DEER VALLEY RESORT
RECOMMENDED BY Heidi Voelker
“I think that there’s a myth in the skiing world that people of different abilities can’t ski together,” Heidi Voelker began. “Deer Valley is the kind of area that dispels that myth. There’s something for everyone off of each of the resort’s six mountains. Beginners or people getting back on skis are not stuck at the bottom of the mountain. Everyone can get up to the peaks and have a real outdoor experience.”
Deer Valley is one of three ski areas in the Wasatch Mountain town of Park City, less than an hour east of Salt Lake City. (Though it may be difficult to fathom, Park City was once considered a ski town before it became known as a movie town with the advent of the Sundance Film Festival.) The first trails at the area were cut by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the winter of 1936, as part of a winter carnival sponsored by the Salt Lake City Junior Chamber of Commerce; ten years later, the site became home of Utah’s first mechanized lift, using surplus mining equipment and the engine from a Hercules truck. (At this time, it was known as Snow Park; it wouldn’t become Deer Valley until 1981.) Today, the resort encompasses six discrete segments spread over six mountains—Little Baldy, Bald Eagle, Bald, Flagstaff, Empire Canyon, and Lady Morgan. Deer Valley doesn’t see as much snow as its Cottonwood Canyon counterparts (Alta and Snowbird), but it still averages three hundred inches of The Greatest Snow On Earth®, distributed across one hundred runs and more than two thousand skiable acres. “On powder days, some people will go over to the other areas,” Heidi added. “I don’t know why. We have so much terrain and relatively few people. On a recent powder day, my group skied until one P.M. before we hit a run that had been tracked.”
Since its inception, Deer Valley has differentiated itself from its neighbors (Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons) by delivering a high level of service—including ski valets and luxurious lodging (like the Stein Eriksen Lodge). “The resort aspires to be the equivalent of a five-star hotel, but on skis,” Heidi continued. “Why not have top-level customer service when you come to ski? An amenity like the ski valets (who help unload skis and other equipment) makes it easier on families at a moment in the experience that can be stressful. It sets a nice tone for the day.” Deer Valley also limits the number of tickets it sells on a given day to 7,500, even though its lift system can accommodate over fifty thousand skiers per hour. A plethora of grooming equipment assures no shortage of cruisers, though less-tamed terrain is certainly available, especially on Empire and Lady Morgan Mountains. (Deer Valley, incidentally, was the site of several events in the 2002 Olympics, including freestyle moguls, aerials, and alpine slalom.)
Another pleasant service-oriented aspect of Deer Valley—or for that matter, Park City in general: You don’t have the hassle of having a car. You can shuttle up to the resorts from Salt Lake City, and there’s an excellent bus system in town. “Deer Valley has great ski-in/ski-out lodging,” Heidi added, “but if you want to be closer to the action in town, the public transportation system makes it easy.”
As the ambassador of skiing for Deer Valley, Heidi is often called upon to ski with guests, and she’s ever ready to oblige. When asked to describe an ideal free day on the slopes, she laid out the following itinerary: “Let’s say it’s a powder day, and I’m going to ski with some friends. I’d plan to meet them at Silver Lake Lodge [located at the base of Bald Mountain] and hop on the Sterling Express chairlift to head to the top. Depending on the snow, I’d jump into either Perseverance or Mayflower Bowl. Then I’d begin making my way west to Empire Canyon; you can make it all the way over without hitting a groomed run. En route, I might hit Ruins of Pompei or Triangle Trees, then Sunset Glade or Ontario Bowl (the latter on Flagstaff Mountain). I’d eventually make my way over to Empire Bowl, and spend the rest of the morning there. One of the great service aspects of Deer Valley is that all of the on-hill dining is first-class. You’re not getting a paper plate and a greasy grilled cheese. I have favorite eating spots at each of the lodges, but I think Royal Street Café [midmountain at Silver Lake Village] is my favorite, with the tuna tacos my first choice—they use sushi-grade tuna. In the afternoon, I might do a couple runs on Lady Morgan, maybe Lady Morgan Bowl. Then I’ll head back over to Ontario Bowl for an hour or two, as there’s usually some fresh spots of snow there. There’s an extra hike you can do to get to the very top of Ontario. Most people don’t do it. You only gain five or six turns, but the snow is usually not skied out.”
One of Heidi’s finest Deer Valley memories concerns a run a few years back in Empire Canyon. “I had been at Deer Valley for fourteen years, but I’d never had first tracks at Daly Chutes,” she recalled. (The Daly Chutes are ten rock-lined chutes with forty-degree pitches, and a cornice launch to kick everything off.) “There had been so much snow, the area had been closed for avalanche control. I happened to be there the morning it reopened, and was the first person down. When I’d skied it in the past, I’d usually have to stop part of the way down and regroup. This time, the snow was so deep, I couldn’t stop. I had the biggest smile on my face as I made my way down. It lasted the rest of the day. I felt like I could be done for the year, it was such a great run.”
HEIDI VOELKER was a twelve-year member (1985–97) of the U.S. Ski Team and has competed in the Olympics three times. Heidi also competed three times for the U.S. World Championship team. She has six top-ten World Cup finishes to her credit, including a third-place finish in 1994. Heidi was the 1994 National Champion in giant slalom and finished her racing career with a third-place finish in the giant slalom event at the U.S. Nationals in 1997. She was named Deer Valley’s Ambassador of Skiing in 1997. Heidi is the first woman (and living person) to be featured on a Utah license plate. She resides in Park City with her husband, Tim, and their sons, Lucas and Stefan.
If You Go
Getting There: Deer Valley is less than an hour from Salt Lake City, which is served by most major carriers.
Season: Deer Valley is open early December through mid-April.
Lift Tickets: Day tickets begin at $102; multi-day tickets are available. Details are available at www.deervalley.com.
Level of Difficulty: Deer Valley is celebrated for having something for everyone. Terrain is classified as 27 percent easier; 41 percent intermediate; 32 percent most difficult.
Accommodations: A number of lodging options are available at Deer Valley (800-424-DEER; www.deervalley.com), and just down the road in Park City (800-453-1360; www.visitparkcity.com).