Deer Valley from 2/21 through 2/24...

[Tonyr]

Resort or Ski Area

Deer Valley

Date

Feb 21, 2025

Snow Conditions

1. Powder
2. Packed Powder

What a day. My son and I left for Snowbird this morning at 8 am. We finally got up to the resort around 10 am after sitting through over an hour of traffic on the canyon road. We could not find a parking spot at the resort and ended up driving back to Park City in frustration. It was 3 hours of wasted drive time.

We got back to the Deer Valley area and arrived to a perfect bluebird day and ended up having a great ski day hitting alot of the sidecountry tree stashes that I know of on our way over to the Empire lift...




Once we got the the Empire lift my son and I hit the Daly Chute 4 & 7 which are the two most challenging runs at Deer Valley, then we skied through the X Files which is probably my new favorite run at the resort. It's one of the best low angle glade runs I've ever been on...

 

[Tonyr]

I'll add that we skied out from Deer Valley East at 11.30 when we arrived back from our Snowbird attempt. There was a long line at the new bubble lift and at Sultan but once you got out of those areas there were no lines at the rest of the mountain.


I didn't get many pictures of the new terrain as my phone was dead by the time we made our way back to the area but I think Deer Valley East at the higher elevations is going to be pretty good.

There is definitely going to be lots of tree skiing and terrain with some decent pitch in DV East. I'll get more photos over the weekend, but will say at the very least that the views of the Jordanalle Reservoir are absolutely stunning from this section of the mountain...

 

[thetrailboss]

Nice. If you want to ski LCC, get a reservation at Alta. It’s worth the $25 to have a guaranteed spot. You saw that LCC on a good snow day is a mess and to get a spot at Snowbird you have to get up really early.

 

[Edd]

Hats off to folks who can tolerate that LCC nonsense. I just wouldn’t.

 

[Tonyr]

Nice. If you want to ski LCC, get a reservation at Alta. It’s worth the $25 to have a guaranteed spot. You saw that LCC on a good snow day is a mess and to get a spot at Snowbird you have to get up really early.

Thanks that is a good idea. I had thought since it was a Friday traffic wouldn't be so bad.

 

[Tonyr]

Hats off to folks who can tolerate that LCC nonsense. I just wouldn’t.

Agreed, I probably won't drive there again unless I'm staying up there. The traffic is crazy during the heart of ski season or a powder day.

 

[thetrailboss]

Thanks that is a good idea. I had thought since it was a Friday traffic wouldn't be so bad.

It snowed. And it’s a holiday week with no blackout. Friday is the new Saturday here unfortunately. You can always go late afternoon/night riding at Brighton.

 

[Tonyr]

I see that!

 

[jimk]

Wow Tony. Glad you finally got to DV and had a good day.
I was at Snowbird yesterday too, 2/21/2025. Here's how a semi-local navigated the day:
I stay at a house that is normally a 15-20 min drive to Snowbird. Yesterday it took about 55 mins. I drive through neighborhoods to avoid Wasatch BLVD as much as possible. I hit the mouth of LCC about 825-830am. I saw massive crowds of vehicles at lower Snowbird lots and along access road, but there was still quite a few access road spots available. I drove past the Superior lot beside Cliff Lodge. It was not yet full but getting close. I continued on to ByPass Rd area of free slopeside parking above Peruvian Chair and found an excellent free spot at about 850am. It's in a secret little area I won't divulge here, but near ByPass. I got in singles line at Peruvian chair about 905am. I stuck to Peruvian, Gadzoon and Gad 2 chairs for next 3.5 hours. Lines on these chairs were small to close to ski-on. Everyone was in Mineral Basin, as usual on sunny, busy days. I left and went home by 1pm to avoid any late day exit traffic. This is obviously a short day and not something a person on vacation would want to do. I'll add, that Feb 21 was probably the best combo of sunshine and tons of fresh snow that I've seen since arriving in UT on Jan 24 and it resulted in one of the bigger crowd days since I've been here too.


I was up there Wed too. Also busy, but not too bad. The recent 5 feet of snow has resulted in some of the best conditions of the season right now. Going back up to Snowbird today. Plan is to ski from only 1-3pm. Sunday I may put in a full day.

 

[Tonyr]

Thanks for the insight Jim. I got up there about 30 to 45 minutes later than you did and by that time all of the spots near the Cliff lodge were taken. I even tried to valet at the Cliff but the paid valet was full. We ended up having fun at DV when we got back there at 11.30 but I would have loved to get one day in at Snowbird while we are out here.

 

[Tonyr]

Day 2 at Deer Valley was good today. Felt like spring skiing to a certain extent, yes the resort could use a refill but the packed powder is still pretty good. We were out from 9.30 until 1pm today hitting the Mayflower Chutes then worked our way over to the Lady Morgan and Empire lifts to do some laps there...








That last photo was looking up from the X Files over to Daly Chute 4 which is one of the steepest marked runs in Utah. I'll say that I wasn't a huge fan of Deer Valley when I first started skiing here. It's pretty good though once you've figured out how to work your way around the mountain. Alot of the unmarked tree terrain is great and it stays untouched for a while after a storm.

 

[Tonyr]

I'll also add that I think the new terrain at the higher elevations at Deer Valley East is going to be very good. That was confirmed when we rode the lift with a season pass holder who has skied the new terrain. He said the two pods at the highest elevations are fantastic. I could see that as well from the Mayflower Chute but it was nice to hear it from someone who has actually skied the terrain. The tree skiing looks like it will be outstanding over there...



He did mention that the bottom sections of Deer Valley East are going to need alot of snow making which I agree with but I'll say that we've had a great time skiing back over to the Deer Valley East Village the last two days. The views coming back of the reservoir are stunning...



From the top of the Empire lift, it takes 3 lifts and about 40 minutes to get over to Deer Valley East. It's a similar timeframe going from Blue Sky Basin over to West Vail.

 

[jimk]

Thanks for the insight Jim. I got up there about 30 to 45 minutes later than you did and by that time all of the spots near the Cliff lodge were taken. I even tried to valet at the Cliff but the paid valet was full. We ended up having fun at DV when we got back there at 11.30 but I would have loved to get one day in at Snowbird while we are out here.

Yeah, I was too late at the mouth of LCC at 830am. Lucky to get a parking spot myself. On a busy day it's safer to be at the mouth by 730am to ensure a parking spot at Snowbird. It's just hard to judge sometimes if Wasatch BLVD is going to move slowly or VERY slowly.

 

[Tonyr]

Yeah, I was too late at the mouth of LCC at 830am. Lucky to get a parking spot myself. On a busy day it's safer to be at the mouth by 730am to ensure a parking spot at Snowbird. It's just hard to judge sometimes if Wasatch BLVD is going to move slowly or VERY slowly.

That is pretty early! Unless it's April, I think we'll just stay at the Cliff next time we try and ski Snowbird during the heart of ski season. I give season pass holders a ton of credit for dealing with all the LCC traffic the last handful of seasons. That experience on regular basis would not be for me.

 

[Tonyr]

We just finished up the last 2 ski days here today. Yesterday we only skied a few runs on the new terrain and today my son and I were out for about 2 hours doing a few more runs off of the Empire lift before we go home. Today was a 45 degree bluebird day, it felt like spring skiing. Here are some of my better photos from the last 2 days. My legs have officially been cooked!...

 

[thetrailboss]

We just finished up the last 2 ski days here today. Yesterday we only skied a few runs on the new terrain and today my son and I were out for about 2 hours doing a few more runs off of the Empire lift before we go home. Today was a 45 degree bluebird day, it felt like spring skiing. Here are some of my better photos from the last 2 days. My legs have officially been cooked!...View attachment 65217View attachment 65218View attachment 65219View attachment 65220View attachment 65221View attachment 65222View attachment 65223View attachment 65216

Today would have been a good day to go LCC.

 

[Tonyr]

I know, I thought of that but couldn't do it. I had way too much going on this morning. We wouldn't have gotten over to LLC until 2 pm-ish so it was just easier to stay put.

 

[thetrailboss]

I know, I thought of that but couldn't do it. I had way too much going on this morning. We wouldn't have gotten over to LLC until 2 pm-ish so it was just easier to stay put.

I completely get it. Sometimes less is more. And Snowbird will be there for another trip.

 

[abc]

Nice. If you want to ski LCC, get a reservation at Alta. It’s worth the $25 to have a guaranteed spot. You saw that LCC on a good snow day is a mess and to get a spot at Snowbird you have to get up really early.

What happens if the roads are closed for avi control? Do you forfeit your $25 if you want to go somewhere else?

 

[thetrailboss]

What happens if the roads are closed for avi control? Do you forfeit your $25 if you want to go somewhere else?

If the road is closed then Alta refunds. Otherwise….?