Yeti Twelve: Deer Valley

It was the last day of the term and Sarah and Joel were all caught up with school work so we decided to play hooky. Delightful Deer Valley was our destination. It is a rare treat to ski at this expensive resort so we waited for a good day.

 Morning sun on Mt. Timpanogos never disappoints.

 It was a longer hike up to the lifts than last week at Sundance. We should have taken advantage of the valet drop off of skis and poles at the base for pick up after parking.

 Today would have been a $362 day of skiing. The Yeti pass makes skiing at Deer Valley much more affordable.

From the base looking up to the Olympic and World Cup moguls course down Champion run.

To the right of the mogul run is where the freestyle jumping event is held.

Here is how the two venues (lit up) look during the 2013 Freestyle World Cup. Photo courtesy of Tom Kelly.


Here are the two Olympic venues. My job as a volunteer one day was to pick up garbage from the grandstands. Before that I got to watch some of the mogul events.



Returning to this Olympic venue got me all nostalgic. Salt lake City really did an exceptional job hosting the Olympics. I thought the huge banners on SLC buildings was a nice touch. Surprising to many was the willingness of the LDS Church to allow a short skirted figure skater to grace the side of Church Office Building. 

This is better than school.

Joining us for the day was my brother Bob, his wife Annie and their daughter Kristin. We lucked out. Kristin taught ski school at Deer Valley a few years back and Bob has skied there enough that they could lead us all over the mountain. Nice not to have to open my trail map. We feel honored that Annie chose a ski day with us to break her two year hiatus from skiing.

For our warm up run, Bob got it in his mind that we should try the double black diamond Daly Chutes and/or Daly Bowl. OK we said.


Daly Chutes (l) and Daly Bowl (r).

 From the top of Empire Express we traversed through the trees to the top of the cornice.

 Sarah tackling a difficult run like a pro. Note to self: teach the kids how to do kick turns.

Thanks for the photos Bob.

Four cousins on Lady Morgan Express.

Time for lunch at the Empire Canyon Lodge.

 $70 worth of food! The curried cauliflower panini was tasty.

Great company.

After lunch Kristin took us to the secret Cabin of Quincy the bear--a favorite destination for young ski-schoolers.

Looking east from the summit of Mt. baldy towards the partly frozen, lower than usual Jordanelle Reservoir and the Unitah Mountains in the distance.

 Bob and Annie showing how they have been doing it for over 35 years.

In honor of John W. Emmett who loved the groomers on Wasatch Express we skied the steep, fast and fun Revenge several times. We also enjoyed a few runs down  Perseverance on Sultan Express.

 April 27, 2005 at Deer Valley. Dad's treat. Father and four sons. Jake, Tom, John, Bob, Chad.

From the right Annie with three sons, John, Brain and Michael. Robert Hutchison in blue is a life-long skiing buddy of dad's and fellow member of the corduroy posse.

Looking north from the top of Baldy down on the many ski-in-and-out "cabins" of Deer Valley with Park City in the distance.

It was a great day. Deer Valley has lots of fun top to bottom, well groomed runs. The web of lifts--with four all converging at the summit of Flagstaff Mt, require little traversing. Since it limits the number of people on the slopes and does not allow snow boarders it makes for less congestion. The main demographic is certainly older white males (presumably with money).

The steep and hard packed runs required more edging that we are used too. Our legs were shot by 2:30. No worries, that allowed us time to get home just in time for Joel's 4:00 soccer practice, for Sarah to go the temple with her friend and for Will to play basketball with his friend before his 5:30 soccer practice.

Afternoon sun on Mt Timpanogos never disappoints.

 Spring has sprung in Springville.