The countdown is on for the 2026-2027 ski season.
Deer Valley’s announcement Wednesday, Sept. 16, has the resort slated to open the weekend after Thanksgiving. That’s on par with when lifts started spinning last winter.
Communications Manager Riley Elliott said the resort is building on its expansion this season.
“Since December 2024, we’ve added 11 new chairlifts,” he said. “This year will be Hail Peak Express. It will be the 32nd chairlift at Deer Valley Resort; it will add 200 skiable acres, seven new runs for this season, bringing us to 4,500 acres.”
Last season, Deer Valley debuted 80 new runs and seven lifts as part of its East Village expansion. It has more than doubled its ski terrain.
“We’re just very excited to continue this [expansion] and hoping for a really great snow year as well,” Elliott said.
On KPCW's "Local News Hour" Wednesday morning, Deer Valley President and Chief Operating Officer Todd Bennett highlighted the resort's advanced snowmaking technology.
"We've got a new 10-million-gallon reservoir coming to the top of the mountain," he said. "And what that's going to allow us to do is, we're going to be able to exceed 20,000 gallons of snowmaking a minute, which is really important early in the season, so that we can make sure we've got that great product for guests, independent of what the temperatures are, what the natural snowfall is, getting a great product out and ready in time for the holidays."
Deer Valley’s projected Dec. 5 opening will be a couple weeks after neighboring Park City Mountain’s intended start date, Nov. 20.
Early forecasts say the Mountain West could see above-average snowfall thanks to a “super El Niño” weather pattern — if temperatures are cold enough. Last winter, Wasatch Back resorts struggled with warm weather and rainfall.
Deer Valley Resort is a financial supporter of KPCW.
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