"This place is Park City's community center," Richard Hodges, director of the White Pine Touring Nordic Center, told KPCW last March. "If you need to run into your neighbor someplace, you're going to find them out on the ski trail at White Pine."
For Thaynes Canyon, that community center is the Park City Golf Course, a few steps from the Nordic Center at 1541 Thaynes Canyon Drive. It is also the part of Park City's cross-country network that relies most completely on natural snow. Last winter showed how much that matters. Before the first groomer runs this season, the snow insurance for Park City skiers is being built in other places. A Thaynes Canyon skier's winter now depends on that wider network as much as on the track out back.
What 38 Days Looked Like on the Golf Course
The Park Record reported that the White Pine Nordic Center had open trails on just 38 days in the 2025–26 winter. The season before, it ran about 130 days.
Here is how the season went, as the Park Record told it. The course opened briefly at the start of December, then closed four days later when it warmed up. It reopened in early January, when cold weather allowed several weeks of grooming and lessons. Another warm stretch closed it through much of February. A storm on February 17 brought it back for a few days, then warm temperatures ended the season. Hodges described those last days to the paper as "three days of some of the best skiing of the year, and then it was 60 degrees again."
The rest of White Pine's terrain had it worse. KPCW reported that the Farm Loop, near McPolin Barn along State Route 224, never opened at all.
Local skiers scattered to other venues. The Park Record reported that the Park City Nordic team trained at White Pine when it was open and otherwise shifted to Utah Olympic Park and Soldier Hollow. Inge Travis, a founder of the Park City club Nordic Betties, told KPCW she spent most of the winter coaching groups at Soldier Hollow. She called the Olympic venue "a little over 30 minutes away" and said the season "made me feel really fortunate that we have something so close."
Thirty minutes away was the backup plan last winter. This year, those backups are being built on purpose.
The Pass Price Went Up on November 1
White Pine started selling 2026–27 track passes in September, with preseason pricing through October 31. By this week, that window has closed, and the White Pine track pass page lists standard prices.
The break-even column below divides each November 1 season pass price by the $26 adult day rate. It shows how many ski days it takes before a season pass costs less than buying day passes.
| Pass | Preseason, through Oct. 31 | Price from Nov. 1 | Adult days to break even at $26, using Nov. 1 prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual season | $320 | $380 | About 15 |
| 84060 local individual season | $307 | $358 | About 14 |
| Family season, two adults and children under 18 | $425 | $540 | About 11 for two adults |
| 84060 local family season | $407 | $508 | About 10 for two adults |
Against last winter, those numbers look thin. Fifteen days is well under the 38 the golf course managed in its worst season in recent memory. It is also a small fraction of the roughly 130 days in a normal year. At this season's prices, skiing all 38 of last winter's open days would have covered an individual season pass more than twice over.
Some other prices from the same page:
- Adult day: $26, or $17 after 3 p.m.
- Kids' day, ages 6 to 12: $12
- Senior day, ages 65 to 74: $13. The senior season pass is $145.
- Full-time college student season: $145
- 10-punch pass: listed at $220 in the preseason column only
The 84060 local passes have to be bought in person at the White Pine shop on Bonanza Drive, with a valid Utah driver's license or state-issued ID. Once the Nordic Center opens, passes can also be picked up at the Thaynes Canyon Drive building. The Nordic Center lists winter hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. White Pine takes questions at 435-649-8710.
The December 19 Race Already Has a Backup Venue
The race calendar is planned around the same uncertainty. The Utah Nordic Alliance's Wasatch Citizens Series opens its 2026–27 schedule at White Pine on Saturday, December 19, at 10 a.m., with a 5K and 10K classic individual start. The series' venue notes list the White Pine Nordic Touring Center and a shuttle from St. Mary's Church.
Right under that date are two backups, Saturday, January 2, and Saturday, January 16, both at Mountain Dell. Last winter, White Pine had to cancel the Wasatch Citizen Series races it was scheduled to host, according to the Park Record.
The rest of the series is spread across the Wasatch:
- Saturday, January 9: Soldier Hollow, 15K skate, wave start
- Thursday, January 28: Mountain Dell, Classic Donut Challenge, mass start at 4:30 p.m.
- Saturday, February 27: Soldier Hollow, 10K skiathlon
- Saturday, March 20: Alta, 10K skate at 5:30 p.m.
- Saturday, April 3: Solitude Nordic Center, Spring Sprint and season-end party
Soldier Hollow hosts two of those races, and it is the venue that did the most this year to prepare for a warm winter.
Where the Snow Insurance Is Being Built
Three places matter to a Thaynes Canyon skier who wants to keep skiing when the golf course goes brown.
Soldier Hollow, Midway. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that crews at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center used eight snow guns last winter to build a pile of snow. They covered it with insulated blankets and a white tarp and stored it through the summer. The paper described the pile as about as long as a football field and about 20 feet high. The goal is 1.5 kilometers of ski trail. General manager Luke Bodensteiner expected about 80 percent of the snow to survive, and he discussed possibly opening about two weeks earlier than usual for Nordic teams. As of the Tribune's October 7 story, the tarp was still on.
Bonanza Flat. Hodges told KPCW that Bonanza Flat "has been a huge boon this winter for the community." He also said Park City's altitude helps, and that heading higher into the mountains helps even more. In an October 14 update, the Mountain Trails Foundation said Empire Pass parking was closed while it builds the winter Bonanza Warming Hut/Yurt, and that it would post updates on any delays. The Park City Bonanza Flat trail page says upper Marsac is closed to public vehicles in winter. Last season, a weekend shuttle ran up from town.
Round Valley. This one costs nothing. The Mountain Trails Foundation describes about 25K of free, multi-use Nordic trail in Round Valley, groomed daily or as conditions allow. Access is from the Quinn's Junction, Highland, and Round Valley Way trailheads. In a post this month, the foundation said its crew had started preparing winter operations for both Round Valley and Bonanza Flat.
Basin Recreation adds a few points that matter to dog owners. Its grooming has no fixed schedule, because commuter pathways and trailheads come first after a storm. Dogs are not allowed on Nordic-only trails, and they must be leashed on multi-use groomed trails.
The Loop That Would Change the Math
There is one idea that would give the golf course some of the same protection. In March, Hodges told KPCW that White Pine was looking at what it would take to add snowmaking on at least some of its trails. "Certainly, having kind of a limited snowmaking loop on the golf course would be a huge public amenity here," he said. He added that "there are enough cold days in Park City that you could make a fair amount of snow," but that "it's a partnership and cooperation kind of project that would have to come together."
For now, it is still an idea, and the golf course depends entirely on what falls from the sky. The forecast does not settle the question. TownLift reported on October 16 that NOAA's winter outlook gives the Intermountain West equal chances of below-normal, near-normal, or above-normal precipitation from December through February. NOAA's next outlook update is scheduled for November 19.
So for this winter, the golf course will open when the snow arrives and stay open as long as the cold holds. The December 19 race at White Pine has Mountain Dell dates as its backup. Bonanza Flat and Soldier Hollow are the places getting ready for a winter that won't cooperate.
For buyers drawn to Thaynes Canyon partly because the Nordic track begins a few minutes from home, that track's season is worth understanding as well as the house. At Selling the Slopes, we're happy to walk through how the golf course, Round Valley, and Bonanza Flat fit into a winter routine from any street in the neighborhood. When it's time to sell a home near the trail, we'll tell that winter story to the buyers who want it most. List With Us.
