Industry News
Deer Valley has been in the midst of a massive expansion, with 2,000 skiable acres opening this season in addition to the 300 new acres added last season. It’s hard to fathom a resort more than doubling its size in two seasons with the bulk of the expansion opening this season. The largest expansions prior to this were less than 900 acres, with notable single season expansions occurring at Vail and Steamboat. The new terrain that Deer Valley added is as large or larger than many major destination resorts across the nation. Imagine adding an entire Sun Valley, Sierra-at-Tahoe, Telluride, Killington/Pico or Aspen Mountain (Ajax), to your existing mountain in a single season. Let’s take a look into some resorts that are roughly 2,000 skiable acres across the US.
Sun Valley Resort in Ketchum, Idaho has a footprint of 2,000 acres of skiing across two distinct regions, Bald and Dollar Mountains. Bald is home to the majority of the terrain, serving 121 runs from beginner to expert bowl terrain Across both mountains, Sun Valley has 17 lifts and both mountains together could fit inside the new Deer Valley expansion.
Surrounded by the Tahoe mountains and near the majestic Lake Tahoe, Sierra-at-Tahoe has 2,000 skiable acres with 14 lifts and 48 named trails, including the addition of two new trails to the West Bowl area for this upcoming winter. Compare that to Deer Valley’s expansion with 10 lifts and nearly 100 new ski runs.
Telluride Ski Resort is a destination resort that skiers fly to from all around the world to experience the 2,000 acres that the resort has to offer. Telluride is located in Southern Colorado and has views of the San Juan Mountain range. Telluride’s 13 chairlifts serve 148 ski runs. Telluride has built a one of a kind ski destination for the hundreds of thousands of guests it sees per year. Deer Valley is opening an entire new Telluride just this season.
Killington Resort boasts the largest skiable acreage east of the Mississippi River, with 20 lifts covering an impressive 1,500 skiable acres and a 3,000’ vertical drop. To get to 2,000 acres, you have to add Killington’s sister resort Pico clocking in at 468 acres. Killington Resort nicknamed “Beast of the East,” is known for its large footprint offering everything from beginner to expert terrain. Combining these two resorts, we still don’t add up to what Deer Valley has done this year.
Aspen Mountain, aka Ajax, is known for its gnarly terrain and not so large footprint. Rising out of the historic town of Aspen, well known for its Hollywood celebrities and billionaire clientele, Ajax is only 828 skiable acres, 104 runs and 8 lifts. For context, Deer Valley’s expansion thus far added 2,300 skiable acres, 100 runs, and 10 lifts—more lifts than the entire Ajax and about the same number of runs. Incredibly, you could fit 2.5 Ajax mountains inside the new Deer Valley expansion.
The Deer Valley off-season project is anything but normal. Something like this has never happened in ski industry history. Deer Valley’s expansion this past summer is the size of many major U.S. ski resorts. Telluride and Sierra-at-Tahoe are not small resorts and have some of the best skiing in the nation. And amazingly still, the expansion is not done yet. Deer Valley can still add about 1,500 more acres, which happens to be the same size as Killington. Even after adding 2,300 acres, Deer Valley Resort has an entire “Beast of the East” left to expand. Deer Valley’s expansion is unparalleled in U.S. ski industry history and there is still more to come.
