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| Deer Valley's Ontario Bowl |
Many skiers who have never skied Deer Valley have a preconceived misconception that Deer Valley is a place full of beginners who snow-plow down groomers and spend more time in the restaurants than on the slopes. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Deer Valley accommodates entry level skiers, and many folks that don’t have a snow boarder in their group love the fact that Deer Valley is exclusively for skiers. However, the expert terrain at Deer Valley is out of this world.
If you are coming Deer Valley ski vacation, print this out and locate the spots referred to on a trail map.
At the western end of Deer Valley ski area is the Lady Morgan lift. At the top of the lift, to skier’s left is the Centennial run, a double diamond glade run. At the top of the run as you enter the conifers, there are usually fairly large well-formed bumps and the steepness is like a single diamond. It is the bumps and trees that make it a double diamond. You transition from the conifers to an aspen glade that is moderately cleared so it is like intermediate steepness with the tree obstacles making it more difficult. Centennial is a great area where you can make 2-3 runs on slightly different lines.
Also off the Lady Morgan lift, to skier’s right, are two runs side by side. The first is Argus and is quite steep at the top. The next run over is Magnet and is perhaps the best place to reconnoiter this side of the Lady Morgan lift. These areas are usually not groomed so you can get quite a bit of powder and chunk on this face.
Off the Quincey Lift, you access the Ontario Bowl by going on the Ontario road, over the ski bridge, then veer left toward the Hidden Treasure run. Stay right and you will see obvious tracks crossing Hidden Treasure that take you into the trees. There are a number of tree shots to the left that will take you back to the Hidden Treasure groomer, but if you stay high you will come to the Ontario bowl at the end of the track. There are 7-8 good lines in the Ontario Bowl. On powder weekdays, the powder may not get skied off for 2-3 days.
The Triangle Trees is accessed off the Tycoon run. You can take Tycoon from the top of Bald Mtn (where the Sterling, Wasatch, and Sultan lifts all unload) or you can rip it down the Ruins of Pompeii run, then get left to enter the Aspen glade. The glade at the top is fairly open and relatively flat. The glade then ends in a drop for 100-150 yards that is reasonably steep usually with good powder. Most people do Triangle Trees just to ski this shot. After the steep shot, you can bail out to the Perseverance run to skier’s right, or continue into the forest of large conifers.
There is some good single diamond terrain in the Empire Canyon area and Mayflower area. The Mayflower area is a slightly higher difficulty than Empire Canyon.
To get to Mayflower Bowl, as you come down Steins Way (a slip and sliding cat track) pull up short of the offload area of the Mayflower lift. To skier’s right at the offload area there is a gate that you can go into to access the more difficult runs off the Mayflower Bow. Keep in mind that even though it is called a “Bowl” it is more of a wide ski run at the top.
Come ski with us in Park City. Take a look at our Park City vacation rentals, then give us a call to discuss lodging options. You can always reach us at Info@Vacation-Quest.com or (877) 808-6872.
