What would you do if you owned 400 acres of prime ski terrain in Utah?
For Richard and Sam Oldham, the answer was obvious.
About five years ago, the brothers purchased property less than two hours south of Salt Lake City with a vision that sounds almost too good to be true: create their own personal backcountry ski and snowboard playground.
What has emerged is Moose Springs Ranch, a mountainous property that receives roughly 300 inches of snow each winter, features four peaks, and offers more than 1,200 feet of vertical.
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Building the coolest place to ride the backcountry is the simple vision. The brothers are cutting ski runs, opening up cliff and pillow lines, and building features out of wood, including road gaps. The journey is also being documented on the ranch’s social media page.
The idea has been years in the making. Growing up in Utah, the brothers spent countless days cutting their own trails through the woods and building jumps wherever they could find snow. “We grew up in the mountains near Bridge Canyon,” Richard said in a Zoom interview with SnowBrains. “We’ve been cutting trails since we were little kids. We both learned how to snowboard in the backcountry of Utah. I didn’t go to a resort for years because we just couldn’t afford it.”
Now, Moose Springs Ranch is an extension of those childhood adventures, only on a much larger scale. It appears they found the perfect elusive property to carry out their dreams as well. “We were always looking for property, but as you can image it’s difficult to find something that checks all the boxes of being affordable as well as having good skiable north facing terrain,” Richard said.
The terrain on the ranch ranges from mellow glades and playful natural features to steeper lines approaching 40 degrees. The lowest elevation starts at 7,000 feet and goes as high as 8,300 feet. While a few of the steepest slopes can produce avalanches, plenty of the property stays below 30 degrees and is avalanche safe, making much of the ranch ideal for fun and creativity rather than chasing extreme descents.
“It’s like riding our own private ski resort that has the same terrain as a heli operation,” Sam said. “We are also tucked right against where the mountains go higher up to 10,000 feet. It catches storms, so we do a little better than the lower elevations south of us.”
The brothers access much of the ranch on UTVs with tracks and utility sleds. They are also building a road to the top of the tallest peak on the property that should be done by this summer. Once completed, navigating the terrain will become even easier.
But the Oldhams are adamant they aren’t building the next big backcountry operation. In fact, far from it.
“I have no interest in turning this into a big cat skiing operation,” Richard stated. “I think there are a lot of issues with that and then it’s not my personal place. Do I want to include more people and allow more opportunity from the social media side of things to allow people to come up from our channel? Yeah, I totally plan on that. So far, it’s only been family that has ridden the terrain.”
Instead of simply clearing ski runs, the brothers are shaping the mountain into something that reflects their own style of riding. They have spent years glading forests, building roads, constructing jumps, and incorporating natural cliffs and terrain park features throughout the property. “There’s something human nature about working with the dirt,” Richard said. “Building something with your own two hands is really appealing to people.”
A sawmill installed on-site has become one of their favorite tools. Trees removed during thinning aren’t wasted. They become lumber for bridges, park features, road gaps, and other creative projects that can be enjoyed year-round. “When we were cutting trees, you got to do something with the tree so we might as well make a jump out of it,” Richard said. “Now that we have a sawmill, it doesn’t make sense to buy lumber. It’s a lot easier to take some of the logs of the trees we are cutting down, throw it on the sawmill, cut it up, and build a big road gap.”
The ranch’s original cabin, built in the 1970s, has been renovated into a comfortable basecamp for winter weekends and while the Moose Springs Ranch website is very limited right now, there are plans to make it a much more robust platform in the future. Ideas include a subscription model for volunteers to come help work on the property as well as an e-commerce side. “We aren’t super motivated to try to make money on it,” Sam admitted. “We’ve worked so hard to get to where we are at and it’s not that we don’t want to share it with the public, but we also want to keep it for ourselves.”
Richard’s background has helped make the project possible. After spending 15 years as an entrepreneur building and eventually selling a technology company, he shifted his focus toward outdoor projects. “I just thought, what do I want to do with the rest of my life?” Richard reflected. “I want to spend it up here with my friends and family and doing whatever I want.”
The brothers also own another company called Snow Groomers, which Sam operates full-time. The company manufactures lightweight, compact snow groomers that can be towed by ATVs or snowmobiles to quickly create professional corduroy on snowmobile trails, cross country ski tracks, and private properties. Their experience designing and building snow grooming equipment has helped give them the expertise to develop and maintain the terrain, roads, and features throughout Moose Springs Ranch.
Although Moose Springs Ranch has already attracted interest from professional skiers, snowboarders, filmmakers, and outdoor brands looking for unique filming locations, the Oldhams are intentionally taking a measured approach to access. Rather than opening the gates to the public, they envision hosting invited guests, professional athletes, brand events, and occasional film projects while preserving the intimate atmosphere they’ve spent years creating.
“I’ve been talking to a bunch of professional skiers and snowboarders who make movies that want to come out and incorporate building in the summer as well as hitting in the winter as part of their filming,” Richard said. Additionally, the Oldhams have had conversations with ski guides where they could host an event such as an avalanche course or private guiding.
For Richard, the ranch represents something bigger than having fun in fresh powder. He says modern skiing and snowboarding can sometimes feel driven by competition, social media, and the pressure to constantly perform. Moose Springs Ranch is his attempt to return to what made snowboarding exciting in the first place.
“When we invite friends up, what resonates with them is that back in the day there was a different feeling of snowboarding compared to what it is now,” Richard said. “What we are doing at Moose Springs Ranch brings us back to the old school snowboarding where it doesn’t matter how good you are. Everyone is different skill levels, we’re just out here hanging out, building stupid stuff, laughing and having fun.”
That philosophy may be the most unique part of the project. While many private ski developments focus on luxury or exclusivity, Moose Springs Ranch is rooted in creativity and community. Every glade that’s thinned, every jump that’s built, and every new line that’s opened exists because two brothers wanted to create the kind of place they always wished they had.
Five plus years into the project, they’re still building. Roads continue to expand, new terrain is being opened, more clear cutting is being done, additional terrain is being opened, and fresh features are added each season. For the Oldhams, Moose Springs Ranch isn’t a finished product. It’s an ongoing labor of love that evolves every winter.
No one, including the brothers, know exactly what Moose Springs Ranch will look like in the future. Whether it remains a private playground for family and friends, becomes a destination for film crews and pro riders, or evolves into something entirely different, one thing is certain: the story of Moose Springs Ranch is still in its early chapters. Judging by what Richard and Sam have accomplished so far, the future promises to be every bit as exciting as the voyage that got them here. Don’t forget to follow along on the journey.
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