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The Canyons opens Friday

by Andrew Kirk, OF THE RECORD STAFF

the end of the week, all three Park City area resorts will be open and the season will have officially begun.

"We feel like we’re open in earnest when all three are open. It’s what we market: three great resorts in one great town," said Bill Malone, executive director of the Park City Chamber/Bureau. "It feels good when we can be on the phone talking to potential consumers telling them we’re open, people are skiing as we speak."

The Canyons opens Friday and Elizabeth Dowd, resort spokesperson, said two new transport lifts will be open.

The first, the Frostwood Pulse Gondola, is like the Cabriolet Lift but will start near the Dakota Mountain Lodge and will travel to the base of the Flight of the Canyons gondola.

The Timberline Lift will go from 1 mile below DreamCatcher to the base of Tombstone, the main artery on the mountain if skiing the southern end.

Timberline Lift is also the first phase of an eventual expansion of Iron Mountain.

"Within two or three years we’ll be skiing Iron Mountain," she said.

The resort is also expected to use its new Snowcat machines, which are about 50 percent larger than previous models and can do the work of two, and sometimes three of them. This means fewer machines on the mountain using less fuel and causing fewer emissions. Improvements have also been made in snowmaking.

Dowd said Lookout Cabin was listed in Vanity Fair as one of the top on-mountain dining destinations in the world.

"That’s a really huge honor for us," she said.

In January, Brant Moles, a former world extreme skiing champion, will be doing ski camp around New Year’s.

The resort will also hold women-only ski clinics and some for local youths.

Later in the season, the resort is sponsoring Thursday-night concerts at Harry O’s, she said.

Deer Valley Resort

Deer Valley opens on Saturday and spokesperson Emily Summers said visitors will be pleasantly surprised by major improvements to Cushing’s Cabin on top of Flagstaff Mountain.

The eatery was "completely redone," and will offer same menu but more seating and a new interior. It will house in-door restrooms and a ski patrol office.

Later in the season improvements to Empire Canyon Lodge should be complete. The lunch line there will be reorganized to improve the flow of beverages and food to prevent congestion.

Deer Valley also has new snowmobiles and Snowcats it’s proud of.

The resort anticipates five of the 22 lifts to be open including Sterling Express, Homestake, Silver Lake Express, Carpenter Express and Burns.

Later in the season Santa Claus will visit Deer Valley on the Christmas Eve in Snow Park area at the Resort Base from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and the Silver Lake area from noon to 1:30.

The Torchlight Parade will be Dec. 30 at dusk featuring members of the Ski School. The parade takes place on the Big Stick ski run on Bald Eagle Mountain and is best viewed from the upper deck of Snow Park Lodge.

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