Industry News
More big news out of Park City, UT following Vail Resort’s $50 million dollar plans to connect Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort.
Deer Valley Resort has unveiled plans to build a gondola transporting people from the ski lifts at Deer Valley directly to Main St. in Park City center. The gondola will provide a convenient and effective way to move skiers, tourists, and even employees from the slopes to the most popular spots in Park City.
Deer Valley is considering two alternative plans, one involving a single gondola from Park City’s Old Town transit center to Silver Lake Village, the other with two gondolas: one to replace the four-person Silver Lake Express chairlift, and another that would run from Park City’s Old Town transit center to a location at the top of the Lucky Bill ski run.
Bob Wheaton, the President and General Manager of Deer Valley Resort, had an interview this week with Fox 13 Salt Lake City.
“We could more effectively move people throughout town, not only to ski, but also move some of the staff around, and provide an opportunity for people to come down to Main St. for breakfast or dinner, and be able to get back… [it’s] a pretty unique experience,” said Wheaton.
Not only would this proposal improve access to local businesses, but also seeks to reduce traffic in Park City. “Everybody from town council… to citizens in Park City are extremely supportive… quite frankly, surprisingly supportive,” said Wheaton.
The proposed gondola(s) would provide constant service between Deer Valley and Park City from 7am to 11pm, and would take about 15 minutes.
This gondola project is just one part of Deer Valley’s massive $60 million redevelopment plan, which detail the expansion of Deer Valley’s skiing terrain between 800 and 1,000 acres, with at least five or six new lifts. Wheaton also said work could start as early as next summer.
With the new gondola at Deer Valley and Vail Resort’s proposed combination of Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons Resort, skiers will have unprecedented access to all of Park City’s best terrain… and that’s only the start of it:
The next big move in Utah will be to connect all 7 Salt Lake area ski resorts: Park City, Deer Valley, Canyons, Brighton, Solitude, Alta, and Snowbird. This 7 resort connect is starting to look inevitable. You can already ski between Alta and Snowbird, between Brighton and Solitude, and between Deer Valley, Park City, and The Canyons.” — SnowBrains Report
Deer Valley’s purchase of Solitude in October 2014 signaled progress towards the idea of ONE Wasatch. The concept of ONE Wasatch was announced in early 2014, and would connect all 7 ski resorts in the Salt Lake City area to easily form the largest ski area in the USA.
