Lone Wolf — Former Nordic Valley ski area emerges as a family-friendly resort

EDEN, Weber County — It's not so bad being Utah's smallest ski/snowboard resort. Not every resort can be big. Not everyone wants big mountains and dozens of runs.

It's a matter of finding your niche, explained Nancy Seraphin, marketing director, as she looked to the west at the well-defined runs at Wolf Mountain, formerly Nordic Valley.

"Our niche is the family and kids and learning to ski and snowboard ... our night-skiing programs and the simple lifestyle we offer," she said. "We could expand, but I'm not sure we want to."

Actually, the resort does have its claim to Utah ski fame: It is both Utah's smallest and largest. All 110 skiable acres are lit up at night, which makes it Utah's largest night skiing/snowboarding operation.

It also makes it possible for Wolf Mountain to capitalize on its evening skiing.

Among the nightly programs are:

• Monday night is Family Night. A family of four can ski or snowboard for $28 from 4 to 9 p.m. Each additional child's pass is $5.

• Tuesday night is Two Buck Tuesday. One skier buys a regular night pass for $25, and the second skier or snowboarder pays just $2.

• Wednesday is Family Race Night. Parents can drop their kids off after school for a race clinic and some free skiing, then come back and ski or snowboard that night with the kids for $5.

• Thursday is Student Night. Students — kindergarten through graduate level — pay just $10 for a ski or snowboard pass.

• Friday is Super Size Night. The $5 ticket can be upgraded to a Saturday and Sunday all-day pass for $27 for adults, $22 for kids.

• Saturday is Hill Field Deal Night. Enlisted staff and employees can ski or snowboard for $28 for a family of four.

"It's what we are, like I said, a family, learn-to-ski or learn-to-snowboard, night-skiing area," said Seraphin.

Because of the gentle terrain and size, more emphasis will be placed this winter on teaching skiing or snowboarding, especially to the younger market.

A half-day, 2 1/2-hour lesson package for kids 3 to 5 — lesson, lift and rentals — is $65. A full-day program, lunch included, for kids 6 to 10 is $85. A family of four can take a 1 1/2-hour lesson for $100.

Wolf Mountain, i.e. Nordic Valley, has had a somewhat shaky life. The first lift opened in 1971. A second started running in 1972. Over the years there has been talk of more runs, more lifts and more lodges, but it remains, today, a resort with two lifts, 15 runs, several of them connecting runs, and one lodge.