Earlier this month, a crew bolted the last chairs onto the Hail Peak Express, the lift that will finally open the easternmost edge of Deer Valley Resort's expanded terrain. Days later, the resort told the Park Record it plans to open for the 2026-27 season on December 5, conditions permitting, making it the fourth of Utah's fifteen resorts to name a date this fall. The lift is in place, and opening day now depends on snowmaking and snowfall.
Hail Peak has been part of the expansion from the start. It was one of the first zones cut into the mountain in 2024, and this winter is the first one in which it is expected to be skiable.
Terrain Still Waiting for Its First Season
Last winter, a lack of snow kept part of the new terrain near the Pioche and Neptune lifts closed even though the runs had already been carved. Riley Elliot, the resort's communications manager, told the Park Record he's eager for those areas to be skiable for the first time this season. Garret Lang, the resort's senior director of mountain operations, is looking forward to Hail Peak being skiable this year, since it was among the first areas cut during the initial expansion.
Hail Peak Express will add seven runs and roughly 200 acres, bringing the resort to 4,500 skiable acres and 32 total lifts, with capacity for 932 acres of snowmaking. The lift is already installed, so reaching that terrain this December depends on snowmaking and snowfall.
The Reservoir Behind the Snowmaking
The piece of infrastructure aimed at last winter's thin snow is a new 10-million-gallon reservoir in a drainage just southwest of Park Peak Lodge. Working with the existing Summit Pump House, it is designed to push 10,000 gallons of water per minute into the snowmaking system. Combined with another 10,000 gallons per minute from Ventana, that gives the entire east system 20,000 gallons per minute, on the side of the resort where Hail Peak sits at the easternmost edge. Deer Valley says 80 to 90 percent of that water returns to its source, either the Jordanelle Reservoir or the Provo River, once the season's snowpack melts.
Last winter's lack of snow kept part of the new terrain closed, and this system is the resort's answer on the snowmaking side. Whether Hail Peak opens on schedule depends on that capacity alongside the lift.
The Punch List Under Your Skis
Not everything happening this year is about new terrain. Lang and his team spent the summer working through what he called a punch list on existing runs, adjusting grade, moving trees, and managing erosion. Redemption got specific attention this summer as part of that work.
Lang described the list as "little perfections from last winter," a large number of small improvements across the resort rather than one headline project. For anyone who skis Redemption, the summer's work is worth knowing about.
The Lodges Are Now a 2027-28 Story
The two big base-area buildings, Park Peak Lodge and the Deer Valley East Village Lodge, are both still under construction and both are now targeting the 2027-28 season. That's already a change from the original plan. As of this spring, Park Peak Lodge had been slated for a partial opening this coming season before the resort pushed it back to a full opening a year later. The core and shell of Park Peak Lodge are expected to finish this fall, with interior buildout on the dining areas and bar continuing through the coming winter. The East Village Lodge is on the same track, with its ski school, rentals, and food hall being built out through this summer for a 27-28 debut.
What that means for this winter is straightforward: the East Village Restaurant, the temporary Sprung-structure operation that served breakfast and lunch out of a chicken shack and beer trailer last season, is coming back for at least one more year while the permanent building goes up around it. The base-area dining this winter is the same temporary setup, not the finished restaurant.
What December 5 Actually Depends On
The December 5 date carries the qualifier "conditions permitting." The resort is fourth among Utah's ski areas to commit to an opening date this fall, and Elliot's stated hope is to get all of the expansion terrain open this year, including the areas near Pioche and Neptune that stayed closed last winter. That goal draws on the reservoir and pump system and the 20,000 gallons per minute of capacity Deer Valley has designed for the east side.
Last winter's lack of snow kept part of the new terrain closed, and this season the east side has more snowmaking capacity behind it. Snowmaking guns firing on Hail Peak and the east side terrain in the weeks before December 5 will show that system at work.
The summer's changes on the mountain are covered in our Deer Valley summer playbook, and the neighborhood's broader profile is on our Deer Valley page.
Hail Peak's seven runs and 200 acres are the terrain to watch when the lifts start turning on December 5, conditions permitting.
If you have questions about how the East Village build-out and the Hail Peak terrain fit into your plans this winter, Timeless Properties is glad to talk them through. Schedule a free consultation with Jake Doilney.
