Deer Valley Confirms Three New Lifts As Part of 2024-25 Expansion
As part of the first phase of its Expanded Excellence plan, Deer Valley is installing three new lifts, including its first bubble six-pack chair.
Deer Valley’s ambitious Expanded Excellence plan is already off to quite the start. For the 2024-25 season, the ski-only Utah resort is set to unveil three new chairlifts, tying with Powder Mountain for the most new installations at a North American ski resort this year.
The new 300-acre, 20-run expansion will be headlined by the Keetley Express, which is both Deer Valley’s first-ever six-pack and bubble lift. This high-end chair will funnel guests from the new East Village base area to Deer Valley’s current footprint, providing direct access to the existing Sultan Express and Mayflower lifts.
Additionally, Deer Valley will introduce two shorter lifts. The Hoodoo Express, a high-speed quad designed primarily for beginners, will create a second bunny hill near the Snow Park base. In addition, the Aurora lift, a fixed-grip quad, will provide a convenient exit route back to East Village from several somewhat remote trails.
The newly developed Deer Valley East Village will also feature a parking area with 500 spaces adjacent to U.S. Highway 40 and a new Grand Hyatt hotel, with more accommodations to follow in coming seasons.
When fully realized over the next few years, Deer Valley’s Expanded Excellence expansion will increase the resort’s size to 5,726 acres, making it the fourth-largest ski resort in North America (as per our independent calculations). Originally conceived as an independent resort before being folded directly into Deer Valley, this expansion is a partnership with the New York-based Extell Development Company, and the new footprint is designed with real estate opportunities in mind.
More information on Deer Valley’s full expansion plans can be found here.
A map of Deer Valley's multi-year Expanded Excellence plan, with the 2024-25 expansions highlighted in light green.
Our Take
The first phase of Deer Valley’s Expanded Excellence plan probably isn’t compelling enough to make or break one’s decision to visit Deer Valley. But the new lifts and terrain should bring a couple of notable benefits, namely expanded parking and additional cruising terrain. Based on the original plan schematic, all the new trails for upcoming season are expected to be beginner and intermediate in difficulty (although this is yet to be officially confirmed). This will likely be welcomed by Deer Valley’s groomer-biased clientele.
Another lower-key benefit to the new terrain will be the new bunny hill at the East Village base. Deer Valley’s current learning hill at the Snow Park base is served only by the low-capacity Snowflake chair and the oddly-placed Burns Express lift, and it could certainly use some relief elsewhere within the resort.
This figure shows detailed ability ratings for much of Deer Valley’s future terrain.
Source: Deer Valley Expanded Excellence
One big question that remains to be answered is how effective the East Village parking lot will be in shifting traffic away from the popular Snow Park base. On the plus side, the East Village portal will bring 500 new parking spots, and the Keetley Express will provide a much more convenient route to Deer Valley’s upper mountain than the nearby existing Jordanelle portal, which requires guests to go through the Snow Park area to get anywhere else at the resort. However, the East Village portal is quite a trek to get to from downtown Park City, which is where many non-slopeside Deer Valley guests will be staying; we imagine the typical drive will take 20 to 30 minutes, depending on traffic. The East Village parking situation will likely be a lot more appealing for those day-tripping from Salt Lake City.
Considering a ski trip to Deer Valley this year to check out these changes? Check out our full Utah ski resort rankings, as well as our comprehensive Deer Valley mountain review. You can also check out our Deer Valley review in video form below.
