Upgraded restaurants and lodges part of Deer Valley's $14 million improvements

This summer, Deer Valley Resort will begin its biggest capital investment in over two decades with a $14 million improvement plan for the 2020-21 season. The summer work will be the beginning of resort owner Alterra Mountain Co.’s five-year plan for the resort that will total more than $75 million in enhancements once completed.

Included in this year’s improvements will be the start of a modernization master plan for the resort’s dining facilities. Phase 1 includes a complete renovation of the 100,000-square-foot Snow Park base lodge, including new retail offerings and extensive updates to food and beverage service with a new indoor/outdoor après bar, slope-side coffee shop and bistro.

Also scheduled is the addition of an outdoor deck to Cushing’s Cabin, located at the top of Flagstaff Mountain, and continued work with bicycling trail developer Gravity Logic to expand the resort’s mountain bike trail inventory, including a trail on Bald Eagle Mountain and a trail from the top of Bald Eagle Mountain to Silver Lake Village.

Deer Valley will also install additional outdoor digital signage to supplement the signs installed in the 2019-20 season. The signage will provide real-time information on ticketing availability and pricing, lift operations, grooming conditions and other mountain- and lodge-related information.

The resort will also purchase four new state-of-the-art snow cats to add to the snow grooming fleet and spend $1 million in its snowmaking capabilities, including purchasing additional low-energy guns, new fan guns, upgrading control systems and replacing several thousand feet of snowmaking pipes.

Also planned are upgrades and investment in overall transportation fleets around the resort, Deer Valley said. New uniforms for all of the on-mountain staff are also planned, produced by Norwegian mountain gear company Helly Hansen.

The upgrades at Deer Valley are part of $223 million in capital improvements that Alterra Mountain Co. is making across its 15 North American mountain destinations for the upcoming year.

“Three years ago, when we formed Alterra Mountain Co., an initial priority was to commit to investing a half a billion dollars by 2023 across our family of North American destinations,” said Rusty Gregory, the compnay’s CEO. “To date, we have invested more than $350 million and are committed to exceeding our original plan, spending $575 million by 2020 on lifts and gondolas, snowmaking, summer activities, real estate development, hospitality and technology, all in the name of creating memories for our guests through an elevated mountain experience.”