Each morning, roughly 200 workers converge on Deer Valley’s east flank, putting finishing touches on the largest ski expansion in US history. It’s hard to believe Alterra Mountain Company and Extell Development Company unveiled their partnership to bring the Mayflower project under Deer Valley’s brand less than two years ago. By December, a three mile gondola, two six packs and seven quad chairs will be ready for skiers, completing the majority of the Expanded Excellence vision. After a limited preview last season, Deer Valley’s footprint will more than double this winter to 4,300 acres and 31 lifts. The expansion spans 2,850 feet of vertical relief, with the gondola alone rocketing 2,570 feet skyward in 14.5 minutes.
Deer Valley Senior Director of Mountain Operations Garrett Lang and Alterra Senior Manager of Construction Pete McKinnon graciously took time to show me around this week. I’ve never seen so many lifts at every stage of construction from concrete to rope pulling. Beyond lifts, some 1,250 fixed snow guns, a ridgetop snowmaking pond, several pumphouses and a maintenance facility are also nearing completion. It feels like Deer Valley’s building a city’s worth of infrastructure on the side of a mountain. Of course every fan gun, every lift tower and every terminal sport Deer Valley green.
The only way to complete such an ambitious project in three construction seasons was to divide and conquer. While Doppelmayr supplied all the lifts, they’re only assembling some of them. Big-D Construction crafted numerous foundations while already on site working on buildings. Highlander Ski Lift Services & Construction tackled roughly half the chairlift installations from start to finish. Doppelmayr brought in lift construction experts from all over, including Canada and Europe.
Most readers know Deer Valley launched the six place Keetley Express and two nearby quad chairs last season. While Keetley’s gorgeous, she represents a small portion of the overall project. Within that initial footprint, Layton Construction continues work this summer to complete a parking building for Keetley’s 102 bubble chairs. Right next to the top of Keetley sits the top of Galena Express, one of two detachable quads finished and commissioned last spring. The second is Pioche Express, connecting the bottom of Aurora to the northernmost summit in the 2,274 acre expansion.
The smallest lift under construction is Neptune Express, set to load below Pioche Village and top out next to Pioche Express. This is one of the two machines Highlander’s installing this summer on top of several last year. The Highlander team was completing the top drive terminal this week with the bottom to follow.
The flagship East Village Express gondola will run all the way to Park Peak. A behemoth of a mid-station sits on Big Dutch Peak, where the lift’s two sections connect at an angle. Each segment features its own direct drive and a Fatzer Performa-DT haul rope with cabins able to switch between lines. All three stations and most of the 40 towers were installed earlier this summer. Fatzer subsidiary Rigging Specialties worked to pull ropes this week with the lower line already on most towers. The upper rope, being installed now, will pass over several extremely tall towers and travel downhill at several points along the line.
142 Omega V cabins are set to begin arriving from Switzerland next week. Similar to Steamboat’s Wild Blue Gondola, they’ll feature individual logoed seats. At Deer Valley, they’ll be heated. Big-D Construction is piecing together the gondola’s parking facility, located underneath the future Park Peak lodge. Lodge services won’t be ready for this winter but the first floor parking system should be. It will be fully automated and the plan is to park cabins nightly. The Park Peak complex is designed for a possible third gondola segment down to Silver Lake Village.
For now the D-Line Pinyon Express will connect historic Deer Valley to new terrain. It’ll load between Bald and Flagstaff mountains, lifting six guests at a time to Park Peak with optional bubble. Pinyon will closely mimic Keetley Express, though with longer terminals for in-station parking. Nine of eleven towers and the top station are complete with the bottom station going up now.
The last two pieces of the chairlift network are what the development team call 6A and 6B, originally planned as one lift with an intermediate station. Now dubbed Vulcan Express and Revelator Express, these steep UNI-G quads will service some of the best fall line skiing in Utah. Revelator will cross underneath the gondola and reach the high point of the expansion – 9,370 feet. Revelator’s bottom terminal is in with concrete almost complete and towers to follow in early September. “We’re almost out of the concrete business,” McKinnon noted.
Highlander is working on 6A/Vulcan, the lower lift that will provide egress from a large bowl that makes up the southern boundary for now. From the Vulcan Express unload, skiers will head right toward the East Village or left to continue up Park Peak via Revelator.
Last but not least are three SunKid conveyors to be situated in the East Village. These form the beginning of a ski school progression from carpet to beginner chairlift to Keetley Express or the gondola. Every lift in the expansion will service at least one green route, including a 4.85 mile snake named Green Monster.
Deer Valley notes 1,200 day skier parking spots will be ready this season in the East Village, up from 500 last winter. A permanent skier services building won’t be but guests can ride a tram to temporary facilities by the gondola (the ride will be shorter than last winter’s to Keetley.) For destination visitors, the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley is already open with a Four Seasons and Canopy by Hilton under construction.
The Hail Peak Maintenance Facility includes a 10,000 gallon per minute pumphouse and space for vehicle maintenance with three cat bays. A 10 million gallon storage pond is being excavated near Park Peak, fed from the Jordanelle Reservoir below. The snowmaking system will include central air lines, meaning no onboard compressors needed for 150 TechnoAlpin fan guns. The vast majority of the system’s 1,100 HKD stick guns will be fully automated.
This season won’t mark the end for Alterra and Extell’s construction teams. Deer Valley recently announced an additional UNI-G detachable quad to open for 2026-27 on Hail Peak, serving seven runs and providing direct lift access from the day skier parking lot. Even once that lift is completed, guests needing rentals or lessons can opt for a tram ride through a new tunnel to the village. There will be escalators.
Several additional lifts remain in the master plan with no set timelines for construction. Possible future projects include a quad on the backside of Bald Mountain, a longer Crown Point lift starting below Keetley Point and a lapable six pack on Big Dutch Peak. Beyond lies South Peak, an expert’s paradise with two possible chairlift alignments. Resort leaders are taking a wait and see approach, watching how skiers flow the next few seasons. With nearly 100 new trails this winter, it’s going to be awhile before Deer Valley needs more terrain.
Thanks to Lift Blog reader and pilot Auston C. for flying me over the expansion and to the Deer Valley team for hosting me.
Lift Blog 
Thanks Peter for the update! Love seeing all of this. Did Deer Valley give any explanation as to why they split revelator into two lifts? I was really looking forward to lapping that terrain with one lift but haven’t heard anything as to why there was a change.
LikeLike
It was too expensive to build it as just one lift. Also i’m guessing south peak will be circa 2027
LikeLike
part of me doesn’t believe that. What’s a few more million dollars when they’re already spending 100’s of millions on infrastructure.
just seems odd that they’d announce it as one lift then back off on that now.
LikeLike
although you bring up a good point it was too expensive and also the loading and unloading at the mid would’ve been inefficient if you think about it. that’s why they split it. that’s just what i’ve heard
LikeLike
Its seems like a reasonable change to me. Snow quality will deteriorate as you get lower and it looks like the new lower lift gives more options for people where it drops off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
that’s exactly right
LikeLike
It makes more sense looking at the split of Revy into 2 lifts, because looking ahead when South Peak opens, everybody would be required to use Vulcan for egress out. If Revy was gonna be the full lift with the midstation, it would actually cause a bottleneck more than anything since there would have to be empty chairs going to the midstation since DV called for mid-loading only.
LikeLike
Agree with all of these takes on the split of Revelator into 2 lifts. With the lines they’ve chosen, this is the optimal way, IMHO to serve that area. Vulcan becomes very important when South Bowl opens, as it will be the only means of egress unless you want to take a long, flat, cat-track out. It also allows for intermediate laps in Revelator Bowl in a manner that the prior configuration wouldn’t. Now with the bottom lift ride, skiers have far more choices (up to Revelator, laps back down to Vulcan, or up and over to Mayflower/DV proper or up and over down to Hailstone or East Village) than they would have with a mid-station stuck in the bottom of a draw. As pointed out above, in borderline conditions it also allows you to farm the higher, north-facing aspects of Revy Bowl higher up vs. requiring you to go down to the 6750′ base elevation for Vulcan.
LikeLike
Was also curious if its a wind thing to avoid a Straberry pre-DeMoissey at Snowbasin situation – if the peak ever goes on hold (rare but not unheard of) the entire south section would have to close to get people out, and possibly via a wind issue at the top…
LikeLiked by 1 person
without the massive snowmaking installation would the East Village Express gondola be considered an urban gondola?
LikeLike
This represents a huge expenditure of borrowed money being spent to enable real estate sales at the new east village. It is really a shame that the terrain is more suited for a year round mountain biking park. At the higher elevations there might be enough natural snow and north facing runs; at the lower elevations this will be largely dependent on man made snow and possibly snow ‘banking’ to make it usable. Deer Valley is taking a big risk to its reputation for quality runs by adding this low elevation east facing terrain.
LikeLike
I find it amusing that people will presumably spend hundreds of dollars a day (per person) to travel Utah (of all places) and ski on manmade snow on gentle hills lined with shrubs and weeds. They could have stayed in New Jersey and done that a lot cheaper. Meanwhile, down in the Salt Lake Valley residents are harangued to conserve water and breathe air sullied by coal-generated power while the snow guns blast reservoir water. This shows the degree that Utah state government is completely captured by real estate interests – and not even in-state interests. Extell is based in New York.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hey if I lived in new Jersey, I’d want to go skiing in Utah as well. (and other Rocky Mountain resorts) Yup, you gotta pay to play. It’s been like that for a long time now and it’s never going to go back to the quiet peaceful skiing folks enjoyed prior to 2000. We don’t have to like it, but we do have to put up with it if we want to continue to live where we live here in Utah and Colorado (and other crazy places)
LikeLike
I’m not knocking Utah skiing. Altabird is amazing. Park city is above average. I’m Knocking putting a ski resort in a place where the weather and resources don’t support it without massive artificial inputs. Just a few miles away you can find incredible terrain that doesn’t need snow making and is significantly more aesthetically interesting. Even big bear in so cal is more compelling than the DV expansion. But it’s private land so they can do whatever with it. I’m just surprised that 1) the state permitted the use of the reservoir, and 2) anyone would pay to ski this when there other resorts nearby that are orders of magnitude better.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Sam Sagebrush, definitely understand a lot of your points, but Big Bear is a stretch. :)
LikeLike
I think Park City/DV already has the pull as a destination to support a low snow expansion. Sam brought up Big Bear, this is notably better, both in terms of accumulation and preservation. A better comparison might be parts of Sun Valley. Which while imperfect, is capable of supporting a well renowned resort for its clientele.
In bad years, this east village area will absolutely miss out on storms that hit Jupiter/The Canyons then truly nuke on the Cottonwoods. A “bad” year at Alta might still see 350″ and that means some big storms, while a bad year here might be 125-200″. But a good year means 250-300+”. That range might not be all that mind blowing for pow chasers and experts, but it’s probably plenty to offer months of consistent skiing. That might be a few months less than Snowbird is open in one of its 600 inch years, but if most of the east village terrain is reliably skiable from December to early April it will draw the destination groomer skiers. Of which there are many.
LikeLike
Don’t diss Utah! Sure, Dear Valley may seem like a souped-up midwest ski area, but Park City, Alta, Snowbird, and others are amazing!
LikeLike
Will the three Sunkid carpets be ready this winter? Or down the line?
LikeLike
And think, I first went to work there in 1988. 9 lifts 40 runs and a $35.00 lift ticket.
LikeLike
One more comment. I think that people exaggerate how bad the snow quality will be on these new terrain.
I agree that the snow will be similar to that of the skiing off the jordanelle gondola but I think some of the higher terrain will actually be quite solid. Sultan and mayflower are two of my favorite lifts at the resort. A lot of the runs and lifts have similar orientation. And there is a decent amount of north facing terrain.
lower stuff is for real estate, high stuff will be quite enjoyable.
LikeLike
I was fortunate enough to have skied some of the new terrain not long after it was first cut and I concur that the higher elevation stuff is very solid. Once you get below Big Dutch, the exposure becomes more noticeable, but even so, snowpack seems to hold on okay. And that was before any snowmaking.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve seen seasons where even the lower terrain would ski well and have a solid base, but in warmer years like last year it wouldn’t really ski at all for the majority of the winter without snowmaking. Also, the ~6,500 ft base is on par with Snowbasin (which does face more Northerly) so perhaps it will be fine.
LikeLike
Any word on the the bike park expanding into this new territory anytime soon?
LikeLike
No plans yet but it’s an interesting question. They are putting in a bunch of multi-use cross country trails. I could see the East Village having downhill biking eventually. For one thing it melts out way faster than Silver Lake in the spring. It was bone dry by late April this year.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The bike park demand would need to grow quite substantially for them to expand into this new territory. With that being said, the long-term East Village-Big Dutch-Park Peak-Silver Lake-Snow Park gondola will enable bikers to stay in East Village and access the bike terrain on a single lift for what it is worth.
LikeLike
Great writeup and photos Peter……..thank you!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ditto. Great article, Peter.
LikeLike
I feel like the lappable 6-pack on Big Dutch peak needs to be a sooner rather than later project. With that pod being higher evaluation, not having to return down to the bottom of the gondola would not only give you the benefit of saving time and not having to take your skis off, but also prevents skiers from returning to potentially marginal ski conditions at the base. I know they are probably waiting to see how the mountain flows this winter, but that should definitely be a priority next summer.
I also think South Peak should be a sooner rather than later project as well (maybe summer 2027?). I am not sure what difficulty some of the new trails off of Park Peak will be, but even if they are all blacks, Deer Valley still needs more challenging terrain and also will give people more higher elevation options.
Also is Deer Valley expanding the number of skiers they allow per day with the new expansion?
LikeLike
Couldn’t agree more re: Hailstone (the 6-pack serving Big Dutch Peak) and have compared it to Silverlode at PCMR: north-facing, mid-mountain cruising terrain with perfect 1100-1200′ vertical for lapping. I’ll be shocked if this isn’t put in next summer – I’d be willing to bet a decent amount of money it will end up being the most popular lift in the East Village expansion.
LikeLike
An infill lift for brand-new terrain already served by a 10-passenger gondola is the peak of first-world problems. The infill lifts will come in time, but its also worth remembering that nobody has built this kind of expansion in decades. It’s also worth considering how crowd flow will stretch out between existing and legacy terrain.
Will beginners / tourists continue to gravitate to terrain off Flagstaff, or will hordes of them suddenly be lapping green monster top to bottom? Do experts stick to the Daly Chutes, or will a rope drop at Park Peak look like Mineral Basin on a Powder Day? Nobody knows! This first season will be super interesting.
Personally, I’m expecting all the daytrippers and locals to quickly start exploring new terrain, seeing it as an escape hatch from historical chokepoints like Sterling / Quincy / Carpenter. The Salt Lake crowd already benefits from the east village, bypassing PC entirely makes it a logical entry point. But destination skiers (tourists spending gobs of money to stay in Park City proper) hardly know how to get around Deer Valley in the first place, many probably don’t even know that the ski area doubled in size since their last visit.
It’ll take time for the gravitational center (and crowds) to shift away from Silver Lake towards the expansion terrain. Next year’s projects on Hail Peak will stretch that center even further. South Peak looks awesome, but there’s plenty of steep skiing coming online with Revelator and Vulcan’s terrain pods in the meantime.
LikeLike
Totally fair from a timing POV. These machines cost a lot of money and they’ll likely milk the gondola as long as they can, so next year is aggressive. But to the extent that East Village terrain has crowds, this pod and perhaps Galena is where they’ll be. To your point, it’s not like they’ll be snaking down Green Monster, and most of the Revelator Bowl terrain is well above the median DV ability level (as will South Bowl for that matter). I would simply say that the plans for this, whatever the internal timeline may be, are likely to be accelerated when we see actual skier patterns.
LikeLike
MBX on a pow day is a different kind of experience. DV just lacks the steeps to draw enough experts to cause even a smaller powder rush though.
LikeLike
First of all, amazing article. It’s so detailed, I can’t wait for more in the fall. What do you mean by ‘tunnel’? Will the parking lot Tram go through a tunnel to get to the gondola? Will it be ready this winter?
Luke
LikeLike
legalize snowboarding! At least on public land! I get it with deer valley on private land but ski resorts like Alta in a national forest should allow snowboarding!!!’
LikeLike
Peter do you know if that parking rail on the gondola in the bottom terminal is for extra cabin parking or for something else?
LikeLike
Most likely for emergency use to pull a cabin without having to send it through the midstation all the way to Park Peak. As far as I’m aware, there will be no cabin parkin g at the bottom.
LikeLike