Deer Valley’s explosive growth is coming...

I wasn’t completely surprised when I heard that Deer Valley Resort would eventually take over the management of the new ski terrain associated with the Mayflower Resort adjacent to it and currently under construction. 

The reality of imagining 3,700 acres of skiing terrain added to Deer Valley’s 2,026 acres making the whole one of the four largest ski resorts in the US with 5,726 acres, when completed in 2025/26 is massive and evokes a monstrous skier’s gathering place. 

This compares to Whistler’s 8,171 acres, Park City 7,300, Big Sky 5,800 and Vail 5,317 acres. Based on this, as a ski town, Park City could then claim a total of 13,000 acres of skiable terrain, not counting its Olympic Park and Woodward. 

The scary reality associated with this big number will add enormous crowds to the once quiet Deer Valley slopes when a new village with over 800 hotel rooms and nearly 1,700 residential units, and more nearby visitors will start pumping traffic into slopes that are not situated the most ideally when it comes to its south-east sun exposure and a relatively low 6,530 feet base altitude that all will rely heavily on man-made snow coverage. 

Still no snowboarding allowed on the huge mountain. One good news though, is that with a 2,800 vertical drop in one scoop, Deer Valley might be able to host a FIS downhill race... 

Time will tell, but I don’t think