Deer Valley Expands To Include Mayflower Resort

After five years of negotiations, the Alterra-run luxury resort Deer Valley is set to undergo a significant expansion, encompassing 5,700 acres and featuring 37 lifts, commencing in the 2025-26 season.The distinct Deer Valley experience, now with a unique twist, is on the horizon at the Mayflower Resort adjacent to Park City. In an announcement made on Thursday morning, Deer Valley Resorts disclosed their successful agreement with Extell Development Company, signifying their operation on the land previously known as the Mayflower Resort. This new ski area, located in Wasatch County and currently under construction, rests to the west of Jordanelle Reservoir along Highway 40. The site shares multiple borders with Deer Valley, with the negotiation process commencing five years ago.Anticipated collaboration between the two entities could ultimately furnish skiers with access to an estimated 5,726 acres of terrain. This substantial expansion is nearly three times the size of Deer Valley's existing 2,026-acre domain, marking a historic enlargement in the realm of U.S. ski resorts. As a result, the combined resort will become one, adopting the Deer Valley name. Skiers will gain access to terrain on both the Park City and Heber sides of the resort through a single pass, including the Ikon Pass offered by Alterra, which encompasses multiple resorts. This arrangement echoes the current situation for Deer Valley pass holders and is expected to persist when the new terrain becomes available in 2025-26, according to Jared Smith, CEO of Alterra.

The Mayflower Resort which is being built on the backside of Deer Valley, on Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. Credit: Rick Egan It's worth noting that the extended terrain will be exclusively reserved for skiers. Activities such as snowboarding and snowbiking, as well as other forms of winter travel, will not be permitted. This commitment to maintaining a ski-only experience was emphasised by Deer Valley CEO Todd Bennett during an event at Silver Lake Lodge where the expansion project was unveiled.Deer Valley, founded in 1981, stands as one of the three resorts in the United States that prohibit snowboarding, the others being Utah's Alta and Vermont's Mad River Glen. Upon inspecting the newly acquired property from the vantage point of Deer Valley's Sterling lift during a tour following the presentation, the scale of the terrain that non-skiers will miss out on becomes evident. For the 2025-26 season, Deer Valley's plans include the addition of nine lifts and seven runs, including a two-part gondola significantly longer than the Jordanelle Gondola. Spanning 874 skiable acres, one of the runs, as mentioned by Brooke Hontz, Extell Utah's vice president of development, will stretch an impressive 4.7 miles. This surpasses the current state record-holder, Park City Mountain Resort's 3.5-mile Homerun. Hontz aptly described it as "a long heck of a run."Despite the predominantly east-facing orientation of the new runs, which might pose challenges in retaining snow, Alterra's Smith expressed confidence in the "state-of-the-art" snowmaking technology. This innovative approach is designed to use less water and energy while remaining effective across a broader range of temperatures. Deer Valley intends to install 615 acres of snowmaking infrastructure, drawing water from the Jordanelle Reservoir. Gary Barnett, president of Extell, remarked, "We can live with a little less snow," expressing optimism about the resort's prospects.Upon completion of the expansion, Deer Valley envisions hosting 37 lifts serving 135 runs across 3,700 skiable acres. The resort's vertical drop, as provided by Deer Valley, will measure 3,090 feet, ranking second only to Snowbird's 3,240 feet in terms of steepness in Utah. This figure also places it as the sixth steepest in the U.S. according to OntheSnow.com. Bennett remarked, "This might be, or likely is, the largest expansion of a ski resort in North America."Apart from the added skiing expanse, the extension provides Deer Valley with an additional entry point and parking facility. The Mayflower entrance will prove convenient for skiers arriving from eastern Summit County, Heber Valley, or the Provo area, potentially alleviating congestion on State Route 248, which connects Highway 40 to both Park City Mountain and Deer Valley's Snow Park base.