Vail Resorts seeks dismissal of lawsuit targeting Park City lifts

A court fight over two Park City Mountain lifts has turned into a direct test of who controls access on some of the resort’s most important terrain. Vail Resorts asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit that could affect Timberline and Iron Mountain Express, arguing the claims against it are unsupportable and have no reasonable basis.

The case was filed Feb. 6 in Summit County’s Third District Court by Provo-based UI Charitable Advisors after it bought roughly 63 acres in The Colony at White Pine Canyon in late 2024. That parcel includes the bottom terminal of Iron Mountain Express and the southern terminal of Timberline, two lifts that help move skiers across the mountain and connect terrain on either side of the resort. UI Charitable is seeking millions of dollars in damages and an injunction that could force the lifts to stop operating.

Vail’s dismissal motion leans heavily on an easement agreement filed with the Summit County Recorder in June 2003. The company says that agreement gave it the right to operate lifts and ski runs on the property and covers most of the land now at issue. Park City Mountain has already said it remained confident in its longstanding easement rights across The Colony, signaling that Vail sees the lawsuit as more than a nuisance claim. It sees a challenge to core operating rights that support daily resort circulation.

UI has pushed back by arguing the 2003 easement was later redefined and narrowed to exclude ski-lift operations. Reporting from KPCW said the nonprofit also contends final recorded maps from 2010 did not include a ski-lift easement, only skiing rights, and that those skiing easements were not transferred to Vail when it bought The Canyons in 2013. That clash over old maps, recorded rights and transfers could decide whether the lifts remain part of the resort’s operating network or become a legal liability.

The practical stakes are hard to ignore. Park City Mountain says it is the largest ski resort in the United States, with more than 7,300 acres, 348 trails and 41 lifts. Even a dispute centered on two lifts could affect guest flow, trail access and how smoothly skiers move between major parts of the mountain during the next winter season.

The fight also fits Park City’s long history of land-rights battles tied to ski operations, including the PCMR v. Talisker dispute that helped set up Vail’s 2014 acquisition of Park City Mountain. For a resort economy built on dependable lift access, the result of this case could shape more than one lift line.