Pride Ride Utah

Pride Ride Utah is a free, community-led queer ski and snowboard day and fundraiser at Brighton Resort, celebrating queer joy through skiing and snowboarding, with an afterparty at evo Hotel in Salt Lake City. The 2026 ride was the sixth annual edition.

Pride Ride Utah began as a response to the lack of visible, welcoming queer spaces in snow sports. Michelle Anklan organized the first one at Brighton in 2021, and a small collective of mental health professionals and queer outdoor enthusiasts has grown it into an annual celebration of queer joy, access, and belonging on the mountain for LGBTQIA2S+ community members, allies, families, and first-time riders. It became a registered nonprofit in 2025 and is fully volunteer-run and community-funded.

The ride is and always will be free to attend. Registered riders get free beginner group lessons led by Brighton instructors, low-cost rentals from partner Christy Sports, and a discount code for a lift ticket, and everything on the beach is free, so people can come up and party without a lift ticket. The day runs through group rides, a party at the beach, a group photo, the Pride Ride itself, and an opportunity drawing, then moves down to evo Hotel for local queer DJs, a food truck, free skating and beginner skate lessons at All Together Skate Park. Registration details and FAQs are also published in Spanish.

Funds raised each year are reinvested into local LGBTQIA2S+ supportive nonprofits. Beneficiaries have included Flourish Therapy, Rock Camp SLC, and Jackie's Recovery Services, and the community voted in the Utah Parent Center for 2026. The group also hosts events through the season, from a moonlight snowshoe tour to a Get OUTfitted night on how to dress for the slopes.

This community event celebrates LGBTQ+ people and is organized by and for its local community.

Pride Ride Utah has included beginner ski and snowboard lessons, group rides, beach party, opportunity drawing and afterparty.

Pride Ride Utah was first held in 2021. Reported attendance: 580 participants (2025).

The organizer has not announced dates for 2027 yet. In 2026 it was held April 4, 2026. It is usually held in April.