Cherry Peak prepares to open for 2015-16 ski season

By: Kayla Swenson

This fall, Cherry Peak resort plans on opening its lifts and slopes for the 2015-2016 ski season. The resort has been under construction for the past three years and was scheduled to open last year but was postponed due to additional construction on the lodge.

“This has gotten a lot bigger than we ever dreamed it would be,” said Kim Chadwick, wife of Cherry Peak CEO John Chadwick. “We thought it would be kind of smaller and more of a family thing. It has just been so fun seeing this dream that we’ve had for 10 to 12 years actually happening.”

John said that the idea to open Cherry Peak began fifteen years ago with the suggestion from an Olympic ski coach.

“I thought about it since I was a little kid,” he said. “It was an Olympic ski coach 15 years ago that came skiing with me. He looked at the mountain and said, ‘You need to build a resort.’ It just started to irritate me until I finally did something about it.”

John said that the process to begin construction was slow due to legal requirements. He said that the idea first had to be approved by the county court which took about two and a half years. Since the resort was approved runs have been cut, lifts assembled, roads paved and a three-story lodge built.

“It’s a lot of work in general,” said Nate Chadwick, a marketing director for Cherry Peak. “There are just so many details and so many aspects that it’s just really involved.”

Nate said that starting a resort is more like starting seven revenue streams at once. He said that ski school, retail sales, food, gear and rentals are each a revenue stream that has had to be carefully planned and processed.

“We want to create an environment where people are comfortable, families are comfortable and students are comfortable,” he said.

Cherry Peak intends on offering student and family benefits in order to compete with local Beaver Mountain resort.

“Students need to understand how convenient it is,” Nate said. “It’s so close. It would be a great date night. There are 200 acres of skiable terrain and 1,260 vertical feet.”

The resort is a 20-minute drive from North Logan and only a five-minute drive through the canyon. The resort also features an ice skating rink and a magic carpet, or conveyor belt for tubers.

“Now everyone can come, have fun, make memories and enjoy time together as families and friends,” said Kim Chadwick, John’s wife. “I just can’t wait to see faces of people when they walk into the lodge and go, ‘Wow.’ I’m going to be here on opening day and I just can’t wait to see it.”

John Chadwick said that all that is left to be done is finish the kitchen and install the carpet in the lodge. He said they hope to have the final lift installed by December and are guaranteed to have three functioning lifts for this season.

“We are on the home stretch,” John said. “We are on schedule to have a really long season this year.”

The resort offers tours Monday through Friday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. For more information on Cherry Peak visit: skicherrypeak.us.

— kayla1swenson@gmail.com