Deer Valley installed the final lift of its Expanded Excellence plan this week as the parts for the Hail Peak Express lift were flown into place by helicopter early Wednesday morning.
“We’re getting really excited for winter,” said Garrett Lang, senior director of mountain operations at Deer Valley Resort.
Hail Peak is the 11th new lift in Deer Valley’s East Village expansion since 2024. The new lift will open seven runs and 200 new acres of beginner, intermediate and advanced terrain. With the addition of Hail Peak, Deer Valley now has 32 lifts in operation throughout the resort.
The seven new runs off Hail Peak will feature a mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced groomed terrain. Lang compared the area to Flagstaff Mountain, for people familiar with the western side of the resort.
Deer Valley adds to its collection of over a dozen Doppelmayr high-speed detachable quad lifts with the Hail Peak Express. The new lift can move 2,400 skiers per hour through its 86 carriers. The slightly smaller Neptune Express can move the same number of people with 74 chairs, and the longer Pioche Express lift moves 1,800 people per hour.
The chairs on Hail Peak Express, along with the other lifts in the east expansion area, are designed to be more comfortable with higher backs and smoother suspension.
Its proximity to the East Village parking lot makes Hail Peak a great candidate for early morning runs or as a location to start out the ski day before exploring the rest of the mountain. Parking at the East Village lot is free all day in its 1,200 spaces. Lang said the resort’s complimentary trams will run from the parking lot near the lift to transport skiers closer to the hub.
The installation of Hail Peak marks a milestone in the resort’s expansion. After three years working on mountain developments like its new lifts, the resort will now focus on finishing the East Village and Park Peak lodges.
“We’re excited for, hopefully, a great snow year so we can really showcase what we have to offer and what this expansion is truly capable of,” said Riley Elliot, communications manager at Deer Valley Resort.
The resort has plans for the rest of the mountain, but there’s no set timeline on when those developments would start.
Alterra Mountain Company, Deer Valley Resort’s parent company, announced on Sept. 9 its investments for the 2026-27 season across all resorts total over $350 million. The improvements to snowmaking systems and the addition of the Hail Peak Express lift are the primary focuses this season at Deer Valley.