You’ve skied Deer Valley Resort before, drawn each year by the flawless grooming and the wide-open blues. But this season, it’s a whole new mountain.
Deer Valley’s long-anticipated expansion finally arrives this winter with 80 new runs and seven new lifts, opening up a world of higher, more varied terrain than before. The new trails off Park Peak and Big Dutch Peak offer untouched terrain that is steeper, longer and just a little wilder than what you’re used to.
“In the Park Peak zone, this is all very advanced terrain,” said Mark Chytka, the resort’s snow safety and ski patrol director. “These are north-facing slopes, and the trees are full of really cool little rock features and stuff that Deer Valley traditionally doesn’t have.”
So you start your day on the east side, where over 1,000 new parking spaces make it easy to gear up at the new East Village base area. Hop on the East Village Gondola and ride it all the way to the top of Park Peak, topping out around 9,350 feet with views that sweep across the Jordanelle Reservoir and back toward Bald Mountain.
You fumble the gondola unload, drop a ski and pretend no one saw. It’s early season; you’re rusty. It’s time for Redemption — the new double-blue off Park Peak that runs along the rolling ridge where you can carve some turns and boost your ego a bit. It feels, as Chytka put it, “like Stein’s Way on steroids.”
You veer left off the ridge into the steeper glades that drop from Redemption, choosing from one of six chutes into north-facing trees and rocky lines. Of the six, Ophelia calls your name. It drops north through hidden channels that make you forget you’re still at Deer Valley at all, and it’s perfectly named if you happened to be listening to Taylor Swift’s new song on the drive up.
“This whole side of Park Peak is complex terrain,” said Chytka. “The trees are full of these really cool rock features and little gullies that are totally new for us.”
You lose your friends somewhere along the ridge but can hear them hollering through the powder in neighboring lines on Nemesis and Hellcat, all delivering a mix of tight trees and wide open pitches that funnel back to the base of Revelator Express for quick laps.
But, chasing turns that feel more like classic Deer Valley, you keep traversing toward Big Dutch Peak.
“Big Dutch is really comparable to Flagstaff,” said Chytka. “Maybe a touch steeper, about the same length and really fun.”
If you’re skiing with family or newer skiers, head for the Pinyon Express lift. It serves some of the country’s only true high-alpine beginner terrain, where runs like Clipper and Golden Age give learners that same big-mountain experience without the high-stakes adrenaline spike. The terrain connects to Homeward Bound, a classic green run that winds along the mountain’s shoulder and carries you all the way back toward Silver Lake Lodge, rejoining the traditional Deer Valley terrain of wide groomers and tree-lined boulevards.
After a day up top, the Deer Valley classics still wait below with Taste of Luxury dining events, DJ sets at Chute Eleven and the chance to Ski With a Champion alongside Olympic legends like Ted Ligety or Jillian Vogtli.
Before you make your way back to the East Village, you take a lap on Bald Eagle Mountain, dropping into Champion, Deer Valley’s legendary World Cup moguls run. Come Jan. 16, this slope explodes with lights, music, cowbells and crowds stacked along the fences cheering on the world’s best moguls and aerials skiers.
Today, though, it’s all yours. You stand at the top and picture the athletes charging down under the lights, then try your own version. You may not be World Cup ready, but close enough.
