When Deer Valley’s former president, Todd Shallan, announced that he was leaving, Alterra Mountain Company tapped Jeremy Levitt as his replacement. While Levitt has given up deep powder skiing in Canada for groomed runs in Utah, he says with two young children, it was important to be close to family.
Before coming to Deer Valley, Levitt served as the president of CHM Heli-Skiing & Summer Adventures, also owned by Alterra. He said his previous work prepared him for his new position.
"I saw a lot of parallels between Deer Valley and CMH," Levitt said. "Both are world class operations. They pay attention to the details. I love the way they treat their guests and look up to their staff and both have a beloved founder with a unique vision and that all the staff worked really hard to preserve."
Levitt has a long history working in finance. He said his diverse portfolio will help bring a fresh outside perspective.
"Since I'm new, by default, I have to see the business through the lens of a guest," he said. "And that's critical to making the right improvements. I like to think I bring to the table an extensive track record of running complex businesses, leading people building award winning cultures, and consistently outperforming."
Levitt started the job during a time when there've been a lot of changes in the resort industry, including limited capacity and reservations required for all on-mountain restaurants and lodges.
Because the resort is allowing fewer people on the mountain, they’ve already sold out several days leading up to the new year. Even though some people won’t be able to get on the mountain, he said there hasn’t been too much backlash.
"We've been surprised very few guests have actually reached out, we aggressively messaged that the only way to guarantee access to Deer Valley was to purchase a ticket well in advance or like I said, have that season or Ikon pass," he said. "So we've asked everyone who books lodging, rentals, ski school, reservations, to secure their tickets at time of purchase for these products."
Despite smaller than usual crowds, Levitt said the parking lots still fill up. On the busiest days, the resort will run shuttles on weekends and holidays from Treasure Mountain Jr. High School on Kearns Blvd.
The resort has received approval to develop its lower parking lots but Levitt said the plans are preliminary at this point and it’s too soon to comment when those might be presented to the Park City planning department for review.
