Deer Valley
Thursday 24 February 2000

Conditions were probably the best of the week with 11" of snow overnight and more falling during the day. There was a map and list of runs groomed overnight, but all that meant was that we knew which runs were smoother under the fresh powder. There was nothing resembling a velvet smooth slope suitable for beginners.

One car failed to see the NO OVERNIGHT PARKING sign and was completely blocked in by the snow ploughs.

Meanwhile on the slopes, the grooming machines worked hard to maintain the nursery slopes at the bottom of the hill.

We headed straight over to Bald Mountain looking for the slopes that had been groomed before the fresh snow came. Visibility was not good at the top of Bald Mountain, so even finding the start of specific runs was a challenge. Two runs, Wizard and Tycoon (on an ungroomed base) were enough to really make our legs burn, so we took Crown Point and Big Stick back down to the base for a drink.

We then ventured across to Empire Canyon. From the base area this entails three lifts, Silver Lake, Red Cloud and Northside and then the cruise down Bandana, which even with 11" of fresh snow had a nasty icy patch part way down, but was very slow along the bottom almost flat section.

We took just one run of Empire, Conviction which is in  fact the run down the centre of the bowl. Snow conditions were very unpredictable, with fresh snow covering up quite large moguls. After this it was back to the base area for another coffee.

After coffee, we went back to Bald Mountain and two more runs off the Wasatch Express lift.

We came back down to see how she was getting on at lunch time.

• Hill number 1, Bald Eagle Mountain, 8400', was reached using the Carpenter Express from the base area.
• A gentle cruise past Silver Lake Village took us to Wasatch Express and the top of Bald Mountain at 9400'.
• Getting to the top of Flagstaff Mountain at 9100' took two lifts. A cruise down the face of Bald Mountain under the Sterling lift and the short Trainer run took us to Red Cloud, then the long looping Mountain Daisy and the slightly more direct Bluebell took us to Northstar Express to the top of Flagstaff.
• A cruise down Bandana and Empire lift took us to the top of Empire Canyon, at 9570', the highest point of Deer Valley resort and separated from Park City by a single fence but a great difference in attitude.
• Solace, straight down the centre of Empire Bowl and then a set of runs from one end of the resort to the other to reach Little Baldy Peak at 7950'. The slow Ruby lift took us back to the top of Flagstaff Mountain. A long cruise involving Ontario, Homeward Board and McHenry too us to the short Crown Point lift. Another long cruise along Navigator and Deer Hollow took us to the Deer Crest quad and the summit of Little Baldy peak.

By this time, tired and starting to get cold we were finished for the day and cruised back down to Snowpark base to meet Sue.