Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History

An all-volunteer committee of the Park City Museum

Preserving Park City's unique mining heritage since 2015

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AMAZING STRUCTURES WE HAVE SAVED

We are Park City residents and friends who cherish our historic mine structures and actively raise funds to preserve, protect, and promote them.

In 2015, the towering Daly West headframe at the base of the Empire chairlift at Deer Valley Resort collapsed. Months later, some longtime Park City residents and the Park City Museum formed Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History with a singular mission: preserve our rich mining legacy and save these historic structures.

These iconic buildings create a fascinating outdoor museum experience at Park City Mountain and Deer Valley, and are highly visible from town and along familiar skiing, hiking, and biking trails. Due to neglect, the ravages of time, and our harsh winters, many structures are failing and in critical need of repair. Many of these buildings are more than one hundred years old!

For ten years, our dedicated volunteer committee has raised over $4 million to stabilize and restore these cherished mining structures. We are grateful for the generous individuals, foundations, corporate donors, and governmental agencies who have supported our work. We are fortunate that our committee includes career geologists who volunteer hundreds of hours to professionally manage the subcontractors and partners necessary for our stabilization and restoration work. Restoration of the Thaynes Mine is our current major project, as we are nearing completion of a massive 5-year overhaul of the Silver King Coalition headframe buiding located at the base of the Bonanza chairlift at Park City Mountain. See the Explore Our Structures section below for more projects and rich historical details.

Preserving our mining heritage is expensive. Thus far, we have raised more than $2 million in our current Capital Campaign. Going forward, all projects will have ongoing maintenance costs - and we have another significant restoration project to be announced soon. If you love preservation, mountains, skiing, hiking, biking, or mining history, please consider making a donation. We acknowledge significant contributions greater than $10,000 with membership in The Miners Club, which entitles members to an exclusive array of interesting events.

In addition to our historic preservation work, our group:

hosts free lectures about Park City's rich mining history that are available via the Park City Museum’s YouTube page.
leads ski and snowboard tours at both Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort.
contributes to the Way We Were article series in The Park Record.

Get in touch with us at fosmmh@parkcityhistory.org.

Explore Park City's Iconic Mining Structures

Park City's dramatic mining history begins in the 1860s after the Civil War, with the transformation to skiing about 100 years later. Today, the same mountains that produced billions of dollars in silver and other valuable ore also hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and annually welcomes the world for year-round recreational enjoyment.

The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History are passionate about preserving the rusting relics of Park City's early mining history for all to learn and enjoy. Click on a photo below to learn more about each of our projects and the history of each of these mine sites.