Salt Lake City, UT – Workers at Utah’s 13 ski resorts have been hard at work all summer adding new terrain, on-mountain enhancements, luxury accommodations, programs and packages for the ski and snowboard ahead, according to a compilation of the improvements released by the resort marketing group Ski Utah on Wednesday.n

New Terrain

The Canyons Resort will add new terrain to the southern end of its resort property this winter. Iron Mountain, adjacent to Dream Peak, will open 300 acres of northwest facing terrain. Ten runs ranging from intermediate to advanced intermediate will be cut and nearly 300+ acres of naturally gladed tree skiing will be available. The new terrain brings the resort to 4,000 total skiable acres and makes it the fourth largest ski resort in the U.S.

Park City Mountain Resort will add three new Adventure Alley runs allowing intermediates the thrill of skiing or riding through the trees. The resort has also continued to glade Crescent Ridge, enhancing the advanced skiing options on the lower mountain.

Powder Mountain will add 1,000 additional acres of expert chutes and bowls to the 2,000 acres of terrain already in use by the Snowcat Powder Safari. The new area, known as La Plata, is named after a
nearby ghost town that was founded in the silver rush of the 1890s. Additionally, Powder Mountain will offer guests the opportunity to take a guided backcountry tour of Wolf Creek Canyon with more than 1,000 acres of pristine snow which includes wide open bowls, glades and steep chutes.

Snowbasin will add a 22-foot superpipe to its existing menu of terrain features.

On-Mountain Enhancements

Alta planted 1,500 trees, 500 shrubs and spread 500 pounds of indigenous mountain flower and grass seeds through its annual environmental vegetation program.

Canyons has installed North America’s first, and one of the most technologically advanced, chairlifts in the world. The Orange Bubble enclosed quad lift is like riding up inside a ski goggle. It also has heated seats. The new lift increases the uphill capacity from the base by 47 percent, and it whisks skiers to the top in just nine minutes. Additionally, Canyons is rebirthing its base area by realigning the gondola. Guests at Canyons can relax and enjoy an après ski cocktail on the resort’s new après ski beach.

Deer Valley Resort again invested $4.5 million to refresh the interiors of its three main on-mountain day lodges: Empire Canyon, Silver Lake and Snow Park. In addition, it invested heavily in on-mountain equipment including high efficiency snowmaking, new snowcats, snowmobiles and a new winch cat to groom the steepest slopes.

Park City Mountain Resort added new snowmaking on the highly popular intermediate Assessment run. They’ve also expanded their night skiing and riding with more lights and longer hours. Brian Head, Brighton, Powder Mountain, Sundance and Wolf Creek Utah also offer night skiing in the state.

Snowbird’s Cliff Spa (on the 9th and 10th floor of the Cliff Lodge) is currently undergoing its first major renovation since the Spa opened in 1987. Revamped areas include the reception space, salon and retail store, the men’s and women’s locker rooms, solarium, steam room and treatment rooms. Renovations are scheduled to be completed by December.

Sundance will open its new Redford Conference Center with 3,500 square feet of environmentally friendly meeting space, wrapping patios, a large group fireplace and a full service catering kitchen.
Sundance is also in the midst of a multi-million dollar lodging room renovation project.

New Hotel

Montage Deer Valley will open in December 2010 with true ski-in/ski- out access to the resort. It features 154 deluxe guestrooms and more than 66 suites and private residences ranging from one to four bedrooms.

Featured Events

The FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships come to Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort from February 2-5, 2011. Aerial, moguls, dual moguls and ski cross competitions will be held at Deer Valley Resort, and the halfpipe competitions will be held at Park City Mountain Resort.

Snowbasin will host the final stop of the Winter Dew Tour on February 10-13, 2011 with top world athletes in both freeskiing and snowboarding.

Snowbird will host the Subaru Freeskiing World Championships March 9-12, 2011.