Ski resort of the week: Brighton

History — Brighton's story begins around the same time as Alta's. For Brighton, it all started in 1936 when members of the Alpine Ski Club, which would later be renamed the Wasatch Mountain Club, designed and built a "skier tow" out of half-inch wire rope and an old elevator drum. Brighton became the first tow-serviced ski area in Utah and was one of only a few operating in the nation. Two years later, in 1938, the group built a new T-Bar lift, which was owned by Kay Smith, a member of the Alpine Ski Club. The onset of World War II and other economic changes led to the sale of the T-Bar to Zane Doyle. In 1949, Doyle was joined by his father-in-law, Willard Jensen, and a second T-Bar was built.

Finding the area had popular terrain and accessibility, it was only a matter of time before skiing got its first solid foothold in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Seven years after Alta introduced skiers to a chairlift, a group called Brighton Recreations built the first chairlift in Big Cottonwood Canyon in 1946. The single-chair lift accessed the terrain on Mt. Millicent. In 1955, Doyle and Jensen purchased the first double chairlift in the Intermountain Region. The success of the double chair was so overwhelming that a second double, the Mary lift, was soon added.

In 1963, all of Brighton Recreations' operations were purchased by Doyle and Jensen. This meant that all lift operations were accessible with one pass under one U.S. Forest Service permit.

The next big step in Brighton's development came in 1987 when Boyne USA, a family owned corporation established in 1947 by Everett Kircher, purchased the resort. Kircher has taken Brighton to where it is today. Kircher's son, John, now oversees the continued development of Brighton as well as Crystal Mountain in Washington, Big Sky in Montana and Cypress Mountain in British Columbia.

Under Kircher's direction Brighton introduced its first high-speed quad in 1991. The new Crest Express replaced the Mary chair, adding more terrain for skiers. During the following summer the Great Western high-speed quad and Explorer triple chair were installed, adding new advanced and beginner terrain. Other improvements include expanded night terrain, more than 200 acres of snowmaking, a new base lodge facility, a remodeled ski and snowboard school and the addition of state-of-the-art grooming equipment.

In the summer of 2000, the Snake Creek Triple Chair was replaced with a new high-speed detachable quad — the Snake Creek Express. The historic Majestic double chair, the first double chair, was replaced with a fixed-grip quad in the summer of 2004.