Lone Wolf — Former Nordic Valley ski area emerges as a family-friendly resort
By Ray Grass, Photographs by Ravell Call
Deseret Morning News, January 4, 2007  

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.
      In 2005, Wolf Creek Resort, a nearby community of upscale condominium lodging, golf course, clubhouse, restaurant, tennis and family activity center, completed negotiations to buy the resort. The intent is not only to open the ski runs to the public but also to offer owners and those staying at the resort skiing or snowboarding privileges through its Residents Club. Property owners, for example, ski free. Guests pay a discounted rate.
      After signing papers, the first move was to change the name. Wolf Mountain was a perfect fit.
      "Nordic Valley really didn't explain what the resort was all about. There is no nordic skiing, and what resort is located in a valley? This is a mountain," she explained.
      The name Wolf Mountain was available, without any strings attached to what was Wolf Mountain but is now The Canyons Ski Resort.
      Next, it changed the name of its lifts to better fit its image. Viking lift became Howling Wolf Chair and Trol became Wolfdeedo Chair. Then came name changes on the runs. Upper Odin, for example, became Bayot's Boulevard and Upper Valhalla became Wandering Wolf.
A terrain park was also built on the lower slope and a yurt was built for the learning center.
      The new owners also went after more lifts. A triple chairlift and a beginners lift were purchased from Deer Valley. Those lifts will be installed next season.
      There are also plans to replace the old day lodge. That, said Seraphin, will require some proper timing ... "Which will mean tearing the old lodge down at the end of the season and then getting the new one built before the next season," she said. "For this winter we went in and remodeled the old lodge."
      One of the hurdles the resort faced this past year was access. There is an in-village shuttle system that included transportation to Powder Mountain.
      Expected to open up soon will be a bus system that will make two stops in the Ogden area before heading for Wolf Creek Resort. From there a shuttle system will take skiers to Wolf Mountain, Snowbasin or Powder Mountain.
      This, said Seraphin, will be very appealing to parents.
      "They can have the kids go to Wolf Mountain, where they know they'll be taken care of, while they go off skiing or snowboarding to Powder Mountain or Snowbasin, then come back at the end of the day and pick the kids up."
      Wolf Mountain can be reached either by taking the Trapper's Loop Road or driving up Ogden Canyon, then driving over the Pineview Dam to Eden. A hard left leads to Wolf Mountain; going straight at the junction leads to Wolf Creek Resort and on to Powder Mountain.

      • Number of lifts: Two
      • Vertical drop: 1,000
      • Skiable acres: 100
      • Terrain: 35% beginner, 45% intermediate, 20% expert
      • Top elevation: 6,400 feet
      • Number of runs: 15
      • Snowboarding: Yes
      • Annual snowfall: 300 inches
      • Terrain parks: One

What's new at Wolf Mountain resort:

      • Addition of four new trails
      • The addition of 16 new snow guns, which increases snowmaking capacity by 50 percent.
      • Expansion of the Wolf's Lair Terrain Park by 30 percent, with 12 new features.
      • New Bombardier Snowcat for the Wolf's Lair Terrain Park.
      • Addition of a yurt as an expansion of the Mountain Learning Center with new programs such as Children's Drop-Off School, Women on Fridays (or WOOF) and a Youth Freeride Race Team.
      • Introduction of Wolf Creek Adventures to provide additional alpine activities for families including snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling.
      • Acquisition of a triple chairlift scheduled for installation for the 2007-08 season