15 in the middle of nowhere. Mammoth is 5 and Tahoe is 7-7.5 depending on where you are going, but those drives are harder to shorten with minimal interstate highway travel. The difference between Brian Head and Eagle Point is relatively minimal and the car ride is still fine, but the additional time to the SLC resorts or Mammoth is definitely noticeable and requires an extra stop for gas, rest, food, stretching, etc.
Like I said before, Vegas skiers primarily take fewer trips to resorts farther away, as it is difficult to justify being a weekend warrior for drives more than 4 hours. Trips to Utah and Mammoth are often 3+ nights and only occur a couple of times per winter at the most. My point was that there are relatively few Vegas residents who are weekend regulars anywhere outside of Brian Head, and the market is likely large enough for a second resort in that category, which would be Eagle Point. Eagle Point’s lack of name recognition allows it to be a hidden gem, which is nice for those who know about it, but likely overall a negative in the name of growing the sport in one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas.
The biggest impediment against any new resorts in the Spring Mountains is the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area, which prohibits practically all development in areas with good exposure, elevation, and snowfall and also restricts how large Lee Canyon can ever grow. The best bet for a new resort in the region is an indoor slope on the strip with a new casino development, which was proposed years ago as a part of a Swiss-themed resort. Every once in a while, some iteration of the idea briefly resurfaces, but it has never made any substantial progress.
The road from Vegas to Brian Head in the winter can be a disaster. Tahoe being better than Brian Head may be a bit of a stretch. Having lived in Vegas, Tahoe isn’t the place to go, at least it wasn’t six years ago. Brian Head is still the closest moderately sized ski area to Vegas with a good vertical. Aside from the interesting layout, Brian Head is a good ski area overall. As for an indoor ski area on the Strip, it will never happen. It is predicted that Lake Mead will go dry pretty soon. Despite the water conservation efforts, the water level on Lake Mead hasn’t looked very promising for years.
Another reason is snowfall. Lee Canyon has an average of 129″s Brian Head 360″s. That would keep the chance of another resort near Vegas being built close to zero.
The road once you exit I-15 can get bad, but I have never had any real problems in my car (although it does have 4WD) and it is definitely not worse than mountain roads elsewhere in the country. When going to Heavenly from Vegas, Kingsbury Grade can get pretty bad too, and LCC can get dangerous when there are too many cars and the weather turns.
I fully disagree with Tahoe not being better than Brian Head. I will agree that Northstar is not worth the trip, but Squaw is always fun and Heavenly is great when there is a big base. Yes, it is less popular than SLC, but people definitely make the trip. It will similarly always be limited by its distance, as you really need more than a typical two-day weekend to make it worth it. But, this actually allows you to avoid weekend crowds and there are some pretty good lodging deals in South Lake Tahoe, whereas crowds and prices have grown significantly in SLC in the past decade or two.
Never say never for an indoor resort on the strip. Indoor resorts actually do not need that much water, as once it is in, it is simply recycled and continuously used, so Lake Mead should not be a factor there. Regardless, Brain Head will absolutely remain king.
Well said. Biggest opportunities are clearly at Lee Canyon and Eagle Point from a Vegas skiing perspective. With multiple, legit 350″/yr ski resorts 3 to 3.5 hours away, the pull of Mammoth is weaker from Vegas than it is for LA with no legit drivable resorts that are closer. Lee Canyon seems destined to be no more than a day trip venue given its proximity to Vegas, development limitations, and snowfall inadequacies.
Given both snowfall and distance, Eagle Point and Brian Head are the natural destination resorts for Vegas weekenders. With new ownership in place at the former, and as mentioned above much more freedom to expand, Eagle Point seems like the one to watch here. That said, with Mountain Capital Partners now running the show at Brian Head, it’s not going to come easy.
Not often. The area sees minimal snowfall; most of Lee Canyon’s upper expandable terrain would only be skiable once every 3-5 years. The Spring’s definitely have some gnarly tourable terrain even higher up, and that sees 200-250″ of snowfall a year. Not hugely impressive, but enough for a few weeks of skiable stuff. Maybe skiable every other year or even a few in a row.
All of this more skiable section of the mountain is expert to extreme, extremely wind affected, and mostly sits in a wilderness area. Especially the potential black-double black grades to the north that would be less intimidating than the potential triple blacks on the main peaks.
1. Expand, even possibly downwards into more lame flat terrain. Embrace being Vegas’s learning hill, but with as much snowmaking as they can get away with. Easier said than done given the water rights insanity in the area.
2. Go all in on the summer bike season. They’re already adding a bike park, but go big with it. Have at least 2 lifts serving trails. Work with the forest service to build a more shuttle-able singletrack from the base. USFS would probably love the idea of pulling riders from the gray area trails to somewhere more managed and maintained.
Not to mention the demand is huge; Vegas has become a decent destination for people who want to pedal year round. Especially the outskirts. The mtn is only about 45 min from some of the most popular desert riding in the area. It’s good enough to draw from beyond Vegas itself. But the region lacks much higher elevation riding, even without being high alpine Lee would instantly be the least-hot place to ride in southern Nevada.
See: Angel Fire, NM who now earns more in the bike park season than ski season.
What a pity, 1000′ vert is quite respectable. They could have protected the return station under an avalanche proof shelter/shed and engineered some concrete walls at the base of the chutes to protect the runs.
Feb 5 2024 and they’ve just had another avalanche incident.
The avalanche paths above the resort are no joke. Even during smaller storm cycles they can produce d3+ avalanches. Going higher with any lift is challenging because the terrain above is so incredibly difficult to mitigate.
Lift Blog 
I don’t think the Chair 3 double was ever called Rabbit Peak. I have photos from 2008 or 2009 that shows the lift being listed as Chair 3.
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I think Lee Canyon should install a gondola to the highest point within their SUP. The area is extremely popular among locals in the summertime for hiking, and the scenic chairlift rides are already quite popular. There are limited viewpoints from this height in the Las Vegas area, and a gondola’s accessibility could not be matched.
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Lee Canyon really needs to expand. There are no two ways about it. The only thing that keeps them in business is that Brian Head is hours away and a real pain to get to in the winter.
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My two cents is that the ski market in Las Vegas has a lot of room for growth. The region is growing at an incredible clip, and a lot of the new residents are coming from California where skiing is more popular. Lee Canyon has a reputation of being geared more for beginners, and a lot of Californians, who are used to Mammoth and Tahoe, complain about the snow quality. They need to expand up the canyon to reach higher elevations and steeper terrain in order to be more competitive.
Brian Head attracts a lot of intermediate and expert skiers who want a better experience. However, it alone cannot replicate the same weekend warrior culture that exists elsewhere in the country. If given a proper investment and a more aggressive marketing strategy in Las Vegas, I think Eagle Point could attract a lot of skiers as well. The terrain and snow are on par with Brian Head, and there is more room for expansion without a national monument next door. However, its lack of name recognition is a killer. Honestly, I think the market is large enough for all three resorts to expand, with an emphasis on Lee Canyon and Eagle Point. Until then, Vegas skiers will continue primarily taking fewer trips to resorts farther away.
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Eagle Point is nearly 4 hours. Mammoth is 5, Snowbird is 6. That’s 25-50% further for skiing that’s at least twice as good. If I lived in Vegas, I’d try to ski most of my weekends at Snowbird and Mammoth. I just don’t know why you’d do the 4hr drive to Southern Utah to ski 1k vertical runs.
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You have all of Tahoe too. It may be busy but it is still better than Lee Canyon, Brian Head, or Eagle Point.
I think Las Vegas just needs another resort to keep competition. There is still plenty of space in the Spring mountains for another resort.
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I used to live in Vegas. Brian Head is under 3, Eagle Point is 3.5, and Park City/LCC is 6. However, all of those times can be shortened depending on your tendency to follow the speed limit, as the drive to all is almost entirely on I-15 in the middle of nowhere. Mammoth is 5 and Tahoe is 7-7.5 depending on where you are going, but those drives are harder to shorten with minimal interstate highway travel. The difference between Brian Head and Eagle Point is relatively minimal and the car ride is still fine, but the additional time to the SLC resorts or Mammoth is definitely noticeable and requires an extra stop for gas, rest, food, stretching, etc.
Like I said before, Vegas skiers primarily take fewer trips to resorts farther away, as it is difficult to justify being a weekend warrior for drives more than 4 hours. Trips to Utah and Mammoth are often 3+ nights and only occur a couple of times per winter at the most. My point was that there are relatively few Vegas residents who are weekend regulars anywhere outside of Brian Head, and the market is likely large enough for a second resort in that category, which would be Eagle Point. Eagle Point’s lack of name recognition allows it to be a hidden gem, which is nice for those who know about it, but likely overall a negative in the name of growing the sport in one of the nation’s fastest-growing metro areas.
The biggest impediment against any new resorts in the Spring Mountains is the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area, which prohibits practically all development in areas with good exposure, elevation, and snowfall and also restricts how large Lee Canyon can ever grow. The best bet for a new resort in the region is an indoor slope on the strip with a new casino development, which was proposed years ago as a part of a Swiss-themed resort. Every once in a while, some iteration of the idea briefly resurfaces, but it has never made any substantial progress.
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The road from Vegas to Brian Head in the winter can be a disaster. Tahoe being better than Brian Head may be a bit of a stretch. Having lived in Vegas, Tahoe isn’t the place to go, at least it wasn’t six years ago. Brian Head is still the closest moderately sized ski area to Vegas with a good vertical. Aside from the interesting layout, Brian Head is a good ski area overall. As for an indoor ski area on the Strip, it will never happen. It is predicted that Lake Mead will go dry pretty soon. Despite the water conservation efforts, the water level on Lake Mead hasn’t looked very promising for years.
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Another reason is snowfall. Lee Canyon has an average of 129″s Brian Head 360″s. That would keep the chance of another resort near Vegas being built close to zero.
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Brian Head’s base is also 1300 feet higher.
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The road once you exit I-15 can get bad, but I have never had any real problems in my car (although it does have 4WD) and it is definitely not worse than mountain roads elsewhere in the country. When going to Heavenly from Vegas, Kingsbury Grade can get pretty bad too, and LCC can get dangerous when there are too many cars and the weather turns.
I fully disagree with Tahoe not being better than Brian Head. I will agree that Northstar is not worth the trip, but Squaw is always fun and Heavenly is great when there is a big base. Yes, it is less popular than SLC, but people definitely make the trip. It will similarly always be limited by its distance, as you really need more than a typical two-day weekend to make it worth it. But, this actually allows you to avoid weekend crowds and there are some pretty good lodging deals in South Lake Tahoe, whereas crowds and prices have grown significantly in SLC in the past decade or two.
Never say never for an indoor resort on the strip. Indoor resorts actually do not need that much water, as once it is in, it is simply recycled and continuously used, so Lake Mead should not be a factor there. Regardless, Brain Head will absolutely remain king.
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Well said. Biggest opportunities are clearly at Lee Canyon and Eagle Point from a Vegas skiing perspective. With multiple, legit 350″/yr ski resorts 3 to 3.5 hours away, the pull of Mammoth is weaker from Vegas than it is for LA with no legit drivable resorts that are closer. Lee Canyon seems destined to be no more than a day trip venue given its proximity to Vegas, development limitations, and snowfall inadequacies.
Given both snowfall and distance, Eagle Point and Brian Head are the natural destination resorts for Vegas weekenders. With new ownership in place at the former, and as mentioned above much more freedom to expand, Eagle Point seems like the one to watch here. That said, with Mountain Capital Partners now running the show at Brian Head, it’s not going to come easy.
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The gondola could be also used in the winter to access expert terrain.
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Not often. The area sees minimal snowfall; most of Lee Canyon’s upper expandable terrain would only be skiable once every 3-5 years. The Spring’s definitely have some gnarly tourable terrain even higher up, and that sees 200-250″ of snowfall a year. Not hugely impressive, but enough for a few weeks of skiable stuff. Maybe skiable every other year or even a few in a row.
All of this more skiable section of the mountain is expert to extreme, extremely wind affected, and mostly sits in a wilderness area. Especially the potential black-double black grades to the north that would be less intimidating than the potential triple blacks on the main peaks.
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Imo their best bet is to do 2 things.
1. Expand, even possibly downwards into more lame flat terrain. Embrace being Vegas’s learning hill, but with as much snowmaking as they can get away with. Easier said than done given the water rights insanity in the area.
2. Go all in on the summer bike season. They’re already adding a bike park, but go big with it. Have at least 2 lifts serving trails. Work with the forest service to build a more shuttle-able singletrack from the base. USFS would probably love the idea of pulling riders from the gray area trails to somewhere more managed and maintained.
Not to mention the demand is huge; Vegas has become a decent destination for people who want to pedal year round. Especially the outskirts. The mtn is only about 45 min from some of the most popular desert riding in the area. It’s good enough to draw from beyond Vegas itself. But the region lacks much higher elevation riding, even without being high alpine Lee would instantly be the least-hot place to ride in southern Nevada.
See: Angel Fire, NM who now earns more in the bike park season than ski season.
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Lee Canyon Sold to MCP.
https://www.leecanyonlv.com/community/press-room/press-releases/press-release-04-13-2023
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When Yellow was replaced by Sherwood did they reduce its length and vertical?
Yellow shows a vertical rise of 1067′ on the chart but looking at Google Earth, Sherwood only seems to have a vertical rise of 625′
Did they maybe bring the top station down the hill due to avalanche danger?
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From a quick Google Earth search, you appear to be correct.
Here is the original double’s allignment:
It certainly looks like the new terminal ends further down the mountain than the original double did. My guess would also be avalanche risk.
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Skier 72, thanks for your thoughts.
What a pity, 1000′ vert is quite respectable. They could have protected the return station under an avalanche proof shelter/shed and engineered some concrete walls at the base of the chutes to protect the runs.
Feb 5 2024 and they’ve just had another avalanche incident.
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The avalanche paths above the resort are no joke. Even during smaller storm cycles they can produce d3+ avalanches. Going higher with any lift is challenging because the terrain above is so incredibly difficult to mitigate.
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