Review & Notes on Deer Valley

Partially organized notes and review after skiing Deer Valley for one day on February 20, 2025.

I have looked forward to experiencing Deer Valley for about 10 years. We skied in Utah for several years in a row until we gave it up for Montana. But we could never go to Deer Valley because Eddie is a snowboarder.

This winter has not been good to Utah ski resorts. OpenSnow's base depth vs Average shows it started February at 60% of average.

I was staying in Orem so I started the day at the Jordanelle Express Gondola so I wouldn't have to drive all the way into and through Park City. I arrived at 8am and was maybe the 10th car in the lot. I took my time getting ready and didn't queue up until 8:45. So it took about 10 minutes for me to get to the front of the line.

Crowd Levels

There was about 2-3 inches of fresh snow overnight and I believe it is "ski week" for many schools so the crowds were a bit higher than I was expecting. I had heard that Deer Valley has very short or nonexistent lift lines and uncrowded slopes.

It lived up to the hype for short lift lines. I never waited more than a few minutes after the initial gondola ride and most lines were shorter than 60 seconds.

But the slopes felt crowded on about 80% of the terrain I experienced. Maybe they got too good at solving lift line problems so all the skiers are on the slopes at once. Would it be better if they were stuck in the lines?

Ski Conditions

Utah's marketing of having the "Greatest Snow on Earth" is genius. I have heard it so many times I actually came to believe it was true. But actual experience shows that it is obviously just marketing hype and completely absurd. There is nothing special about the snow in Utah or California or Montana. It is white and crunchy and boards slide down it.

Since there was a few inches of snow overnight and it was snowing during the day I didn't get to experience the hype of Deer Valley's groomers.

The Snowboards

Snowboarders don't bother me. I didn't really notice their absence during the day at Deer Valley. There is no way my skiing day was made better because I didn't have to share the mountain with snowboarders.

The skier-only mentality seems really juvenile. "I don't like people that slide down mountains on one stick. They should slide down on two sticks like me." It kind of made me think of the butter side down vs butter side up debate in The Butter Battle Book.

The Mountain

There was a lot of terrain here. There are a ton of lifts and lots of peaks. It was impossible for me to navigate it well after just one day. I imagine after a few days it would make sense and be fun to travel around to the various areas. It felt like it would be a great spot for a beginner to come to because there were so many green runs all over the mountain. A beginner wouldn't be stuck low on the mountain or in one spot.

Food

The salad bar was great. Special Deer Valley turkey chili was nothing special. Other options all looked pretty good. Like all ski resorts there weren't enough places to sit down though. I had to sit in a covered but outdoor spot at about 12:45pm. By 1:30pm I could have found a table inside.

The People

The staff were all A+ excellent. The other skiers were fine. Almost no one wanted to put bars down on the lifts. Before getting onto one lift I saw a pre-teen boy maybe 10-12 years old having a yelling match with his mom and dad. He wanted to ski on harder terrain and yelled at his mother: "Mom! Stop being a p*ssy! It is a family run!" I couldn't believe I heard him correctly and asked the guy I ended up riding on the lift with. He confirmed the dialogue and said that if he had ever said that to his mother he would not currently be alive.

Final Review

I give it a 7/10. (Definitely better than Big Sky which is a 0/100. It sucks.)