Deer Valley
Encyclopedia
Deer Valley is an alpine ski
resort in the Wasatch Range
, located 36 miles (57.9 km) east of Salt Lake City, in Park City, Utah
, United States
. The resort, known for its upscale amenities, is consistently ranked among the top ski resort
s in North America
. It is also one of the world's few remaining ski resorts that prohibit snowboarding
.
Deer Valley was a venue site during 2002 Winter Olympics
, hosting the freestyle
mogul
s, aerial, and alpine
slalom
events. It also regularly hosts competitions for the International Ski Federation
.
, its gold medal
ist namesake, is host of the lodge and director of skiing at the resort.
Deer Valley uses more grooming equipment than other Wasatch ski areas, and limits access to avoid overcrowding; as of 2006, the resort limited ticket sales to 6,500 per day. Deer Valley's total uphill lift capacity of 46,500 skiers per hour is approximately 50% higher than the capacity of its larger neighbors Park City Mountain Resort
and The Canyons
. Deer Valley has 21 chairlifts, including 11 high speed detachable quads and an enclosed 4-passenger gondola.
(WPA) built the first ski trails and other facilities during the winter of 1936-1937. The first ski lifts appeared in 1946, when local residents Robert Emmett Burns, Sr. and Otto Carpenter constructed them, largely from nearby lodgepole pine
s. The ski area was called the Snow Park Ski Area, a name which endured from 1946 to 1969. In 1981 a private resort officially opened in the same area as Deer Valley and has grown to include six mountains with six bowls, 930 acres (376.4 ha) of glade skiing and 560 acres (226.6 ha) of snow-making. The resort totals 2026 acres (819.9 ha) in size.
, also known as Yan: the Burns double (which is the only remaining original lift on the mountain), and the Carpenter, Homestake, Sultan, and Wasatch triple chairs. The Sterling lift was added in 1982, followed by Clipper in 1983. The first major terrain expansion came in 1984 with the addition of the Mayflower lift on Bald Mountain.
In 1991, Deer Valley's first high speed quad, Carpenter Express, was installed on Bald Eagle Mountain. That same year, the resort expanded onto Flagstaff Mountain with the Red Cloud and Viking lifts. This area added new intermediate and advanced mogul runs. The Crown Point lift was also built. Further expansion came in 1993 with the addition of the Northside Express lift, with its popular intermediate terrain. The Snowflake beginner double was also built this year. All new Deer Valley lifts built from 1993 on have been built by Salt Lake City-based Doppelmayr CTEC
and its predecessors.
In 1996, the Carpenter Express and Wasatch lifts were replaced by two new Garaventa CTEC high speed quads. The old Wasatch triple was moved to create the Quincy lift in 1997. Also in 1997, the Deer Crest fixed quad was built, though it did not open until the following year.
For the 1998-99 season, Deer Valley underwent a major expansion, adding two more mountains. On Little Baldy Peak, the Deer Crest lift and Jordanelle Express Gondola opened with 8 runs: 2 green, 3 blue, and 3 black. In Empire Canyon, the long-proposed expansion included the Empire Express high speed quad and the Ruby fixed quad. The Empire area added advanced and expert terrain, including 2 blue runs, 4 black runs, and three expert bowl areas.
Deer Valley built many new lifts on its existing terrain in the early 2000s. In 1999, the Homestake triple was replaced by a fixed grip quad, and the old triple was moved to Empire Canyon the following year to become Little Chief (which itself was removed in 2009). In 2000, Silver Lake Express replaced the Clipper triple to provide a direct link between Deer Valley's two lodges. Quincy and Ruby were replaced by high speed quads in 2001 and 2002, respectively. In 2004, the Silver Strike Express and Judge lifts were built on Flagstaff Mountain. Sultan Express replaced the original Sultan lift in 2005, and Sterling Express was built in 2006.
In 2007, the Lady Morgan expansion added Deer Valley's sixth mountain. The new peak has 9 runs: 5 green, 1 blue, and 3 black, along with a large gladed area known as Centennial. The Lady Morgan Express chairlift is accessible from Flagstaff Mountain and Empire Canyon. This new lift expands Deer Valley's tree skiing terrain and adds 200 acre (0.809372 km²) skiable to the resort. Vertical rise of the new lift is 1150 ft (350.5 m)
Deer Valley Resort hosted the freestyle moguls and aerials
, and alpine men's
and women's
slalom events. Three of the resort's runs were used during the games including Champion (site of freestyle moguls), Know You Don't (site of alpine slalom), and White Owl (site of freestyle aerials). Temporary spectator stadiums were located at the end of each run, they were 12-stories tall and included seating for 10,000 people, while spectator standing areas were located along the sides of each course; the standing areas and stadium combined allowed roughly 13,300 spectators to view each event. 99.4 percent of available tickets for events at the venue were sold, which totaled 96,980 spectators witnessing competitions at the resort. During the games 95 percent of Deer Valley remained open to the public for normal seasonal operations.
and the 2011 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships
, becoming the first American venue to host twice.
Deer Valley is a regular host to FIS
World Cup events, having hosted men's and women's mogul
and aerial competitions yearly since 2000 (with the exceptions of 2003 and 2004). The resort also hosted a skicross
event in 2008, and is scheduled to host skicross, mogul and aerial events every January through 2013. Deer Valley's track record of event hosting has led it to be described as "a Mecca for freestyle skiing events".
's Mad River Glen
. The resort has for many years been the subject of protest action by snowboarders. A protest action initiated in late 2007 by snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards offered $5,000 for video footage of riders snowboarding at Alta, Deer Valley or Mad River Glen. According to Burton's website, the point of their campaign is that that such discrimination displays a "blatant aggressive disregard" for the Constitution of the United States.
Snowboarders living in or visiting the Park City area can snowboard at the two resorts near Deer Valley. The Canyons and Park City Mountain Resort both allow snowboarding, and offer halfpipes and terrain park features for snowboarders as well.
Alpine skiing
Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...
resort in the Wasatch Range
Wasatch Range
The Wasatch Range is a mountain range that stretches approximately from the Utah-Idaho border, south through central Utah in the western United States. It is generally considered the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region...
, located 36 miles (57.9 km) east of Salt Lake City, in Park City, Utah
Park City, Utah
Park City is a town in Summit and Wasatch counties in the U.S. state of Utah. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City's east edge of Sugar House along Interstate 80. The population was 7,558 at the 2010 census...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The resort, known for its upscale amenities, is consistently ranked among the top ski resort
Ski resort
A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing and other winter sports. In Europe a ski resort is a town or village in a ski area - a mountainous area, where there are ski trails and supporting services such as hotels and other accommodation, restaurants, equipment rental and a ski lift system...
s in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is also one of the world's few remaining ski resorts that prohibit snowboarding
Poaching (snowboarding)
Poaching originally refers to the act of illegally snowboarding at a resort where snowboards are explicitly prohibited. Poaching is intended as a form of protest against what snowboarders view as segregation and can be seen as a form of civil disobedience....
.
Deer Valley was a venue site during 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
, hosting the freestyle
Freestyle skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Four freestyle skiing events were held at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, at the venue in Deer Valley. There were both men's and women's competition in both aerials and moguls events...
mogul
Mogul skiing
Mogul skiing is a type of freestyle skiing where skiers ski terrain characterized by a large number of different bumps, or moguls.-Moguls:...
s, aerial, and alpine
Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics consisted of ten events held near Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A. The downhill, Super G, and combined events were held at Snowbasin, the giant slalom at Park City, and the slalom at Deer Valley...
slalom
Slalom skiing
Slalom is an alpine skiing discipline, involving skiing between poles spaced much closer together than in Giant Slalom, Super-G or Downhill, thereby causing quicker and shorter turns.- Origins :...
events. It also regularly hosts competitions for the International Ski Federation
International Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
.
Resort profile
With a number of other large ski resorts nearby, Deer Valley competes by catering to a more upscale audience than its neighbors, offering amenities such as free ski valets, free parking shuttles, fine dining and boutique shopping in the main lodge. The resort's mid-mountain lodge, the Stein Eriksen Lodge, offers luxury accommodations and spa facilities. Stein EriksenStein Eriksen
Stein Eriksen is a former alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist.-Background:Stein Eriksen was born in Oslo, Norway. His parents were Marius Eriksen and Birgit Heien . Stein's father, Marius Eriksen competed in the 1912 Olympic Games as a gymnast...
, its gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
ist namesake, is host of the lodge and director of skiing at the resort.
Deer Valley uses more grooming equipment than other Wasatch ski areas, and limits access to avoid overcrowding; as of 2006, the resort limited ticket sales to 6,500 per day. Deer Valley's total uphill lift capacity of 46,500 skiers per hour is approximately 50% higher than the capacity of its larger neighbors Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort is a ski resort in Park City, Utah, located east of Salt Lake City. The resort has been a major tourist attraction for skiers from all over the United States, as well as a main employer for many of Park City's citizens. Park City, as the resort is often called by locals,...
and The Canyons
The Canyons
Canyons Resort is one of three alpine ski resorts located in Park City, Utah. With 19 chairlifts and over 4000 acres of skiable terrain, Canyons is the largest ski resort in Utah...
. Deer Valley has 21 chairlifts, including 11 high speed detachable quads and an enclosed 4-passenger gondola.
Mountain development
Skiing began at Deer Valley with the Park City Winter Carnivals of the 1930s, and the Works Progress AdministrationWorks Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
(WPA) built the first ski trails and other facilities during the winter of 1936-1937. The first ski lifts appeared in 1946, when local residents Robert Emmett Burns, Sr. and Otto Carpenter constructed them, largely from nearby lodgepole pine
Lodgepole Pine
Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
s. The ski area was called the Snow Park Ski Area, a name which endured from 1946 to 1969. In 1981 a private resort officially opened in the same area as Deer Valley and has grown to include six mountains with six bowls, 930 acres (376.4 ha) of glade skiing and 560 acres (226.6 ha) of snow-making. The resort totals 2026 acres (819.9 ha) in size.
Expansion history
Deer Valley Resort opened in 1981 on Bald Eagle and Bald Mountains, with five lifts built by Lift EngineeringLift Engineering
Lift Engineering, more commonly known as Yan Lifts, was a major ski lift manufacturer in North America. Founded in 1965 and based in Carson City, Nevada, the firm came under scrutiny by state safety officials after a fatal accident in 1985, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July...
, also known as Yan: the Burns double (which is the only remaining original lift on the mountain), and the Carpenter, Homestake, Sultan, and Wasatch triple chairs. The Sterling lift was added in 1982, followed by Clipper in 1983. The first major terrain expansion came in 1984 with the addition of the Mayflower lift on Bald Mountain.
In 1991, Deer Valley's first high speed quad, Carpenter Express, was installed on Bald Eagle Mountain. That same year, the resort expanded onto Flagstaff Mountain with the Red Cloud and Viking lifts. This area added new intermediate and advanced mogul runs. The Crown Point lift was also built. Further expansion came in 1993 with the addition of the Northside Express lift, with its popular intermediate terrain. The Snowflake beginner double was also built this year. All new Deer Valley lifts built from 1993 on have been built by Salt Lake City-based Doppelmayr CTEC
Doppelmayr CTEC
Doppelmayr is an aerial lift manufacturer based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, and a subsidiary of the worldwide Doppelmayr Garaventa Group. The North American company was formed in 2001 after the merger of Garaventa of Goldau, Switzerland, and Doppelmayr of Wolfurt, Austria....
and its predecessors.
In 1996, the Carpenter Express and Wasatch lifts were replaced by two new Garaventa CTEC high speed quads. The old Wasatch triple was moved to create the Quincy lift in 1997. Also in 1997, the Deer Crest fixed quad was built, though it did not open until the following year.
For the 1998-99 season, Deer Valley underwent a major expansion, adding two more mountains. On Little Baldy Peak, the Deer Crest lift and Jordanelle Express Gondola opened with 8 runs: 2 green, 3 blue, and 3 black. In Empire Canyon, the long-proposed expansion included the Empire Express high speed quad and the Ruby fixed quad. The Empire area added advanced and expert terrain, including 2 blue runs, 4 black runs, and three expert bowl areas.
Deer Valley built many new lifts on its existing terrain in the early 2000s. In 1999, the Homestake triple was replaced by a fixed grip quad, and the old triple was moved to Empire Canyon the following year to become Little Chief (which itself was removed in 2009). In 2000, Silver Lake Express replaced the Clipper triple to provide a direct link between Deer Valley's two lodges. Quincy and Ruby were replaced by high speed quads in 2001 and 2002, respectively. In 2004, the Silver Strike Express and Judge lifts were built on Flagstaff Mountain. Sultan Express replaced the original Sultan lift in 2005, and Sterling Express was built in 2006.
In 2007, the Lady Morgan expansion added Deer Valley's sixth mountain. The new peak has 9 runs: 5 green, 1 blue, and 3 black, along with a large gladed area known as Centennial. The Lady Morgan Express chairlift is accessible from Flagstaff Mountain and Empire Canyon. This new lift expands Deer Valley's tree skiing terrain and adds 200 acre (0.809372 km²) skiable to the resort. Vertical rise of the new lift is 1150 ft (350.5 m)
Evolution of guest services
Deer Valley was one of the first resorts to offer ski valets to carry guests' ski gear, free parking-lot shuttles, and a state-licensed child-care facility, and to uniform all its employees. It also provides tissues in the lift lines, refers to customers as “guests”, and provides complimentary overnight ski check services.International competitions
2002 Olympic Winter Games
During the 2002 games2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
Deer Valley Resort hosted the freestyle moguls and aerials
Freestyle skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics
Four freestyle skiing events were held at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, at the venue in Deer Valley. There were both men's and women's competition in both aerials and moguls events...
, and alpine men's
Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Men's slalom
The event was held on February 23 at Deer Valley. Pre-race favorite Bode Miller fell off the course in the second run, and many of the other top competitors struggled with an extremely challenging course....
and women's
Alpine skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics – Women's slalom
The event was held on February 20, 2002 at the Deer Valley Resort. Kostelic and Pärson both won medals for the second time in the Olympic-Results:Complete results from the women's slalom event at the 2002 Winter Olympics.-References:*...
slalom events. Three of the resort's runs were used during the games including Champion (site of freestyle moguls), Know You Don't (site of alpine slalom), and White Owl (site of freestyle aerials). Temporary spectator stadiums were located at the end of each run, they were 12-stories tall and included seating for 10,000 people, while spectator standing areas were located along the sides of each course; the standing areas and stadium combined allowed roughly 13,300 spectators to view each event. 99.4 percent of available tickets for events at the venue were sold, which totaled 96,980 spectators witnessing competitions at the resort. During the games 95 percent of Deer Valley remained open to the public for normal seasonal operations.
World Cup events
The resort hosted the 2003FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2003
The 2003 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships were held between January 31st and February 2nd at the Deer Valley ski resort in northern Utah near Park City, United States. The World Championships featured both men's and women's events in the Moguls, Aerials and Dual Moguls.-Results:The moguls and...
and the 2011 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships
FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships 2011
The 2011 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships were held at Deer Valley Resort, together with Park City Mountain Resort. The 2011 FIS Freestyle World Championships took place from January 30 until February 7, 2011, and included aerials, moguls, dual moguls and ski cross competitions at Deer Valley...
, becoming the first American venue to host twice.
Deer Valley is a regular host to FIS
International Ski Federation
The International Ski Federation, known by its name in French, Fédération Internationale de Ski is the main international organisation for ski sports...
World Cup events, having hosted men's and women's mogul
Mogul skiing
Mogul skiing is a type of freestyle skiing where skiers ski terrain characterized by a large number of different bumps, or moguls.-Moguls:...
and aerial competitions yearly since 2000 (with the exceptions of 2003 and 2004). The resort also hosted a skicross
Skicross
Ski Cross is a type of skiing competition. It is based on the snowboarding discipline of boardercross...
event in 2008, and is scheduled to host skicross, mogul and aerial events every January through 2013. Deer Valley's track record of event hosting has led it to be described as "a Mecca for freestyle skiing events".
Awards
SKI magazine's reader resort survey has ranked Deer Valley first overall for five consecutive years: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. In the history of the survey, it has been the only resort to achieve this. In the 2011 survey, the resort received first place ratings in the categories of grooming, service, weather, on-mountain food, lodging, and dining. In addition, Deer Valley was rated in the top 10 in the categories of snow (10), lifts (2), access (2), apres-ski (8), off-hill activities (8), digital programs (3), family programs (2), and overall satisfaction (3).Snowboard prohibition
Deer Valley is one of three remaining American ski resorts that prohibit snowboarders, along with Utah's Alta Ski Resort and VermontVermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
's Mad River Glen
Mad River Glen
Mad River Glen is a ski area in Fayston, Vermont. Its terrain has been ranked by SKI magazine as the most challenging on the east coast of the United States. Located within the Green Mountain range, it sits in the Mad River Valley, close to the larger Sugarbush Resort...
. The resort has for many years been the subject of protest action by snowboarders. A protest action initiated in late 2007 by snowboard manufacturer Burton Snowboards offered $5,000 for video footage of riders snowboarding at Alta, Deer Valley or Mad River Glen. According to Burton's website, the point of their campaign is that that such discrimination displays a "blatant aggressive disregard" for the Constitution of the United States.
Snowboarders living in or visiting the Park City area can snowboard at the two resorts near Deer Valley. The Canyons and Park City Mountain Resort both allow snowboarding, and offer halfpipes and terrain park features for snowboarders as well.
External links
- Deer Valley Resort - Official website
- Deer Valley - A brief history
- Park City Guide - Resort info, lodging options, and real estate