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.

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The Park City Historic Mine Route officially opened to the public on Miners Day.

The route, organized by the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History, combines two of Park City’s most important attractions: history and outdoor recreation. 

The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History worked with the Mountain Trails Foundation to incorporate existing trails along 24 historic silver mining sites to create the 7-mile route. The pinnacle is the recently restored Silver King Mine sitting near the eastern boundary of Park City Mountain.

“There’s a genuine destination (to the hike),” said Colleen Logan, marketing manager for the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History. “It’s so rich, there are so many stories to learn about.”

Almost the entire route follows existing trails, with new wayfinding signs marking the Historic Mine Route. The Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History also created interpretive signs to tell stories at specific sites and QR codes linking to the trail’s audioguide via the TravelStorys app. 

Logan said another great thing about the trail is the variability.

The route starts on Main Street and stretches 7 miles with 1,200 feet of elevation gain when hiked in full.

“You definitely feel a good workout, but it’s in sections, so you don’t feel like you’re just walking straight uphill,” Logan said. 

A more moderate option is to ride the Town Lift or Payday Express lift from Park City Mountain to the mine, and hike down Empire Canyon. This shortens the route to 3.4 miles and reduces elevation gain while allowing hikers to visit 15 historic sites. The easiest way to explore the historic mine route is by an out-and-back trail from Main Street to Empire Canyon. 

There’s a 10-mile bike trail to view the Historic Mine Route, too. It follows the same path as the 7-mile hike, with a short diversion around the hiker-only Trestle trail.

The downhill section past the Silver King Mine and through Empire Canyon is densely packed with mine sites, including the Silver King Mill, the next Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History restoration project.

Logan said one of the nonprofit’s goals for the route is to “make Main Street your trailhead.” Parking, water and restrooms are easy to find at the start of the route near the Park City Museum.

The route is described by the nonprofit as an “open-air museum,” but Logan still recommended stopping by the Park City Museum before hitting the trails.

“It really is a complement to go to the museum before or after you do the hike,” Logan said. “The museum helps explain things at a level of detail you can’t get when you do the hike, but the mountain experience brings an ‘ah-ha’ moment to what you see at the museum.”

Whichever route is taken, the Friends of Ski Mountain Mining History hopes the new Historic Mine Route can teach people about the sites they might have often skied, biked or hiked past. 

“It takes something that may be familiar, but now (you) know something about it. Now you know the stories,” Logan said.

Details of each route can be found online at hmr.parkcityhistory.org.

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Deer Valley Resort has been working hard this summer to prepare for the winter season, with most projects centered around the resort’s east side.

New lifts and snow guns have been installed at Deer Valley since terrain expansions began in 2024, and construction has started in the East Village area, which will feature luxury hotels, retail and dining.

Garret Lang, senior director of mountain operations, said there isn’t one project he’s most excited about, but instead a large number of small improvements across the resort. 

“(There are) little perfections from last winter,” Lang said. 

Lang called the tasks a “punch list” that they’ve been working through all summer. On that list is adjusting the grade of certain runs around the mountain, moving trees and managing erosion. 

“The punch list is going to make operating so much easier and make things better for our guests,” he said. 

The mountain operations team has made significant improvements to the Redemption run this summer. Snow guns were moved for better placement and to optimize snowmaking conditions. The run has been widened, too. 

Lang said Deer Valley added two new snowcats this year, bringing the resort total to 33.

“(This will help) keep up the groomed terrain Deer Valley is known for,” he said.

The Hail Peak Express will be installed mid-September and will be operational at the start of the 2026-27 season. Hail Peak will add seven new runs and 200 acres to the resort’s total 4,500 acres this season. With this addition, the resort will now have a total of 32 lifts and the capacity for 932 acres of snowmaking.

After the initial 2024 expansion, the Hail Peak area was one of the first to have ski runs cut into the mountain, so Lang is looking forward to the area being skiable this year. 

Construction on the Park Peak and Deer Valley East Village Lodges has been moving quickly this summer, too. Both lodges are planned to open for the 2027-28 season. 

Each lodge is being designed with gondola storage space underground. The cabins will be detached from the lift for temporary storage overnight or during large storms. This will also allow easier access for cabin maintenance. Lang said this system was inspired by European standards for gondola storage. Special gondola cabins are designed for food transport to the Park Peak Lodge, as well as freight loading areas near the regular gondola access points.

The goal is to have each building “dried in” before winter, Lang said, meaning the external work will be completed to the point where no plastic or temporary coverings are needed around the buildings. Construction will continue through the winter on the interiors of the buildings. 

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Park City Mountain on Tuesday introduced a new slogan, “Larger Than Life,” taking from the resort’s size, Olympics luster and memories that leaders hope skiers make during their time on the mountain.

“This mountain is rooted in greatness — Olympians, record-breakers, pioneers — and that energy doesn’t leave. It lives in the snow, in the runs and in the air you breathe at elevation,” said Deirdra Walsh, vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain. “We’re chasing one thing here: that every part of someone’s day should feel worthy of the mountain it happens on. This winter, that work will come to life in exciting new ways, with even more to come as we shape the future of the resort alongside our community.” 

Resort officials said “Larger Than Life” is more than a marketing campaign as the mountain aims to bring together significant investments, new infrastructure, global competition, on-mountain experiences and a renewed commitment to planning for the resort’s future.

They said it’s also part of parent company Vail Resorts’ effort “to bring each mountain’s personality fully to life.”  

They said three-time Olympic gold medalist and founder of The Snow League Shaun White is helping tell the story. “Across television, digital, social media and out-of-home creative,” White connects some of his biggest career-shaping moments to Park City Mountain, they said.

“There’s something special about Park City Mountain,” White said. “It’s an incredible place to ride, with so much terrain and so many different ways to experience the mountain. I’ve had some memorable times there over the years, and I’m excited to be part of this campaign to help showcase what makes the mountain so great.” 

Park City Mountain officials said the resort in the past decade has invested more than $144 million in lifts, terrain, snowmaking, restaurants and other improvements including the Sunrise Gondola, major snowmaking upgrades in Canyons Village, redeveloped beginner ski and ride zones, and terrain park enhancements.

This season, arriving at Canyons Village will be a bit different than before. The new 10-person Canyons Village Skyway will be the second new gondola to debut in as many winters. Together, the Skyway and the new Canyons Village parking structure will “create a more comfortable and seamless journey from arrival to the slopes,” the resort said. The free all-day surface lot parking and ride up the Cabriolet Lift of previous years is history, however, as the garage will charge and remaining surface parking aligns more with the Mountain Village lots, which will be free after noon.

Resort leaders said they also were pleased with the recent approval by the Park City Planning Commission to upgrade Silverlode Express and Eagle Lift. The approval is the subject of a lawsuit filed last week in Third District Court.

This summer brought Park City Mountain’s first remote avalanche control system to Limelight Bowl, giving resort operations a safer, more efficient way to open an important stretch of terrain, officials said.

The resort used 3D modeling to reshape the superpipe’s foundation, creating a feature that will host the world’s best while training the next generation of skiers and riders headed into 2034, they said.  

Guests who visit Park City Mountain this winter can expect: 

• White’s The Snow League, coming to Park City Mountain Jan. 21-23, 2027, bringing the world’s top halfpipe snowboarders and freeskiers to the resort for three days of competition, live music and fan experiences. 
• The return of a 22-foot superpipe, which will remain following The Snow League as the resort builds toward the 2034 Olympic Winter Games. 
• A traveling S’mores Sleigh delivering fireside treats to locations across the mountain. 
• The expansion of Peak to Plate, which allows guests to eat their way across the mountain. 

Officials said Park City Mountain’s winter will also reflect improvements underway across Vail Resorts through Epic Experience, including reimagined rentals, with My Epic Gear, which they called a more seamless and personalized ski and ride school experience in the My Epic App; and a “significant investment” in on-mountain dining with higher-quality ingredients and refined presentation for the resorts’ most popular menu items. 

“There are thousands of ways to spend a day here, and no two guests spend it the same way,” said Walsh. “That’s the part I love. Everyone leaves with a trip that belongs only to them, made of moments they found themselves. That’s what larger than life means to us.” 

Additional events and offerings will be announced closer to the start of the winter season, officials said.

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The expansion of Deer Valley’s East Village has helped improve the fire mitigation and response systems across the resort’s 4,500 acres. Upgrades to snowmaking infrastructure, including remote system control, are part of the multi-organization collaborative project. 

Max Bervy, an assistant project manager with Extell Development, led the efforts to enhance fire response systems in the East Village development plans.

Because of the high elevation and dry climate, wildfires are a significant risk to ski resorts in Utah. Eagle Point Resort in Beaver, Utah, won’t open for the 2026-27 season because of wildfire damage.

Bervy was inspired by resorts in the South Lake Tahoe region, near where the 2021 Caldor fire tore through. The resorts temporarily converted snowmaking infrastructure for use by wildland firefighters, allowing the resorts to preserve most structures and land. 

Over the past few weeks, crews from the Wasatch Fire District visited the expanded area of the resort now in their jurisdiction. Firefighters are learning to adapt the water systems to their gear and are understanding the layout and terrain of the mountain.

“With the complexity and capacity that our snowmaking system has, it was kind of a no-brainer,” Bervy said.

Snowmaking infrastructure has long been an option for firefighting resources, but without an automated system it would take more time to set up hoses where they’re needed. 

Deer Valley recently upgraded its snowmaking systems across the East Village side to allow remote access to the whole system. Now, senior snowmaking manager Brett Hawksford can control the resort’s water system using an app on his phone. The system also has an increased water storage capacity and updated pump systems.

Wasatch County Fire District Chief Eric Hales said the technology upgrade will make it more feasible to use snowmaking systems as a primary firefighting response. 

Hales said the snowguns themselves likely wouldn’t be used for initial fire attack, but they can be used to moisten the land and air so potential fires don’t spread.

Once water is pressurized and flowing through the pumps, fire response crews around the mountain can use the snowmaking infrastructure as hydrants. With this system in place, crews don’t have to navigate tanker trucks up the narrow and steep roads if a fire were to break out on the mountain. 

Specific access roads for fire crews and helicopter landing zones were built into the resort’s design. Deer Valley and Extell also fitted side-by-side vehicles to serve as small fire trucks to access more remote areas of the mountain, if needed. 

Firefighters will carry adapters so their equipment can connect to the pipes on the mountain. Once the water is flowing through the pump system, they can essentially use the snowguns as fire hydrants. 

Because Deer Valley now spans two counties, the project requires collaboration between Extell, the Resort, Wasatch Fire District, Summit County firefighters. Chief Hales explained they have to coordinate with Ski Patrol, too, and transport with ambulances and medical helicopters. 

“We really wanted to get everyone on the same page and build a standard operating procedure,” Bervy said. 

Before the Deer Valley expansion, Wasatch Fire District operated within a small area of the resort. But with the opening of the East Village, the Fire District will operate within the new mountain terrain and more urban-style buildings. 

Fire District Battalion Chief RL Duke said one of the biggest differences his team will see with the expansion is the response to structure fires. The firefighters usually respond to smaller single-family homes, but now they’ll have to be ready for larger structures, including high-rises. 

When working in tall buildings, firefighters typically have to carry in their own oxygen in tanks. The tanks provide about 20 minutes of clean air. This makes it harder to fight fires since they have to leave the building to get clean air.

With the new development, Hales has advocated for the standardization of Firefighter Air Replenishment Systems, or FARS, being built into each building in the East Village. 

“Firefighters need two things: water and air,” Hales said. 

The buildings supported by FARS will have air hoses in their stairwells, alongside the existing water hoses.

“We’re able to hook into this air system that’s breathable air and we can refill those bottles,” Hales said. “We can keep that firefight and our folks a lot safer up there without having to bring additional equipment and resources to those various floors, which takes a lot of time and energy and manpower to do that.”

The East Village buildings will be the first in Utah built with FARS. Hales said the fire department has worked to add FARS in fire code standards for all high-rises in the area.

Other developments around the resort include drainage infrastructure that returns water from the snowmaking system to the Jordanelle Reservoir and Provo River, as well as treatment centers that clean lead and arsenic from the water. A 10,000-gallon water storage pond is being built that will provide water for firefighting helicopters if needed.

Fire mitigation isn’t new at Deer Valley. 

Jacob Ringquist, the resort’s slope maintenance manager, used to work as a wildland firefighter, so he cares deeply about protecting the forest. 

The difference between firefighting and slope maintenance is “proactive versus reactive,” he said. 

Most of those proactive efforts happen outside the ski season. This summer the resort used goats and sheep grazing to eliminate vegetation that ignites easily. The team is also collecting wood for pile burning, which will happen later this fall. 

The resort can still use its snowmaking systems for fire response and mitigation; it’s just more “hands-on,” Ringquist said.

“A better, healthier forest that’s more fire resilient (is) also better skiing,” Ringquist said. “As we grow and expand our footprint and what we manage, we’ll keep expanding our crew and what we do to be good stewards of the land.”

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Avery Dougherty always knew she wanted to research oceanography, but she has a deep love of the mountains, too. Dougherty grew up skiing in Park City and hasn’t missed a winter season here since she was 4 years old. Through her latest research project, she’s able to combine her love of the ocean with her love of the mountains.

Dougherty, a staff research associate at the UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography, published a study with research scientist Dr. Dimitri Deheyn studying microplastics in the snow. The samples for the experiment were collected at Dougherty’s home resort, Park City Mountain. 

Deheyn and Dougherty primarily study microplastics in marine biology. They’re finding that microplastics are everywhere, including in places thought of as untouched, like fresh snow.  Their research has led them to the Wasatch Back mountains in search of pristine snow. 

Microplastic research is often related to marine environments, but Deheyn wanted the study to focus on the atmosphere and water cycle as a bigger concept.

“The ocean is the consequence of what comes upstream,” Deheyn said.

Plastics that start out in the ocean deteriorate to microscopic sizes and are carried into the atmosphere by ocean winds. They are eventually dispersed across the planet as they’re transported by wind currents.

Because of the shape of each microplastic particle, they attach to water molecules and fall to the Earth’s surface when it snows. 

“We studied the biology of these small microplastics,” Deheyn said. “How are they created, how do they disperse, where do they end up, which kind of food webs do they enter?” 

It can be challenging to sample the particles while they’re in the atmosphere. Instead, Deheyn’s group studied the microparticles in the atmosphere by catching them the moment it snowed. The study sampled fresh snow from remote areas of the mountain, away from trees, lifts and ski or snowboard activity. 

“The idea we had was if we analyze fresh snow, we would capture small microparticles that would be a reflection of what was in the air, rather than what comes from the skiers or snowboarders,” Deheyn said.

That’s where Dougherty became involved. She has never missed a winter skiing trip to Park City with her family, so the resort was an easy choice to collect snow samples.

Dougherty visited each winter over four years to collect snow samples from various locations around the Canyons Village area of the resort and the city. 

“Getting to do research (at Park City) is really surreal for me,” Dougherty said. “I feel like it’s kind of full circle to be able to go skiing and do work. It is really fun.”

Dougherty said her dad knows the resort “like the back of his hand,” so he had valuable input when they were choosing different locations to study. She collected samples off of the NinetyNine 90, Peak 5 and Tombstone runs, as well as the top and bottom of Main Street. 

Dougherty and her dad would watch Doppler radar and look forward to big storms as sample collection days.

“Overall it was an amazing experience, and I hope that we can do more work within the resort and outside the resort,” Dougherty said. “The skiing, obviously, was awesome when we got a lot of snow.” 

This particular study used “epifluorescence” technology, which shows how microparticles can be found in the environment by different fluorescent colors.

The plastic particles can be made of different materials and range in size from 1 micron — the size of one one-thousandth of a millimeter — to 5 millimeters. Deheyn and Dougherty were interested in small microplastics, between one and 100 microns.

The results from the Main Street samples weren’t surprising, Dougherty said. 

More microparticles were found there than on the mountain, with most found in the snow at the bottom of Main Street. Those samples had higher levels of textiles and rubber from car tires. These particles are classified as microfibers, a subset of microplastics, and come directly from present-day human impact.

Everyone involved with the research was surprised by the results from NinetyNine 90, though. 

Out of all the resort’s sample sites, NinetyNine 90 is the highest and most remote. Dougherty even took the samples from the backcountry areas that aren’t frequently skied to find the cleanest snow possible. 

Still, the study confirmed the location had the highest level of microplastics. They also determined microplastics in those areas were in the environment much longer than the microfibers on Main Street. Most of the particles come from “legacy plastics,” which include some of the first plastic products invented in the ’50s and ’60s. 

Deheyn said the results aren’t a consequence of anything specific happening in the Park City area. Instead, it’s evidence of how long plastics stay in the global environment and linger in the air.

“I really don’t want people to … think skiers are ruining Park City and the snow,” Dougherty said. “I want people to understand that microplastic pollution is an invisible global problem that’s reaching places we traditionally think are pristine, including our mountains and our snow.”

The results match other studies showing higher levels of microplastics in snow at remote locations, such as high in the mountains of Alaska and the Himalayas and even the North and South Poles. Wind and elevation are the most significant factors affecting how microplastics appear in snow samples. 

There isn’t much that can be done about microplastics already in the environment. What people can do, Deheyn and Dougherty emphasized, is change their habits now.

“When I’m talking to people, I don’t want them to feel hopeless and that what they’re doing isn’t working. It definitely is helping,” Dougherty said. 

The pair said they didn’t want the results of this study to make people afraid or discouraged. Instead, they hope this inspires action at a community and individual level.

“It’s only by being a unified society that we can actually influence the policymakers in the industries,” Deheyn said. “The more you talk about it, the more you make people realize that they are part of the global system.”

As far as direct impact, Deheyn said the biggest thing a person can do is be mindful of the clothing and textiles they use. 

Polyester is one of the most common microplastics they found in the analyses. As people wear polyester, the fibers shed and enter the environment. Because most snow gear is made of polyester, this particular environmental impact can be hard to avoid, but Dougherty said she tries to find alternatives when possible, opting for wool or cotton base layers, for example, and when necessary, aiming for polyester products that will last longer and not break down as quickly.

“I want us to have hope that people are working on finding a solution,” Dougherty said. “My main goal is just to help preserve our planet. That’s all.”

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Park City Mountain has released its plan for 2026-27 season parking, and early access season passes for the Canyons Village and Mountain Village garages are available now for those who had 2025-26 parking passes and an active Epic Pass. Passes will be available for general public sale on Sept. 1.

The 2026-27 plan includes free and paid parking options. Passes will only be available for Epic Pass holders who have Park City Mountain included in their pass. 

The pricing structure is largely the same as last year, combining free and paid options, according to resort officials. Season passes are $825 for each garage. Individual day parking passes are available at the surface lots in the Canyons Village and Mountain Village areas. Day passes are $29 before noon or free after noon. For carpool groups, parking is free all day. 

Before noon, reservations will be required for everyone at Mountain Village, including season pass holders. At Canyons Village, reservations will be requested for pass holders but not required for anyone. 

According to the resort website, purchasing passes doesn’t guarantee availability through reservations, though it says “inventory will be monitored and additional reservations may be released as capacity changes.”

The Canyons Village garage has been under construction since March 2025. The five-story structure is expected to be completed early in December. Last season, the first two levels were open for use. This year the garage will be closed until all construction is finalized. 

Parking in the surrounding surface lots will still be available until then, which will be free for season pass holders. The Canyons Village garage and Skyway gondola stand in place of the old Cabriolet lot and lift. While garage construction remains ongoing, the gondola is set to begin operations on opening day. 

On Aug. 18, the resort announced Nov. 20 as its target opening day for this season. Passes for the 2026-27 season range from $829-$1,119 for adults, depending on resort access.

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Shred for Red, the annual ski fundraiser for Blood Cancer United, will be back in 2027. Registration for fundraising participants starts Sept. 1, the first day of Blood Cancer Awareness Month. 

This year’s fundraising goal is $450,000. Event organizers spoke of the importance of this event and the impact the funds will have in helping the organization’s research and advocacy work for Blood Cancer patients. 

Austin Simon is the adventure series director for Blood Cancer United and has a personal connection to the organization’s work. Her mother-in-law beat lymphoma twice, Simon lost her grandmother to multiple myeloma and she is currently going through cancer treatment herself.

“Our mission is to cure blood cancer and to improve the quality of life for patients and their families and having direct family members that have been touched by blood cancer makes me mission connected,” Simon said. 

Dr. Robert Winn, Deer Valley’s former chief medical officer, started Shred for Red after his wife was diagnosed with leukemia, with the help of Olympian and leukemia survivor Bryan Fletcher and Blood Cancer United. At the time, the organization was called the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

Every year since then, people have fundraised for the organization, with the effort ending in a Deer Valley ski day. 

“It really fits into the mission because it allows people to be on the mountain and do something in person, but it also gives them the opportunity to bring honor to people who have gone through treatments, and the memory of people who have passed away,” said Shelby Rogers, the Shred for Red event manager. 

Rogers, who also manages the Climb 2 Cure event, is connected to the organization’s mission through her grandfather, who passed away from lymphoma. 

“Our mission, when we were founded in 1945, was really to fund incredible research because there were no cures at the time,” Simon said. “Our mission has evolved. We recognize not only do we need to find a cure, but we also need to be there to support our patients and their families. We also need to advocate for them so that they’re having access to the most amazing treatments.”

Erin Stone and her family, who live in Holladay, have experienced the significance of the organization’s advocacy directly. Stone’s son was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 5 and a half years old. 

Leukemia accounts for 40% of all childhood cancer diagnoses. Stone explained the treatment cycle for pediatric leukemia takes more than two years. She said some of the medications during her son’s treatment cost thousands of dollars for a single dose. Over the course of long treatment, this adds up to what can be insurmountable for many families. 

Last year, Blood Cancer United provided Utah families with $1 million in financial assistance. And in the past decade, the organization has contributed $2 million to statewide research projects. The 2026 Shred for Red event raised $300,000, only half of its goal. This year, snow conditions will be better, and the event will be earlier in the season, so organizers are hoping they’ll meet, if not exceed the goal. 

Teams and individuals can fundraise for Shred for Red. There’s a tiered goal system, and participants are required to meet their goal to attend the event. Rogers explained this is set so the organization can fund the event itself as well as raise money for its mission. 

After registration, participants will meet with Rogers one-on-one each month to strategize their goals.

“We definitely want this to be a fun experience for people, not something that feels like another thing they have to do,” Rogers said. “So we try to make it fun.”

Rogers said she has fundraising guides with social media posts, email and text templates and phone scripts to help people get started. 

“If it’s not easy, call us,” Simon said. 

Every year, Shred for Red spotlights someone in the community with blood cancer as an Honored Hero. Not all of the fundraiser participants have a direct connection to blood cancer, so the Honored Heroes can help people understand the experiences and impacts it has. 

At the 2023 Shred for Red event, Stone’s son was the Honored Hero. She said participating that year helped their family make connections with people across the country who were experiencing the same thing as them.

“Once you get started with it, you’re hooked. You want to feed into that community of support and love and common goals and wanting to support the mission,” she said. “It’s really a special thing.”

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The superpipe is back at Park City Mountain resort. It’s like a halfpipe, only the walls are twice as high at 22 feet, and it’s 700 feet long.

Part of what makes the superpipe unique is that Park City Mountain has carved it into the dirt already on the mountain. Most other halfpipes are built up from the ground and made entirely of snow. 

Jake Kiejko is the snow surfaces manager at Park City Mountain. He’s also been the project manager for the development of the superpipe.

The project started, he said, when Park City Mountain signed a contract with The Snow League to host its second season World Championship event.

Kiejko said they were given an “ambitious” early-season date to have the pipe ready before the competition.

“That got us in snow services going, ‘Well, maybe we should be doing some dirt work to alleviate some of the water needed and some of the time needed,’” Keijko said.

“Dirt work,” Keijko said, “is excavating the existing dirt on the mountain to better suit our needs for final winter builds.”

The pipe was designed by Pipe Cutter and Terrain Park Specialist Eric Rosenwald. He created a modeling program and wrote his own code using a LiDAR scan, a 3D representation of the area from a laser imaging machine, to design the pipe. 

Rosenwald also operated the machine that cut the pipe into the dirt once the modeling was ready.

Traditional halfpipes are made by plowing and carving snow into the right shape. Because of the early season deadline from The Snow League, and the nature of Utah’s snow, Keijko explained that this would require a lot of water for snowmaking. 

But because this superpipe has a dirt foundation, it will only need to be filled in with snow. Based on snowmaking for previous superpipes, Park City Mountain estimates this design will cut water usage by half. 

Park City Mountain Senior Communications Manager John Kanaly said this will allow them to distribute snowmaking resources across the rest of the mountain. 

“We’re bringing the superpipe back,” Kanaly said. “It has been here in the past, but this is a way of bringing it back and making it much more of a permanent feature that we’ll be able to bring back year after year.”

The Snow League may have been the catalyst, Kanaly said, but the superpipe isn’t just for that competition.

Kiejko explained that halfpipe riding has become less popular in recent years. Part of that is because of how expensive traditional halfpipes are to build and maintain. The size of the average halfpipe makes it a hard sport to learn, too. 

“Here at Park City Mountain we want to be at the leading edge of halfpipe and transition riding in general,” Kiejko said.

They already have “Pipetopia,” home to the beginner friendly mini-pipe and several terrain parks, which Kiejko said help lower the barrier to entry for learning the sport. Building the superpipe in a sustainable way will help reduce the cost of maintaining a competition size pipe at the resort in the long term, too. 

The superpipe will be open to the public as soon as it’s completed, and Kiejko and Kanaly said they hope it will be a place for local athletes to train just as much as a stage for elite competitions.

“A main goal is to not let halfpipe riding fade away and to lean into it and try to keep that discipline in the sport alive,” Kiejko said.

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For many of the greatest women freeskiers in the world, being the only woman in a room, team, or even an entire competition is not an uncommon experience. 

Slopestyle and Big Air events have balanced gender representation at the highest levels of competition, but the same can’t be said of the pipeline to those events or the behind-the-scenes experiences. 

Leah Stroud, head rookie team coach for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team Freeski Slopestyle & Big Air squad, understands the importance of having connection with other women in an extremely male-dominated sport. She’s the only female coach in the Freeski World Cup Circuit and the Stifel U.S. Freeski Team. Pairing her personal experiences with her master’s degree in sports psychology helped her put together a camp so girls who are newer to the sport can see more representation. 

Last weekend, Stroud hosted her second girls-only airbag water ramp skills camp. This summer’s camp took place over three days at Woodward Park City and the Utah Olympic Park. She brought together Stifel U.S. Ski Team Athletes, Olympians, X Games and Red Bull medalists and Park City Ski & Snowboard Athletes to coach. Forty girls attended the camp, some traveling from out of state. 

While the girls learned to do backflips, 360s and jump off water ramps, Stroud and the other coaches were watching them build confidence and relationships that would mean just as much outside of skiing.

“Skiing’s this vessel that we’re using, but these girls are learning skills that are going to help them be better humans,” Stroud said.

That readiness to learn was apparent within the first hour of the camp with Yardley W. Yardley, a 7 year old from Park City, who started skiing just before her second birthday. It was around that time she saw the Flying Aces, too, and she said she’s wanted to ski at the Olympics ever since then. 

“I like skiing a lot and want to improve my skills,” Yardley said.

She got to work right away, specifically with front flips. 

The first day of the camp was held at Woodward. The girls got to know each other and the coaches while practicing tricks on the trampolines. Yardley worked with coaches for hours to master the flip. Fall after fall, she got up and tried again. 

“I didn’t want to give up,” she said.

Over the next two days of the camp, Yardley kept practicing front flips on the trampoline and landed 180s, then 360s, then a 540 off of the water ramp jump. 

2026 Olympian Avery Krumme is one of the coaches who helped Yardley the most. Krumme said she wants to help inspire a younger generation of women in the sport and that this women-only camp was a special way to do that. 

Krumme said growing up with brothers and skiing with boys helped her competitive drive. But going to a similar all-girls camp when she was younger is what made her the athlete she is today, she said. 

“Skiing with all girls helped me make friends and be with people in a really positive environment,” Krumme said. “It’s building confidence with girls supporting each other.”

Seeing the girls say “You got this, I believe in you!” as a group was her favorite part of the camp, she said.

The camp’s aim is to build the girls up as people, Stroud said, whether or not they decide to stay in freeski or sports in general.

“It’s really giving these girls confidence and a safe environment and a supportive environment to be able to create community and meet people and support each other,” Stroud said. 

On the second day of the camp, Stroud had the girls participate in a discussion. She started by having everyone write something about confidence on a large paper. The coaches read off the responses and talked about them with the group. “Not-Ego” was one answer. They explained ego as “showing off” or “doing things for other people, not yourself.” 

Another topic they discussed was self-talk. Find what works for you, one of the coaches said. Maybe hype yourself up or stoke self-competition, but when it comes to others, compliments are the key. Giving them to others builds you up, too, Stroud explained to the girls. 

“You’re here for each other and yourselves,” she said. 

At the end of the discussion, one camper chimed in: “Sometimes you just have to be confident and send it.”

“Be confident and send it” is just what Abi G. did. On the second day of the camp, 12-year-old Abi landed her first backflip off the water ramps. 

She’d had her sights set on the trick since she was 6 years old, she said, and had been practicing on the trampoline since she was 8. Abi has been working with coach Drew Hooker for a year and goes to the water ramps on a regular basis. She’s usually the only girl on her team. 

It took a few tries, and one bellyflop, but Abi made it. 

Before each of Abi’s runs, she and Hooker go through affirmations. 

“Usually, I tell her to say, ‘I’m confident, I’m powerful, I’m capable,’ and then to drop,” Hooker said. 

The affirmations help Abi to be more confident and not look down on herself, something she said is difficult when she’s learning these tricks.

“Some competitions, I’ve been the only girl up there. Only boy coaches, only boy athletes, only boy judges. That’s a little scary,” she said with a laugh.

It’s nice for Abi to have other girls around like Hooker or one of her friends, she said. 

“I know when Abby’s going to drop because she will not look at me, not look at me, not look at me, and then she’ll fist bump and then she’ll go,” Hooker said. “When she fist bumps, that means she’ll go. But if she doesn’t fist bump, she’s not going. So that’s kind of the deal. Secret code.”

Abi added, “It’s really nice having coaches who are so good and have been in the Olympics … and have so much knowledge in skiing, and out of skiing.” 

Outside of skiing, Hooker is working toward a master’s degree in meteorology at the University of Utah. Abi said everything she’s learned this weekend will continue to help her be more confident in herself when she’s not skiing.

Stroud said she wanted this camp to “showcase what it means to be a woman in sport.” She said watching her idols ski as a young girl made the difference in what she felt was possible for her.

“Representation matters,” Stroud said. “When girls see other girls coaching and leading and skiing and supporting each other, it changes what’s possible in their minds. … ‘I can do it all. I can go get degrees, and I can ski, and I can do other sports.’”

Two time Olympian and Park City local Marin Hamill, was another coach at the camp. Hamill said when she was younger she attended a similar summer camp, only then, there were five girls, compared to the 40 attendees this year. When Hamill was a camper, she was coached by professional freeskier Ashley Battersby. 

Now that Hamill is a coach herself, she said it’s cool to see herself in Battersby’s position, someone she looked up to as a kid. 

“(I want) to try to be a girls role model,” she said. 

She wanted to help “spread the love in (her) hometown,” and “share the love of sport” at the camp this weekend. 

Hamill, who competed at the 2026 Winter Olympics, said she didn’t ski her best this year. 

“It’s important for the world to see that you can’t see perfect every time,” she said. 

As the girls learned what it meant to do things for themselves, not showing off for other people, Hamill’s mindset exemplified just that. 

2026 Olympian Grace Henderson spoke of the specific difficulties with comparison and competition she’d had skiing with boys when she was younger. Around the boys, she said she “didn’t want to look stupid or they’d make fun of you.” With an all girls group, though, she said it’s different.

“They progress faster because of the positive energy,” she said, “and not being afraid of what boys and other people think.” 

There’s a positive element to the competition in an all girls camp, Henderson explained. When there’s just one girl in a group of boys, she doesn’t get to train with her real competition. At a camp like this, where girls train together, they can push each other to grow.

Henderson said these camps give girls the opportunity to look around and say: “What that girl can do, I can do, too.”

Henderson runs a similar all-girls summer camp in her home state of New Hampshire.

At this weekend’s camp, Henderson coached some of the older girls who were practicing jumps on the airbag. The airbag ramp simulates a full-scale competition slope, jump and landing angle, only it looks like a giant inflatable bounce house.

A few of the campers were going off the jump for the first time last weekend. At the top of the ramp the girls were excited, but there were still some nerves. One skier planned a “Superman flip” for her first run. She turned to her coaches and friends for one last round of encouragement and locked in. As she flew down the ramp and off the jump, her joyful scream echoed across the park. She returned to the top of the ramp smiling and said it was “incredible.”

“We’re just using skiing as the vessel, but at the end of the day, it’s just creating dope humans,” Stroud said. “At the end of the day, it’s just that support and community and inspiration is the key no matter what you do in your life.”

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