Deer Valley’s vision for the Snow Park base involves a new ski beach with a gondola to Silver Lake, surrounded by hotels, restaurants, commercial space and an event center.
The resort still needs approval from Park City before construction can begin.
At an open house Tuesday, Deer Valley Vice President of Resort Planning Hannah Tyler said they want to break ground on the project by spring 2025.
Tyler also shared the recent changes including two new roundabouts to help with traffic flow.
“One is at the intersection of Doe Pass Road and Deer Valley Drive,” Tyler said. “The other is at the intersection of Royal Street… We tried not to do stop signs. We have roundabouts in town, people love it or hate it, but it does keep people moving… And if you’re coming out of Royal Street, you’ll be able to take a right and go right to drop-off which is something we heard loud and clear from the upper Deer Valley neighbors.”
Deer Valley President and CEO Todd Bennett said the biggest change is moving the proposed transit center and drop-off area closer to the base.
“We heard from a lot of folks it’s really important where the drop off occurs today, ‘We like the drop-off where it is,’” Bennett said. “So we’re going to put drop-off directly below the ski beach there, and we’re going to separate it so that transit that’s coming in is on a different level than the car and the auto drop-off.”
Bennett said escalators would move skiers up to the Carpenter lift and Silver Lake gondola, which would also connect to Deer Valley’s new East Village base in Wasatch County.
There will be a separate drop-off near the base specifically for ski school and daycare.
Tyler said the resort has also added more pedestrian crossings and connections to reduce conflicts with cars.
The new plan has similarities to a proposal put forward last year by community activist group Protect The Loop, which suggested undergrounding Deer Valley Drive below the base area.
More than 250 people attended Tuesday’s open house, which was separated into two sessions due to high interest.
Solamere resident Tom Argyris said Tuesday he’s in full support of Deer Valley’s plan.
“Every other place we’ve skied in all over has had a base area for people to relax, to enjoy shops, restaurants,” Argyris said. “Being that I’m here local, it’ll be a great spot to go instead of downtown.”
With the Snow Park project and the resort’s expansion, Silver Lake resident Debbie Lambert said she’s also excited about the future of Deer Valley.
“I’ve skied in Europe and it kind of gives me that same feel where you don’t just go to one base and come back to that same base,” Lambert said. “You can go to different places and plan a whole day around that, so I think that’s really fun.”
In December, the Park City Council agreed to the resort’s request to vacate the public right-of-way on a portion of Deer Valley Drive.
The city and Deer Valley reached a partnership agreement which includes reducing day skier parking and the resort contributing $15 million for a parking and transit facility along state Route 248.
Five Deer Valley area HOAs have challenged the council’s road vacation decision in Third District Court.
Deer Valley plans to submit its project application to city hall in April.
Learn more about the project here.
