The Sleeping Giant Ski Resort was was closed last year because of a lack of snow, and it closed its new zipline this summer as well because of an onslaught of unexpected late snow that flooded its main lodge.
Now it appears the family-friendly ski resort located 44 miles west of Cody will remain asleep for a while longer.
The ski resort announced Tuesday via email that it won’t open this season either after vandalism to its Big Horn lift in August, involving a new communication line for the lift, as well as flooding this past spring that forced the zipline closure.
“None of these problems are insurmountable,” Sleeping Giant said in its email. “But taken together with the need to hire many seasonal staff made it clear that rushing to try to get open for the season did not make sense.”
Some Critical Of Announcement’s Handling
In addition to its email, Sleeping Giant also posted its announcement to Facebook — but without any option for its followers or other members of the public to comment.
Bruce McCormack, former publisher and editor of the Cody Enterprise who is now retired, took Sleeping Giant to task for turning off public comments.
“Quite aside from the disappointment this decision brings to the broader Cody community, it’s INSULT TO INJURY that the ski area PROHIBITS ALL FB COMMENT about their announcement,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
“REALLY - a public ski area announcing its closure for another year, and they prohibit public comment about that on their very FB post? I’ve never heard of such a thing for a public entity on a matter of wide public interest on just about the biggest public platform int he world. How bush league. How embarrassing.
“Come on Sleeping Giant Ski Area & Zipline. You’re better than this.”
A Facebook post identified as Nick Piazza, Sleeping Giants owner, ultimately deleted, responded sarcastically to McCormack’s post saying, “I’m sorry we’ve limited your ability to gossip Bruce. “But see you found another way. So enjoy -). As can anyone else, by following your example.”
Piazza went on to say that his post at Sleeping Giant’s Facebook page was “informational” to help people understand the situation and that it was “serving that purpose.”
“And as I told you this morning, if you want to talk, come by, bring your friends, I’ll make you coffee — but I’m not debating with you on Facebook. Have a great day,” he posted.
Looking Toward A Better Tomorrow
In its email, Sleeping Giant said it will focus instead on making repairs and improvements to the ski resort this winter, including repairs and upgrades to its lodges, as well as changes to the layout of both the rental shop and ski patrol rooms.
“We plan to focus on additional training for our staff,” Sleeping Giant said in its email. “A couple of key members of our team will likely be attending Resort Management Training focused on the ski industry put on by a major West Coast University, and we will be training up our new outdoor maintenance team on the lifts and snow cats.”
The owners of the resort are also looking for “strategic partners” for the mountain’s long-term development.
Cowboy State Daily called Piazza for more details on future plans for the resort, but the call was not immediately returned. Calls to the resort were also not answered.
Jennifer Thoma, executive director for the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, told Cowboy State Daily the closure is unfortunate, particularly as many locals look forward to the winter season at Sleeping Giant, and the area does get some tourism thanks to the resort.
“We understand this year is a little different with them deciding early on to focus on improving things overall, and I think that’s a good decision,” Thoma said. “I’m sure this was a difficult decision for them, which will likely have an impact on our winter season tourism. However, we understand their desire to focus on providing a quality experience, instead of rushing to open in suboptimal conditions.”
Thoma said she hopes the decision to focus on improvements will help the ski resort become a “top destination” next year for the 2025-2026 season.
Refunds Are Coming
All season pass holders who rolled their passes from last winter’s closure to this winter season will get a refund, according to the email that Sleeping Giant sent out, once mailing addresses have been confirmed.
Any gift passes for Sleeping Giant will roll over to the 2025-2026 winter season.
Questions about the refund process may be directed to gm@skisg.com.
The ski resort also pledged to return a grant it received from Park County Travel Council for trail expansion and a tubing park, if necessary.
“We let them know we are prepared to return the funds if they are not comfortable providing us with a one-year window to get reopened,” Sleeping Giant said.
Cowboy State Daily called Park County Travel Council for more details about the grant and whether it would request a refund. The call was not returned by the time of this story posting.
Arrangements have been made to place Sleeping Giant employees with Red Lodge for the winter season.
“One of the really good things to come out of this unfortunate turn of events at SG is our new relationship with Red Lodge,” Sleeping Giant said. “We are hopeful to launch some joint pass programs with them in 25-26.”
Hundreds Of Thousands Invested
Piazza bought Sleeping Giant in 2020 after the Yellowstone Recreation Foundation announced it would close the ski resort for good.
Piazza has told Cowboy State Daily in previous interview that he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the resort. Those investments included a new zipline to help boost summer revenue, as well as additional trails, increasing the groomable area on the mountain by more than 30%.
Other recent improvements included a complete electrical overhaul of the magic carpet to make that lift more reliable, and new ski resort management software to improve the guest experience.
The grant from Park County Travel Council was used to install a three-lane tubing park with a new surface lift, as well as a service road to the Sheepeater side of the mountain, allowing that area to be more easily groomed and more readily evacuated if need be.
“We are proud of our work at Sleeping Giant and the large number of improvements we have made since taking it over,” Sleeping Giant said in its email. “While we are gutted to be out of play this winter, we are looking toward the future with optimism. Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the last few months. It is at these times that we remember why we decided to take a chance and try to wrangle a giant.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
