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- Deer Valley Resort will add over 300 acres of new skiable terrain this season.
- The resort plans to double its size, adding 2,900 acres and hiring 2,000 employees possibly by next season.
- Artist Rad Smith was hired to redraw the resort's ski map to reflect the expansion.
PARK CITY — Deer Valley Resort isn't open yet, but when it opens next month, visitors to its famous slopes will notice more options.
Resort officials said last week that more than 300 acres of new skiing opportunities would be available when the resort opens Dec. 7. It's the first phase of expansion since it reached a landmark deal with Extell Development Company over the land last year.
The Aurora, Hoodoo Express and Keetley Express lifts will help get visitors to 20 additional runs southeast of the resort's existing footprint. The expansion includes "beginner-friendly runs" and new connections at Bald Mountain, according to resort officials.
"It's a pretty big expansion," said Emily Summers, Deer Valley's director of communications, after the resort described its plans during a Ski Utah season preview event.
The resort hired illustrator Rad Smith to update the resort's map, guiding visitors through the new routes when they arrive. The new map unveiled on Thursday shows how drastically different the resort looks now and when the expansion project will end in a few years.
In a video posted by Deer Valley, Smith explained that he built on top of the original map that legendary artist James Niehues designed by hand. Smith described the map as a "perfect middle ground" of art and science, capturing the aerial layout of the land's "sense of wonder and awe" in paint.
"It's like a little treasure map that makes us all a little kid again," he said. "I really want it to inspire people to go out more times in the outdoors, see what's around the corner and explore Deer Valley's expanded terrain."
There's more to end up on the map coming soon.
Summers pointed out this expansion is only about a quarter of the new land Deer Valley acquired last year, which aims to double the resort's size and make it one of the largest in North America.
The resort is still on track to open an additional nine chairlifts, including a new gondola, by the 2025-26 ski season. Those will offer access to another 110 ski runs on about 2,900 acres. Once the expansion project is complete, Deer Valley will feature 37 chairlifts and 238 ski runs on 10 mountain peaks across over 5,700 acres of land.
The expansion also means more than just updating maps. Summers said the resort plans to hire 2,000 more employees over the next few years, upping its seasonal workforce to about 5,000.
"(It) is great having this, kind of, 25% open this year because we'll need to bring in new ski patrol (and) bringing in more guest service," she said.
