Battle for the Soul of SKIING

Lift lines are interminable and slopes are packed. Meanwhile, wealthy resort owners have been making their mountains semi- or entirely private. Can the original gonzo-glamorous sport survive its new highs and lows?

- MARK HEALY

It's late July and Utah's Wasatch Mountains smell faintly of earth and wild sage. A hundred or so people have ridden a chairlift to the top of Powder Mountain, an hour north of Salt Lake City, and are milling around a makeshift bar, sipping mango margaritas and chatting before an alfresco dinner. The meal is a kickoff to a busy weekend: only the second official gathering of Powder Mountain homeowners since Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings announced in October 2023 that he was purchasing a controlling interest in the struggling ski area. Dinner will be followed by dessert in the Skylodge and a stargazing session led by an astronomer who has worked with the James Webb Space Telescope. The next day there will be a homeowners meeting and then the unveiling of a new lakeside property, Powder Landing, which members can use in the summer months, when they're not knee deep in the delicate champagne snow Powder Mountain is famous for.

Though they're rarely in the same place at the same time at least during summer-Powder's homeowners have a lot in common: a love of short lift lines and an interest in Powder Mountain's property values. Many of the attendees built homes on the mountain when the ski area embarked on an expansion a decade ago. Then, in 2021, their enthusiasm turned to worry when Powder found itself in difficult financial straits. After all, what fun is it to own a mountainside chalet if the lifts aren't running?

When Hastings, now 64, stepped in, Powder's homeowners breathed a collective sigh of relief. Their beloved mountain would essentially be owned and operated by one of the most respected and accomplished business leaders of his time, someone who also happened to be a neighbor. Hastings was one of them and still is. "He changed the way people watch TV, says Margot Bisnow, who bought a lot here with her husband in 2014. "Now he's going to change the ski business. But it's a tough business."