If I were Deer Valley’s new boss…

Like any other ski resort, Deer Valley has its indisputable assets as well as it looming challenges, among them global warming and the onslaught of the Ikon Pass upon its once pristine and exclusive slopes. 

Edgard Stern, the founder of both WDSU Television in New Orleans and the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco was also a director of Sears Roebuck and Co. and the man who founded Deer Valley in 1981. 

He got involved with the ski industry in 1968 when he moved to Aspen. That same year he purchased Treasure Mountains Resort in Park City and offered some ambitious improvement and expansion plans for it. Still, he sold Park City Resort in 1975 but retained 1,700 adjacent acres of land that eventually became Deer Valley. 

He was a true visionary and understood what was missing in terms of service and food at American ski resorts and molded Deer Valley to address that. He passed away in 2008, and since then the resort continued to run on its reputation and the business model Stern had originally created. 

Ten years later, Deer Valley was sold to Alterra and at the same time, Bob Wheaton its general manager and caretaker was replaced by Todd Shallan, a hotel management guy. Two years later Jeremy Levitt replaced Shallan and lasted until last week. 

So, in this short amount of time someone is now expected to take the helm of this iconic ski resort and do something with it, but frankly what can still be done at this point in time? Well, the resort has gathered to some old dust and most of its appeal seems to go to older ski families. 

By forbidding the practice of snowboarding on its slopes, it caters to those afraid of the young and iconoclastic riders and is now, along with Alta and Mad River Glen, the only resorts in the world that remain for skiers only. 

Further, Deer Valley keeps going against the (young) grain by not offering a Terrain Park, an amenity increasingly popular with the youth. Finally, other ski resorts are catching up with Deer Valley’s once better-than-mediocre food offering and the advantage the resort had in that category is now eroding. 

There are other issues that hamper its access, like the long distance between its parking lots and its base, too many steeps to climb, icy, steep runs and a general congestion on its slopes made worse by the influx of Ikon pass-holders. 

So, as you can see, the next general will have his/her job cut out with no easy choices. So, what would I do if I were named general manager? You’ll read my answers in an upcoming blog… 

(to be continued…)