Nearly three of five parking lots were full, a few skiers were on the mountain and some flurries were falling Monday at Deer Valley Resort as the final week of the ski season began in Park City.
Deer Valley ended up receiving two inches of new snow Monday through Tuesday, adding to their season total of 393 inches. The resort saw intermittent snowfall, fog and sunshine, which is expected to be its last variance this week. Park City was expected to see sunshine, a few clouds and temperatures reaching into the 50s and even 60s by week’s end.
Deer Valley’s 87-inch mid-mountain base appears more than enough to keep the entire resort open until close, yet only Bald Eagle Mountain and about half of Bald Mountain remain open. This is presumably due to a late-season employee shortage and lack of skier demand during the week. Officials from Deer Valley and Park City Mountain didn’t return a request for comment about terrain availability, resort conditions and potentially extending the season by the time of publication.
Park City Mountain has reported zero snowfall this week. The season total was 427 inches as of Tuesday with a base depth of 101 inches. The resort also closed the majority of its mountain, only operating seven lifts off the Mountain and Canyons Village bases as of Tuesday.
The conditions Monday at Deer Valley were a mixed bag, featuring some heavy snow, some slush and some underlying ice. The powder was presumably still available all day at the start of the week because of a lack of skiers. However, it could become stickier and slushier as this week’s warmer weather rolls in.
Those who came out were pleased though, understanding it was still fantastic for mid-April skiing in Park City.
The 2023-24 ski season was another excellent one for the Wasatch mountains, with resorts in the Park City area seeing a second-straight above-average winter.
Brott Ritzel of Kamas got a few late-season runs in at Deer Valley before rushing off to mail in his tax returns by the Monday deadline. He said the skiing atop Bald Mountain at 9,400 feet still resembled winter, and he’ll be coming back every day this final week.
“I’m just glad they stayed open another week,” Ritzel said. “Had they closed yesterday, which I skied, I’d be bummed out.”
Another skier, David Pessen, traveled all the way from Granite Bay, California to ski Utah for a few late-season days. He and his wife have a daughter in Park City so they got a few runs in while they were visiting her. Pessen appreciated the snowy conditions, having experienced the spring sun and warmth a day before at Solitude.
In the Big Cottonwood Canyon, where they often receive more snowfall, Solitude is expected to close May 19. Snowbird, up the Little Cottonwood Canyon, has the latest projected closing date in the area on May 27.
The Pessens left the mountain around noon. Due to their half-day skiing plans, they were happy with the 32 runs that are open at the resort, and they’d certainly come back, if conditions permitted, around the same time in future years.
“More of the mountain at Solitude was open yesterday than here at Deer Valley today,” Pessen said. “I think they closed more today than they did yesterday. … I understand, it’s a Monday.”
Deer Valley closes on Sunday, April 21. Park City Mountain follows one day later. Tickets are discounted during the last week. A lift ticket for an adult at Deer Valley costs $179 and Park City Mountain is charging $199.