Powder Mountain

In late 2023, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings purchased a majority stake in Powder Mountain for a cool $100 million. With one of the country’s largest resorts under his purview—featuring 8,000 skiable acres—all talk at the time was how the innovative billionaire might disrupt the winter sports industry. It turns out he’s mainly interested in amplifying what was already there. Since its start in 1972, Powder has pursued a ruggedly independent ethos, resisting mega-development while currying favor among locals as an uncrowded alternative to the more globally recognized resorts an hour south in Park City. Hastings has appealed to the off-the-beaten-trail troupe by establishing a new art initiative, building the world’s first open air ski resort sculpture park. Over the next two years, site-specific installations from James Turrell, Jenny Holzer, and Paul McCarthy will be free to the public during summer and fall months. The project’s first phase will likely be completed in fall 2027. Keeping community front of mind, starting wage on the mountain has been upped to $20 an hour and the resort raised more than $250,000 to donate to local nonprofits. Meanwhile, some lifts and lodge access are reserved for folks who own mountainside property, which has provided funding for new public infrastructure such as new high-speed lifts for 2025. It’s a novel—and yes, disruptive—blueprint for how resorts can evolve without abandoning their core appeal.