Epically picturesque and pristine, Powder Mountain has welcomed outdoor revelers for generations. In the early 20th century, Frederick Cobabe accumulated 8,000 acres of Wasatch Mountain land as range for his sheep herd. His son Alvin eventually purchased the livestock company and land from him, turning it into a ski resort in 1972, after acquiring another 6,000 acres. 

The resort became a coveted local’s destination, dedicated to ski lovers, not the elite. In 2006, at age 88, Dr. Alvin Cobabe sold the resort to Western American Holdings, who gave the mountain’s reins to Powder Mountain Resort Management, LLC. 

In 2013, Summit Series co-founders and two venture capitalists purchased the resort with the intention of retaining its history, ecosystem, and authentic character. Powder Mountain was expanded to its current 8,464-acres of skiable terrain, with every step pursued in an ecologically conscious manner. It has become the nation's largest multi-season ski resort by acreage and boasts outdoor recreations and activities year-round. 

Ground was broken on a master-planned community in 2016. This development involving an interconnected trail system, 500 residences, hotels, restaurants, shops, event spaces, and more was thoughtfully and sustainably planned to ensure Powder Mountain remains unspoiled for all future generations. 

Everything we do is centered around making minimal environmental impact. Our foundational philosophy is to preserve the exquisite ecosystem that makes Powder Mountain one of the most enchanting, inspiring places on the planet.  

Within the community, ecologically driven design and development ensures the ethereal landscape and all it protects will remain safe and pristine for centuries to come.  

Our master plan is limited to a small percentage of overall property acreage, retaining 80% of our Weber County lands as open space for residents and visitors to revel in. As well, the entire plan was heavily vetted by various wildlife and environmental agencies and groups.   

Our team's full-time Ecosystem Specialist has over 40 years of experience and helps us keep our resource consumption to a bare minimum. On-mountain, we limit our environmental impact in many ways, such as providing fresh drinking water and eliminating plastic bottles, creating an efficient trail and lift network, doing minimal grooming and only when necessary, plus using only the fresh powder provided to us naturally, because making snow is the largest use of water and energy for most resorts.  

To help offset any impact, we’ve planted 5,000 trees, spearheaded reforestation after an insect blight damaged the surrounding fir trees and put over 1,400 acres of land on the east bench of the Ogden Valley into conservation easement.  

Conservation is our core here at Powder Mountain, and forever will be.  

Summit Series and Powder Mountain are two distinctly different organizations. 

Powder Mountain is a mountain resort and community owned by a joint venture between the founders of Summit Series and two venture capitalists who live seasonally in Eden, UT.   

Since taking ownership of Powder Mountain, we’ve helped ski operations grow consistently, offering more seasonal and full-time job opportunities to the residents of Ogden Valley and surrounding communities, while helping Powder Mountain remain an economically viable, independent resort.  We’ve created around 80 jobs through our resort offerings, plus provided job opportunities for people in the construction, land planning, engineering and architectural industries. Additionally, we have team members serving on various local and state boards that benefit the Ogden Valley, including the Ogden Valley Business Association, Visit Ogden and GOAL Foundation.  

Utah Transit Authority bus service to Powder Mountain is subsidized by our team to help reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the valley. We also subsidize and provide venues for community events, offer heavily discounted season passes for Weber and Cache County residents and free community dinners.  

We have spent approximately $700,000 on the planning and construction of over 30 miles of no-charge, accessible, world-class biking and hiking trails, with plans for more. These provide recreation opportunities for the local community and help alleviate overcrowding on the Ogden/Ogden Valley trail networks.  

We provide free artistic programming on the mountain, plus at area homeless shelters and elementary schools. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, equipment, lift tickets, expeditions and services have been donated to support various community efforts, including developing a sustainable design and master plan for the Ogden Valley, local and regional charities, and to help active and retired military and their families. 

After undergoing a highly scrutinized and collaborative process to obtain and fully utilize our water rights, we gained approval through the State Engineer by meeting and complying with – and continuing to meet and comply with - specific, required mitigation measures and conditions. These measures involved developing a plan that utilized the existing 400 acres/foot of water already owned by Powder Mountain. We consistently meet all monitoring and reporting requirements associated with approval.   

Sustainable-use parameters including prohibitions on permanent irrigation on the mountain have been implemented. We have also continuously met and collaborated with all interested parties and stakeholders relative to the water constraints associated with the Ogden Valley, and Powder Mountain’s plan relative to the sustainable use of our water resources. 

Powder Mountain development is designed to make minimal environmental impact and preserve the mountain’s ecosystem. We’ve also added a full-time Ecosystem Specialist with over 40 years of experience to our team. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Master of Science in Forestry and Ph.D. in Biology, and is a retired Professor of Forest Disturbance Ecology and Management, Wildland Fire Science and Snow and Avalanche Science at Utah State University. He was hired to help us move our development and any on-mountain activation in a sustainable and environmentally healthy direction. 

 We have also partnered with the University of Utah, Utah State University and Weber State University to create an Innovation Zone that will explore next-generation emerging technologies. The Innovation Zone will explore utilizing cleaner utilities likeelectric, water and sewer at Powder Mountain, in partnership with local utilities and regulators.   

Our Design Guidelines promote responsible development of residences on Powder Mountain. Specifically, we incorporate the ICC-700 National Green Building Standard (similar to LEED certification), which speaks to energy efficiency, water conservation and other green practices. Development plans limit residential building sizes, incorporating small homes and micro-units into the core of our future Village to promote affordability and sustainability.  

As well, we limit our resource consumption in many ways, like creating an efficient trail and lift network, eliminating plastic bottles, and not making snow – the largest use of water and energy for most resorts. We’ve also planted 5,000 trees, put 630 acres of land on the east bench of the Ogden Valley into conservation easement, and we are working with the Ogden Valley Land Trust to put more than 800 additional acres of land into conservation easement before the end of the year.  

There is no disconnect between our philosophy as a resort and resort community and how we treat our mountain. Our foundational philosophy is based in protecting the mountain and its natural environs. A major motivating factor in acquiring Powder Mountain was to save it from the planned overdevelopment of its previous owners, which included a master plan that was double in size and scope to ours, and construction of two highly water-consumptive golf courses and a water park.     

The new master plan was well vetted by various local/regional wildlife and environmental agencies and groups, and limited to a small percentage of the overall property acreage, with approximately 80% of the project’s Weber County lands retained as open space.