Industry News
Creating the largest ski resort expansion in industry history takes countless skilled contractors and designers. At Deer Valley, this seasoned team is led by Chris Cushing, Principal, Mountain Planning at SE group, a 40-year veteran who heads its global resort planning practice. In his role, Cushing directs all aspects of mountain planning and design services at the SE group. In a February 16 phone interview with SnowBrains, Cushing discussed designing and implementing the largest ski resort expansion in industry history at Deer Valley’s East Village among other things.
Cushing’s background at Deer Valley goes back decades, to when his dad was asked to help design the legacy side of the mountain. With a soft opening in 2024, the East Village is really coming into its own this season with 7 new lifts servicing 2,000 acres of new terrain. Cushing and his team are no strangers to large projects, although this is still unparalleled. New resort developments need to be more resilient for a changing climate. “Snowmaking is becoming more and more important,” Cushing said. “You need that firepower. When we have had cold temperatures, they’ve been able to really make a lot of snow, and that’s important.” Furthermore, “We are configuring the lift network so that upper mountain terrain can be opened longer so you don’t have to ski all the way back to the base area. You might ride a gondola to the peak and then use the upper lifts.”Â
Regarding the Deer Valley East Village expansion project, Cushing said he was brought on board in 2013, when the proposed mountain development was being led by a Netherlands-based firm named Stichting Mayflower. In 2017, New York based Extell development company purchased the land and Deer Valley became the resort operator in August 2023. The expanded terrain integrates seemlessly into the legacy side of the mountain with at least six connection points where trails flow easily into each other. Cushing commented that what’s additive about the new terrain is there are some longer runs and bigger vertical than what the existing mountain has. “You can get a lot of vertical really fast.”
The Deer Valley project’s unprecedented size and scope required years of planning and decades of preparation. Cushing’s dad, Joe, started at SE Group (formerly Sno.engineering) in 1964 as an early employee. Joe Cushing and Sno.engineering designed the original resort. In 2001, Sno.engineering was renamed SE Group as the company grew its offerings, including the addition of detailed landscape architectural planning and design. The company partners with ski resorts for all kinds of resort development ventures. One project was at Copper Mountain which was designed by Cushing’s father. Cushing described it as a great “mountain—well laid out with good circulation, flow, and fall lines.”Â
In 2023, Cushing and the SE group completed the Steamboat Springs, Full Steam Ahead project, including 3 new lifts and 655 acres of new terrain. The expansion included the new Wild Blue gondola, which opened a new beginner area off the main base and allowed skiers uninterrupted single-lift access to Sunshine Peak. This allows beginner and intermediate skiers direct access to Sunshine Express, easing access to high alpine terrain with excellent snow quality. The expansion at Steamboat also included a completely reconfigured base area with an ice skating rink and an escalator for guests making their way to the lifts. Most major Rocky Mountain ski resorts in the United States have more than one base area. According to Cushing, one major challenge for the Steamboat project was that “there is only one base area and we have to move 10,000 skiers and riders up from that space every day.” The base area has 3 major lifts capable of moving 10,000 guests uphill per hour to multiple different mountain areas, clearing congestion away from the base as efficiently as possible.
This winter season has been anything but normal for Utah, but Deer Valley is still opening its new terrain and guests are loving it. For many seasoned skiers, the mountain feels brand new. New arrivals to Deer Valley will be unable to distinguish between the expanded terrain and the legacy side of the mountain. Cushing and his team were careful to retain the design aesthetic of the legacy mountain in the expanded terrain. “What’s great about Deer Valley is you ski in the fall line. We tried to do the same thing at East Village: use the natural terrain and follow what the mountain has to offer us.” Cushing concluded, “My dad was very proud of what he created at Deer Valley. It’s a real honor picking up when he retired, continuing his work and having the opportunity to continue our family legacy and design the new area.” For Deer Valley regulars, Cushing’s Cabin at the top of Flagstaff is a tangible reminder of their family’s legacy on the mountain. Looking down the road, Cushing’s designs will feature 7 new runs and a new lift on Hail Peak just in time for winter 2026-27 and 1,500 more acres to develop in South Peak in the future.
