After ranking #1 for the past five consecutive years in SKI Magazine’s Annual resort rankings, Deer Valley Resort dropped down a notch to the second spot behind Whistler Blackcomb.  According to Bob Wheaton, president and general manager of Deer Valley, the rankings came down to who had the best snow last year.  Whistler had incredible, natural snow which resulted in record skier visits and more responses to the survey.  While ranking high on this list is quite an honor, Wheaton indicated that Deer Valley is “not going to quit shooting for number one.” 

On the brighter side, Deer Valley can claim to be the top resort in the United States.  Furthermore, the resort took the most subcategory SKI Magazine awards of any single ski resort, including Whistler, winning first place in six of 20 categories, which included first place for grooming, guest services, on-mountain food, lodging, dining and family programs.  Deer Valley was marked down for its lack of terrain parks, but according to Wheaton, Deer Valley’s focus is on tree skiing, powder and groomed runs rather than terrain parks.  In fact, according to a report on Park City’s local radio station KPCW, Outside Magazine ranked Deer Valley as the number one resort in powder skiing.

Also, according to the SKI Magazine reader survey, for the first time in survey history, all three Park City resorts ranked on the “Top 10 North American” list.  Both Canyons Resort and Park City Mountain Resort ranked higher than in past years, with Canyons taking the tenth position and Park City Mountain Resort taking fourth.  Park City is the only resort town in North America to have three resorts fall in the Top 10.

Deer Valley is putting Whistler on notice that the resort is working hard to restore the #1 ranking by investing over $8 million in improvements, including over $1 million in snowmaking equipment.  So far this year, advanced reservations are up 7% from last year, so it should be a great ski season.