Tributes Continue to Actor and Ski Resort Owner Robert Redford
16th September 2025
Last modified on September 30th, 2025
Hollywood icon Robert Redford, actor and creator of Utah’s Sundance Resort and Film Festival, has died at 89 in his beloved mountain home — PlanetSKI pays tribute to his life and legacy. UPDATED
Robert Redford’s publicist, Cindi Berger, said the actor died at his home “at Sundance in the mountains of Utah – the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.”
“He will be missed greatly,” Berger said, adding that the family is requesting privacy.
Obituaries and details have been posted across the internet.
Here at PlanetSKI we remember him for his love of skiing, the environment and the mountains.
“For me, personally, skiing holds everything,” he said.
“I used to race cars, but skiing is a step beyond that.
“It removes the machinery and puts you one step closer to the elements.
“And it’s a complete physical expression of freedom.”
Redford grew up in the beach town of Santa Monica, but the mountains in Utah was his home of choice.
He acquired the ski resort of Timp Haven in Provo Canyon in the 1960’s and launched the Sundance ski resort in 1969.
He named the resort after the film character that made him famous in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The Owl Bar in the resort has an oak bar that had been commissioned by the real Butch Cassidy.
Redford discovered it in Wyoming, had it restored and transported to Utah.
PlanetSKI was last in the resort of Sundance in January 2020.
Though we have skied there many times over the years including back in 2002 when we bumped into the man himself at lunchtime.
PlanetSKI’s James Cove was in Salt Lake City, Utah, covering the 2002 Winter Olympics for BBC News.
James was with BBC News Sport Correspondent, Daneila Relph, and the BBC’s legendary LA Correspondent, David Willis.
Cove, Relph, Redford & Willis. Image c/o PlanetSKI
“He was the most unassuming and modest guy you could hope to meet,” said James.
“I was in the queue for the self-service at lunchtime and there was Robert Redford right by me and lining up like everyone else.
“I congratulated him on his fabulous resort and we spent the time simply talking about skiing and our shared love of the mountains.
“Bob talked about his favourite runs and the artistic offerings of Sundance, and I just enthused about the variety of great skiing terrain and superb powder that day.”
Here is The Sundance Kid on the slopes of his resort:
In honor of the mark Robert Redford left on the ski industry, we wanted to highlight his time on film at @sundanceresort in Warren Miller’s 1986 movie 🎞️
Redford’s legacy rides on in the ski and film community he helped build. Cheers to a life well lived. #WarrenMiller pic.twitter.com/VR0AbuLPQT
— Warren Miller Entertainment (@WarrenMillerEnt) September 17, 2025
Watch the trailer below to the 1969 film “Downhill Racer” featuring Robert Redford with Gene Hackman.
The base area of Sundance Mountain Resort nestles in the trees at the foot of the ski area.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
The buildings are wooden and ooze charm.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
With spots to relax after skiing.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
“The ethos of Sundance is to bring art and nature together in order to enhance both of them,” said the resort’s marketing manager, Abby Brock.
“People come here to escape from the norm and to experience something different and to find their inner-self.
“There are locals from less well-off backgrounds and the rich and famous alike,” she added.
Abby Brock, Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
The resort has had an Arts Centre since it’s early days.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
People were learning pottery and there were examples of the glass blown and the jewellery made.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
In the base buildings there were photos of The Sundance Kid himself with his children.
He founded the Sundance Film Festival, which takes place annually in Utah since 1978.
In 2020 he was not involved in the day to day running of the resort, but his daughter Shauna was creative director while his grandson Conor was fully involved on a day-to-day basis.
There are plays, musical events and a host of artistic activities.
Native Americans come to recount their life stories.
And make hats.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
It really is a ski resort like no other and the local ski hill to the areas of Zermatt and Midway.
It is not huge, with just four lifts and a free tow rope for beginners.
Sundance Piste Map
But off the lifts is some of the best in-bounds terrain in this part of the mountains – steep, deep and challenging.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
And usually there is barely a soul around
My guide for the day back in 2020 was Max Jensen.
A Yorkshire lass who knows Sundance and indeed the whole of this part of Utah like the back of her hand.
We hit the groomers, the steeps and soaked up the spectacular scenery.
Sundance Resort, Utah. Image © PlanetSKI.
Robert Redford was also a keen environmental campaigner.
In 1975 it was announced that a power plant would be built in Utah.
He described it as a potential disaster and invited CBS News’ 60 Minutes to the state to discuss the issue, which resulted in the plans for the power plant being scrapped.
“Anytime anybody voices a concern about the quality of life that we’re going to be leading we’re called environmentalists. And if that’s so, I am an environmentalist,” he said during an interview on the show.
Redford established the Institute for Resource Management in the 1980s, which aimed to bring people together from different sides to find compromises that would be beneficial for the environment.
In 1989 Robert Redford organised the Sundance Symposium on on Global Climate Change.
And then in 2015, he addressed the United Nations, urging them to “take action now on climate change”.
In 2020 Robert Redford sold Sundance:
“As stewards of this unique place, it has always been my vision that the Sundance Mountain Resort would be a place where art, nature, and recreation come together to make the world a better place – now and in the future,” said Redford in a statement.
He kept his property on the edge of Sundance and it is where he passed away peacefully.
RIP The Sundance Kid.
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