Deer Valley’s East Village expansion opens with heated ski lift, new hotel and more

There’s a new level of luxury skiing at Deer Valley, as a brand-new bubble lift with heated seats just opened at this ski-only Utah resort.

While the recent opening of the six-person Keetley Express lift and some skiable terrain on the new East Village expansion side of the ski resort is a huge milestone, it’s all just the beginning of what’s to come as Deer Valley more than doubles in size to become one of the largest ski resorts in the U.S.

When complete, the expansion will add over 3,700 skiable acres, bringing Deer Valley’s total to 5,726 acres served by 37 chairlifts that provide access to 238 runs. And yes, it will all remain ski-only, with no snowboarding allowed, just as it has been since the resort first opened in 1981.

Deer Valley’s East Village will also be home to 1,700 new residential units, 800 new hotel rooms, 1,200 additional day ski parking spots, new restaurants, an ice skating rink and more to support all this new terrain. The new area will eventually be connected by a gondola to the current main base area of Snow Park, which is also slated for a massive revitalization in the coming years.

But enough about the future. Here’s what you need to know if you are skiing at Deer Valley and looking to enjoy the new East Village area for this 2024-25 ski season.

Some East Village lifts and runs are now open, with more to follow shortly

On Dec. 31, 2024, the heated six-person Keetley Express lift opened. This officially started the process of opening Deer Valley’s East Village area.

You can take this new express lift to the Sultan Express lift, which takes you to the peak of Bald Mountain. From there, you can ski down to the Snow Park Lodge or continue your trek across the resort to the Flagstaff, Silver Lake or Empire sections.

The short Aurora lift is also open in the new East Village section. Additionally, the beginner-friendly Hoodoo Express lift, which will connect to a new, short green run named Prospect, is expected to come online soon.

A handful of green and blue runs that allow skiers to spend more of their day in the East Village area are also expected to open “as soon as Mother Nature allows,” according to a Deer Valley mountain host who was helping skiers pick their next trail after just exiting the Keetley Express lift.

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Right now, the main notable run available in the East Village is the long green McHenry run that can take you from near the middle of the resort at Silver Lake Lodge down several miles to the base of the East Village.

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However, that will likely change to include more options in the near future, so it will be essential for this season — and the coming seasons — to stay tuned to Deer Valley’s real-time updated trail map, list of scheduled lift and run openings and social media pages.

You can park and store gear at the East Village

Deer Valley is known for its complimentary overnight ski storage that makes ski mornings easier.

While there aren’t any permanent ski buildings yet at the East Village, there are temporary facilities where you can use indoor gear storage, print lift tickets, rent skis and more. Inside the new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley, there’s a Helly Hanson Deer Valley shop where you can buy branded Deer Valley merchandise, Helly Hanson ski gear and lift tickets.

Some day skier parking is also now open in the East Village area, so you can drive in from Salt Lake City on U.S. Route 40 (and avoid Park City traffic) and then take a short complimentary open-air shuttle that runs continuously from there to the Grand Hyatt before traveling up to the area where the new Keetley lift resides. Additional parking will open in the coming years.

The new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley hotel is open

A cornerstone of the East Village is the new Grand Hyatt Deer Valley hotel, which opened in November 2024 and has 387 guest rooms, a restaurant, a lounge and a speakeasy, among other features. The hotel can easily be spotted at the East Village base, as it is currently the only permanent structure on this part of the mountain.

The only lodging option in this part of Deer Valley (for now) is bookable for 21,000 to 29,000 World of Hyatt points per night. While it is not technically a ski-in, ski-out hotel, it is just a short walk or one- to two-minute ride on the open-air shuttle to the new base with the Keetley Express lift. The location is quite convenient if you plan to take the new lift, but know that if you have beginner skiers who need to get to ski school at the Snow Park base, they will likely need to get there by car as there is no direct shuttle at present from the Grand Hyatt to Snow Park.

A ski school is planned for this part of the mountain at some point in the future, but that won’t help if you are heading there this season. As someone who just did the morning kid ski school trek from the East Village area, this is the largest pain point to staying here while this side of the resort has yet to be fully built.

Related: The right — and wrong — age for kids to start skiing

My favorite amenities at the new Grand Hyatt are the three outdoor hot tubs and fire pits; they are perfect after a day on the mountain.

If you are traveling here this season, know that this is a new hotel with new staff and is in what is, for now, a relatively isolated area without much nearby. During the hotel’s first ski season, it may be just as important to pack a pair of “patient pants” as it is to bring your ski pants. The experience you can have now is likely a very different reality from the one you’ll likely have when the East Village is fully built out.

Related: Four Seasons is hitting the slopes in Deer Valley, Utah

It’s a big step forward but still a work in progress

Along those lines, being one of the first to take the new express lift and ski some of the East Village terrain was exciting. But know that if you decide to do the same, you are experiencing a work in progress with some active construction, temporary facilities and limited amenities. You may face some day-to-day changes as the resort attempts to simultaneously build for the future and open up as much as possible this season.

If you stay on this part of the mountain, it may be a time commitment or logistical challenge, for now, to really do much outside the hotel other than skiing. For nonskiing activities, expect it to take at least 20 to 30 minutes by vehicle in each direction you travel; during peak times, weekends and holidays, it may be (much) longer. While a hotel shuttle operates roughly every two hours to Park City, you should bring a car if you like to travel with more flexibility.

I don’t say that to discourage you from a trip here this season but rather to set expectations given this expansion is a multiyear project and only certain pieces of the puzzle are in place right now.

Bottom line

2025 is a very big year for Deer Valley.

Not only is it opening three lifts and 300 acres of new terrain for the current 2024-25 ski season, but it has even bigger plans for later in the year when the 2025-26 season kicks off. That’s when the resort plans to bring online thousands of new acres of skiable terrain, nine new chairlifts (including a gondola) and 110 new ski runs.

If you want to wait to experience the Deer Valley of tomorrow in all its completed glory, then you may need to sit tight for a few more years. But if you don’t mind a work in progress and are ready to take advantage of what is new and ready now, wax up your skis and get ready to enjoy some friendly service, a fancy new lift and one of the longest new ski runs in the country.

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