Brian Head: One of the last ‘hidden gem’ affordable ski resorts

You probably don’t need me to tell you this, but skiing in the U.S. has gotten expensive — very expensive.

There are ways to reduce the cost, such as with a preseason or early-season purchase of the major ski passes, especially if skiing at a big-name resort in the Epic Pass or Ikon Pass network. But it can still easily be hundreds of dollars per day per person when you factor in tickets, gear, lessons, lodging and more.

But believe it or not, there are still a handful of resorts that are inherently affordable, even without a pass purchase. And one of the most affordable full-service ski resorts in the United States is one you may not have heard of yet if you don’t frequent Utah: Brian Head, located in southwest Utah.

At Brian Head, lift tickets start at just $29, kids ski free without restrictions, senior citizens ski free, there’s $25 snow tubing, a ski school and you can buy a burger and fries on the mountain for just $12 … which, if you’ve eaten somewhere like Aspen or Vail anytime recently, you know is a relative bargain that rings in at half the normal on-mountain burger basket rate (which turned out to be a theme throughout the trip).

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What is the Brian Head ski resort?

What started as a one-chairlift operation in 1965, known originally as Monument Peak due to its high elevation, has grown. Not only that, but with the highest base elevation in all of Utah at 9,600 feet, Brian Head Ski Resort has some legit snow and runs.

Brian Head’s snowfall averages come in at 360 inches across its 650 acres and two connected mountains, each with its own base area.

The resort boasts 71 ski runs and eight chair lifts. To give some context, Breckenridge Resort in Colorado averages a similar amount of snow at 355 inches annually and has 35 chair lifts. In other words, Brian Head has solid snowfall and is smaller than some ski resorts, but it also isn’t so small that you’re relegated to just a daytrip.

Brian Head typically opens for the season in mid-to-late November and closes in mid-April, conditions permitting, with lifts open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays. In addition, it is one of the resorts that offers night skiing on Fridays and Saturdays via the Blackfoot Lift until 9 p.m., with prices starting at $25.

Brian Head has five dining options in the winter:

• Last Chair Grill and Brews in Giant Steps Lodge with a pub-style menu
• Giant Steps Eatery in the Giant Steps Lodge with casual options like pizza and chicken fingers
• Navajo Eatery in the Navajo Lodge with burgers, sandwiches and similar items
• Lift Bar and Pation in the Brian Head Lodge with breakfast buffet, burgers, appetizers and a Prime Rib dinner on Saturdays
• Navajo Coffee & Deli in the Navajo Lodge with coffee, sandwiches and pastries

The ski school offers private and group lessons for both children and adults. Kids ages 3-6 can enroll in First Tracks, which offers a half-day private instruction. Group or private lessons are available to those 7-12 years old.

On top of that, there’s a free program for first-time skiers ages 13 and up; we’ll get to more on that shortly.

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Where is Brian Head ski resort?

Like many ski resorts, Brian Head is a little off the beaten path, in that it’s a couple of hours from any major city.

However, it’s just a snowball’s throw from Interstate Highway 15 in Parowan, Utah, which makes it relatively easy to get to, even if it takes a couple of hours to do so from either Las Vegas (2.5 hours) or Salt Lake City (3.5 hours). It’s also one hour from Zion National Park and 35 minutes from Cedar City, which is where you’ll find a number of (usually) affordable budget and midrange hotels, such as a Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express, Hampton Inn and Best Western.

There’s a free shuttle that will take you the 14 miles up the mountain to Brian Head, which can be extra handy in winter driving conditions. But if you do make the drive up the mountain yourself, parking is free at Giant Steps Lodge and Navajo Lodge (space permitting), with beginners and those with lessons likely wanting to park at Navajo Lodge.

Brian Head lift tickets

Here’s where we get to the really good parts about Brian Head; the low cost of lift tickets.

First, know that kids 12 and under ski for free with no restrictions or requirements, other than you need to sign them up for the free Power Kids Pass, which you can do online in just a minute or two. That’s unusually simple in the world of kids-ski-free offerings. On top of that, those ages 75 and up can also ski for free without restrictions, which is also pretty unusual these days. This is what gave birth to our three-generation ski trip idea since the youngest and oldest in the group would ski free.

For everyone else, lift ticket prices start at $29 per day, with a common offer being $10 in included “Corduroy Cash” with each ticket to spend on things like mountain dining, lessons, shopping and equipment rentals.

Prices aren’t always quite that low, but $45-$60 per day is common much of the season, with advance purchase prices topping out around $99 on the most peak days, like President’s Day weekend, as long as you book at least five days out. Compare that to lift ticket prices of $200-$300-plus per day at many major ski resorts if you don’t plan months in advance to purchase something like Epic or Ikon Passes, and it’s a huge difference, especially since kids ski free.

Pro tip: Brian Head sometimes has a 20% off sale on gift cards during Black Friday that you could use to lower your effective cost even more.

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How much does it cost to ski at Brian Head?

In addition to the reasonable lift ticket prices that we just discussed, you’ll have some other costs to ski. On-site gear rentals at Brian Head start at $25 per day during March and April in 2024 but can cost $35-$40 per day for a basic adult ski rental package for the rest of the season.

Group ski school for kids 7-12 years old starts at $145 for a half-day and $310 for a full day with lunch, so while that is less than at some other mountains, it’s still a hefty sum you’ll want to budget for. Skiing during weekends and holidays will drive those prices upward some, as well as not booking at least five days out.

If you want a private lesson, those are much cheaper at Brian Head than many other mountains, as half-day private lessons can be had starting around $250, when that number can easily approach $1,000 elsewhere.

Inside the Brian Head Lodge

You can choose to stay up on the mountain at Brian Head in the 100-room Brian Head Lodge, which has accommodations starting at around $100 per night with some frequent promotions such as the second or third night free and even a free night with a lift ticket purchase (with some blackout dates). Good luck finding free on-mountain lodging with a lift ticket purchase virtually anywhere else.

While I didn’t stay in the lodge personally, as we stayed at a points-friendly hotel in Cedar City, the photos look like the resort hasn’t been renovated in a while. However, it does have a classic lodge vibe and an indoor pool/waterfall, outdoor hot tub and on-site spa. There’s also a game room with things like air hockey and classic video games.

If you choose not to stay at the Brian Head Lodge, you can instead stay in Cedar City, about 30-35 minutes away, at places like the Courtyard Marriott Cedar City, Springhill Suites Cedar City or a variety of other budget-friendly brands.

A good resort for first-time skiers

Many first-time skiers and snowboarders think long and hard about where to take that first ski trip. And if the goal is primarily just to learn to ski or ride, the truth is, you don’t need to go to a big resort — you won’t ski most of the mountain on that first trip anyway.

Brian Head is a great choice not only for your wallet but for kids that you don’t want venturing too far off but you want to give some runway to. It even has a pretty unique on-snow experience that provides a free hour of ski and snowboarding basics at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. for those 13 and older.

The resort recommends pre-booking a slot to ensure space, but there’s no charge to start learning the basics beyond your lift ticket and gear, which you need to pay for.

Beyond that, this season, from March 1 until closing day (except for March 11-17), the resort is offering those who purchase lift tickets the ability to book a $100 afternoon beginner group lesson and a standard $25 ski rental package, which are prices much below what you’d often find elsewhere, making this not just an affordable place to ski, but an affordable place to learn.

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What it’s like skiing at Brian Head

We skied for two days at Brian Head over President’s Day weekend and found it to be a great value for what we got. There was good snow, friendly skiers (with a huge number of visitors coming from San Diego that weekend) and a laid-back attitude shared by skiers and boarders just looking to have a good, affordable day on the mountain like we were.

It’s not a fancy mountain — the facilities haven’t been truly updated in a while from what I could tell (though an expansion project is underway) — and many of the little things that bigger resorts do to make things easier (like putting temporary labels on your rented skis, having a ski valet system or providing wagons to haul your gear) don’t currently exist here.

Also, there aren’t many places to sit, and the line for food on President’s Day weekend was close to an hour right after ski school let out. But … the food was affordable and did the trick to fill you up and get you back out on the mountain — which was what you came for.

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Tips for skiing at Brian Head

• Parking is free at Brian Head, but the lots can fill up on busy days in the late morning, so I recommend arriving about 30 minutes before lifts open to have an easy pick of spots to park.
• Lifts opened at 9:30 a.m. while we were there, and the first 30 minutes or so were devoid of any noticeable lift lines, which made for a great way to get in a few quick runs before the lines did grow on the busy long weekend.
• Like at most ski resorts, you are best served to avoid the base lift lines during peak hours if you can.
• Try and eat early — especially if it is a busy weekend — as food lines can get very long, especially on the Navajo side of the resort, as there aren’t a ton of outlets to pick from. I recommend checking lunch off the list by 11:30 a.m. if possible, and certainly before half-day ski school gets out at 12:30 p.m. That’s when you’ll want to head back up the mountain while the lift lines are slightly shorter.
• Speaking of the Navajo side, that mountain has more beginner-friendly terrain. But, as soon as your group can graduate to easy blues, we found the Giant Steps side to be a bit less crowded. You can still do a few green runs there off the Blackfoot lift that had significantly shorter lines than the primary express lifts.
• Don’t skip snow tubing, as it’s also a good value at $25 for unlimited runs for 90 minutes.
• While you don’t need to make your Brian Head purchases months in advance just to make them affordable, you will want to do it at least a week or so in advance of your trip, as prices jump 15% within five days and 30% within 24 hours.

Is Brian Head worth visiting?

If you want to ski on generally above-average snowfall for a reasonable amount of money, aren’t looking for a flashy ski scene and are OK driving a few hours from Las Vegas (or Salt Lake City) to get there, then 100% yes — Brian Head is worth visiting. It’s a midsize mountain that offers a good variety of terrain for a few days and won’t put a permanent dent in your wallet. And it’s the obvious choice if skiing with a multigenerational group where the kids and the 75-plus can both ski for free, as we did.

On the flip side, if you want Aspen-style dining options or Vail-style shopping and enjoy expansive mountains that take a full week to explore, then Brian Head probably isn’t the right spot for you. It also isn’t the right ski destination if you need — or really want — things like ski valets, table-service dining, a hybrid ski program for preschool-age kids, a luxury ski-out hotel and other nice-to-haves that can admittedly make skiing a little easier (and more expensive).

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As for us, we fully intend on returning to Brian Head for trips when just getting some days on skis is the goal, sticking to the budget is important and we aren’t looking for a ton of extras to go with it. But that said, there’s no doubt that Brian Head is a gem of a destination as one of the last truly affordable ski resorts where you don’t have to be a one-percenter to have some fun on the snow.

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