About Our Lady of the Snows Center Station · Alta, Utah
Our Lady of the Snows Center Station is a Catholic mission chapel in Alta, Utah, tucked into Little Cottonwood Canyon at roughly 8,500 feet in the heart of Alta Ski Area. It functions as a seasonal 'station' — Sunday Mass is celebrated through the ski season — and it has long doubled as a community center for the tiny Town of Alta, hosting inter-denominational services, weddings, memorials, concerts and civic gatherings. The chapel is served liturgically by Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Sandy and, as of June 2025, the building itself is owned by the Town of Alta rather than the Diocese of Salt Lake City. The dedication honors Our Lady of the Snows, the ancient Marian title tied to the legendary August snowfall that is said to have marked the building of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome.
- Established
- 1960
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Snows (Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title linked to the founding of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Salt Lake City
Why belong here
For Catholics and visitors in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Our Lady of the Snows is the only Catholic chapel within miles — a place to worship on a Sunday ski day, Christmas or Easter without driving down the canyon. The 5 PM Sunday Mass is timed to fit the rhythm of ski season, and the same building hosts weddings, memorials, concerts and community events year-round, so the parish and the Town of Alta genuinely overlap. It is a small, mission-style chapel served from Blessed Sacrament in Sandy, so parishioners become part of both the wider Salt Lake Diocese family and the close-knit Alta community.
Mass times at Our Lady of the Snows Center Station
Weekly Mass schedule
History of Our Lady of the Snows
The Diocese of Salt Lake City records the establishment of Our Lady of the Snows Center Station in Alta in 1960, when the original wood-frame chapel built by Merrill Matzinger (c. 1956) was the parish church. The first chapel sat on a knoll below Alta's massive south-side snowfields and was battered by avalanches in December 1973 and again, fatally, in May 1983, when the diocese ordered it demolished. For nearly a decade, Sunday Mass was celebrated in Alta's lodges and tiny town library by Rev. John Norman and visiting priests, while local residents led by Joan Collins raised money for a replacement. After Collins was killed in a 1989 skiing accident, memorial gifts to the chapel fund revived the project. The Town of Alta, the Diocese and the U.S. Forest Service located a safer, hillside-tucked site near the Shallow Shaft restaurant; ground was broken August 8, 1993, and the new concrete chapel was dedicated March 26, 1994, in time for Palm Sunday.
- First chapel built c. 1956 by Merrill Matzinger
- December 1973 avalanche damaged stained glass and interior
- May 1983 avalanche destroyed the building; it was demolished
- 1989 death of Joan Collins; memorial gifts revived the rebuilding fund
- Groundbreaking August 8, 1993; dedication March 26, 1994
- Diocese of Salt Lake City formally recognized the center on March 27, 1994
- March 24, 2024: chapel marked 30 years of Masses in the building
- June 30, 2025: Diocese sold the chapel to the Town of Alta
Mass & Service Schedule
Our Lady of the Snows operates as a seasonal mission chapel: Sunday Mass is celebrated during the ski season, with additional liturgies on Christmas Day and Easter. The schedule is intentionally built around Alta's rhythm — Sunday afternoon skiers can be at the 5 PM Mass without missing the slopes — and the diocese specifically notes that there is no Christmas Eve Mass at the chapel.
- Sunday Mass: 5:00 PM (ski season, typically late November through mid-April)
- Christmas Day Mass: 10:00 AM
- Easter Sunday Mass: 10:00 AM
- No Christmas Eve Mass
- All liturgies celebrated in English
Served by Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Sandy
Our Lady of the Snows Center Station is not a standalone parish. It is liturgically served by Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Sandy, Utah, and the Diocese of Salt Lake City lists it under the umbrella of Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Mission. The contact phone number for the chapel — (801) 571-5517 — routes through Blessed Sacrament. Inquiries about baptisms, weddings, funerals and other sacraments are normally handled at the Sandy parish.
- Served by: Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Sandy, Utah
- Parish website: http://blessedsacramentsandy.org
- Parent mission: Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Mission (Diocese of Salt Lake City)
- Pastoral leadership traced historically to Rev. John Norman (Alta priest for ~8 years)
The Building: Chapel & Community Center
From the day it opened in 1994, Our Lady of the Snows was designed to be both a Catholic chapel and a community center. The main hall is 35 by 35 feet and the building includes two ADA-accessible restrooms; full ADA access is available in the summer and fall seasons. Large windows frame views of Alf's High Rustler, Collins Gulch and Mount Baldy.
- 35 ft × 35 ft main room
- Two ADA restrooms
- ADA accessible in summer and fall
- 12 six-foot tables and 125 chairs
- Small kitchenette with sink
- Internet access
- Rentable A/V: speakers, microphone, projector, screen, blackout blinds
- Views of Alf's High Rustler, Collins Gulch and Mount Baldy
Ownership & Venue Management
On June 30, 2025 the Diocese of Salt Lake City sold the Our Lady of the Snows chapel to the Town of Alta — a notable step for a Catholic mission chapel in the United States. The building is now owned by the municipality and Alta Community Enrichment (ACE) manages venue rentals. The Catholic Mass schedule is unaffected: Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Sandy continues to supply the Sunday, Christmas and Easter liturgies.
- Building owner: Town of Alta (since June 30, 2025)
- Venue rental manager: Alta Community Enrichment (ACE)
- Liturgical care: Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, Sandy
- Email for venue/rental: [email protected]
- Rental page: altacommunity.org/venue-rental-ols
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John Normanc. 1984–1992 (Alta priest for about eight years)
Celebrated Mass in Alta's town library after the 1983 avalanche; led the drive to rebuild the chapel; credited alongside the late Joan Collins and the Alta/Snowbird communities for the 1994 building.