Deer Valley’s 43rd season began with seven of 21 lifts open and 10 runs. People lined up before opening at 9 a.m.
Matthew Negroni was at the front of the line “to ski the difference here at Deer Valley.” He hopes to have another record-breaking snowpack like last year.
“I hope that we get as much snowfall as last year,” Negroni said. “We were able to see a lot of terrain that seemed to be unscalable in the past. That was really fun. So just hoping for another good season like that.”
Madeline and Ella Linback also got to the slopes before opening.
“We've been skiing here our whole lives,” Madeline said. “I've been skiing here since before I could talk. So, like 3 years old. I love this place. Deer Valley only, the best resort ever!”
Marty Leicht was excited to ski but less excited about waking up early.
“My wife dragged me out here,” he laughed. “No, we love it out here and we had to be here for the snow.”
President and COO Todd Bennett said the snowmaking team worked hard to get everything ready for opening day. And the team isn’t done yet. Bennet said the goal is to get another set of runs open every three to four days.
“It takes us about three days, with guns going 24 hours a day to get those runs enough snow made for those, then we let it set for about 24 to 48 hours, they call that leaching just to get a higher quality snow,” he said. “We plow that snow out and then we're up and running.”
Vice President of Mountain Operations Steve Graff is in charge of getting slopes ready to open.
“As we go through the snowmaking process, we're connecting all of our mountains and all of our lodge areas first,” he said.
He says he sometimes feels like he won the lottery because he turned his passion for skiing into a career.
Even when skiing down Deer Valley slopes for fun, he notices things others might not. Like how a slope curves higher in the middle, which he said they’ll need to fix.
Opening day was also the sixth year Deer Valley partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the Shred for Red Campaign. It’s a fundraiser that supports people with blood cancer.
“Our goal is to help cancer patients and their families thrive beyond a diagnosis,” said Lisa Phinney, the campaign development manager for Shred for Red.
She said they had a record-breaking 230 people sign up this year. They could be seen on the slopes with a “Let’s Shred Cancer!” participant bib working on a scavenger hunt and slalom racecourse.
Those who sign up make teams to fundraise. The top 11 fundraising teams earn a full day of skiing with an Olympian or Paralympian. Deer Valley provides ski passes.
So far, Shred for Red has raised over $400,000.
