National Ability Center looks forward to new Park City Mountain center

Photo: A rendering of the National Ability Center’s proposed mountain center at the base of Park City Mountain.

PARK CITY, Utah — The National Ability Center’s (NAC) new mountain center is currently being reviewed by the Park City Planning Commission.

It would replace the nonprofit’s current structure at Park City Mountain Village, which was installed in 1999.

NAC reached an agreement with Park City Mountain-owner Vail Resorts to lease 0.47 acres for the new building.

The new mountain center will be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible and will allow the NAC to increase the population in their ski and snowboard programs.

“We’re getting our way back from Covid right now,” NAC CEO Danny Glasser told TownLift. He said that participants were cut in half during the pandemic, from 7200 a year to 3300. With summer programs getting started soon, they hope to return to pre-pandemic levels.

He said the proposed mountain center will “give us better working space for tuning, setting up, getting our participants out the door… it’ll bring us together on the mountain.

“It’ll serve also as a flag for anybody on the mountain. See — the National Ability Center is here. We’re here as a resource for the community,” Glasser said.

NAC Co-Founder Meeche White said the new building will be a massive convenience. “It’s a lot about quality, some of our groups who come in from out of state, there’s going to be an area where they can store just their equipment and an area where they can eat lunch,” White said.

“Yeah, we’ll be able to serve more people, but it’s all about just quality of service.”

The nonprofit hopes to move in May 2023.

Glasser and White both praised Vail Resorts, with White saying the company is “being extraordinarily generous” granting the land for the new building.