“At Deer Valley Resort, we are proud of our legacy as a top-tier ski destination, and we’re staying true to our founding principles set over four decades ago.”-Todd Bennett, President and COO of Deer Valley Resort.
One of the biggest ski resort expansions coming in the next few years will be at Deer Valley. It was announced last year that Deer Valley would run the giant terrain and village expansion that the Extell Development Company is building.
Gary Barnett, founder and chairman of Extell Development Company, described their partnership with Deer Valley to TownLift:
“Deer Valley East Village is a long-anticipated project that will serve as the heart of the expanded terrain at Deer Valley Resort. With careful planning, we’ve curated a village that will redefine luxury and offer unparalleled amenities for our guests….Our partnership with Deer Valley signifies our dedication to creating a destination where luxury, recreation, and accessibility harmoniously come together.”
This Monday, Deer Valley Resort revealed more details about its gigantic future expansion. They gave a timeline of some of the new lifts, and the name of the new base area: Deer Valley East Village. Here’s a breakdown of what Deer Valley will be adding to its world-class ski resort in the future.
Note: We’ve included the expansion map and multiple zoomed-in photos down below, but you can click here to check out the map in further detail. The red lines signify lifts that are scheduled to open during the 2025-26 season, while the orange lines are lifts planned for the future.
Phase One: The first portion of this new development will open later this year, which is when the new Grand Hyatt will debut. However, skiers will have to wait until the 2025-26 season to be able to ski over at Deer Valley’s East Village.
The first phase will add 110 trails and nine new chairlifts, which includes a ten-person gondola.
The Deer Valley East Village, which was formerly referred to as Mayflower, will be home to the continent’s largest ski beach, restaurants, shops, rentals, and an ice-skating rink. The Village will contain 800 hotel rooms and 1700 residential units. For day travelers, there will be 1200 parking spots, helping to relieve traffic that overwhelms Park City during peak periods. It will also feature easier access than Deer Valley’s Snow Park base area, as this new village is right off of U.S. Route 40.
Three lifts will directly service the East Village. A ten-person gondola will go towards the top of Park Peak, with a mid-station likely stopping at Big Dutch Peak. There are also plans for a gondola that goes from the Snow Park base area to the top of Park Peak. A smaller chairlift will serve some beginner and intermediate-terrain near the Village.
Another chairlift will rise up to near the Sultan Express, leading guests to easily access some of Deer Valley’s most desirable terrain. Another chairlift will be located next to this one, which will service the new intermediate terrain.
To the far right of the trail map are various chairlifts that service the Velvære real estate development. This terrain is of the beginner and intermediate variety.
Up at Park Peak, there will be a chairlift that services mostly advanced terrain runs and glades, along with a chairlift that is for beginner and intermediate skiers. The latter chairlift connects to somewhere around the Ontario and Trump trails.
Future Phases: After the 2025-26 season, Deer Valley plans on adding further lifts and terrain expansions The full build will add another 25 trails and 7 chairlifts to the Utah ski resort.
Two of the lower terrain pods will get their own lifts, which will improve lapability. The most easily visible terrain off US Route 40 is Hail Peak. This mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced terrain will be serviced by a lift in Deer Valley’s East Village. There will also be a chairlift that connects Hail Peak to the Big Dutch Peak trails.
Big Dutch Peak, which will originally be serviced by the gondola, will get another chairlift. This terrain will consist of beginner, intermediate, and advanced runs.
In my opinion, the most interesting terrain pod is South Peak, which is situated to the far upper left of the new map. This will consist mostly of black diamond terrain, along with a restaurant near the top of the lift. Another lift will bring skiers back over from the base of the new South Peak chairlift back to the other new Deer Valley terrain.
The two other future phase lifts planned are a connector chairlift from near the Sultan Express to the top of Bald Eagle Mountain, which will help guests get to the Snow Park base area, along with a connector lift to and from the top of Bald Mountain.
When this expansion project is complete, the Utah ski resort will contain 5,726 acres, 238 runs, 37 chairlifts, and (likely) two base villages. The big question of this expansion is this: will this make it the best ski resort in Utah, and maybe even North America?
Image/Video Credits: Deer Valley Resort, Todd Bennett
