Deer Valley, Park City among top 5 ski resorts

The votes are in and of the 490-plus ski resorts in the country, two Utah resorts are among the top five as voted on by skiers.

SKI Magazine's top 50 is about to be released on newsstands around the country and abroad on Tuesday.

And ...

Deer Valley is firmly seated in the No. 2 position and Park City Mountain Resort is in at No. 5. Vail, Colo., took over the No. 1 spot. Last year roles were reversed — Deer Valley was No. 1 and Vail was No. 2. Park City held on to its No. 5 spot earned last year.

"You know, at this level, one, two, three, it doesn't really matter," explained Greg Ditrinco, executive editor of the magazine.

"Our readers are looking for a total resort package. A place where they can bring the family. They want to ski, yes, but they also want a nice place to stay and have a nice dinner. You look at Vail and Deer Valley and Park City, and all are full-service resorts ... among the very best."

For the past 19 years, the ski magazine has rated resorts. This year it sent out 25,000 voting slips by mail and another 15,000 by e-mail. The response rate was around 15 percent.

"Which is pretty remarkable," said Ditrinco. "Typically, on a mass survey, 2 or 3 percent response is considered good. It shows our readers are involved.

There are some inconsistencies, but overall this survey gives skiers a pretty good snapshot of what they can expect at a resort."

In order to add credibility to the survey, requirements were that voters could only rate those resorts they'd visited over the previous two seasons. Resorts were rated in 18 areas, which is one more than in previous years.

Ditrinco said the 18th parameter was "Overall Satisfaction."

Other Utah resorts making the Top 50 were The Canyons at No. 15, Snowbird at No. 22, Solitude at No. 25, Alta at No. 28 and Brighton at 29.

In the overall ratings, Deer Valley was voted No. 1 in grooming, service, weather, and on-mountain food; 2 in dining; 3 in access and lodging; and got an overall satisfaction rating of 4. Its lowest rating was 55 for terrain park.

Park City was rated 2 in access; 7 in dining and apres-ski; and 8 for its terrain park. Overall satisfaction was 30. Park City's lowest rating was 47 for value.

Alta received a 1 for overall satisfaction, Snowbird a 6, The Canyons 46, Solitude 21 and Brighton 14.

The Canyons got high ratings for access and weather; Snowbird for snow, terrain/challenge, terrain/variety, weather, access and scenery; Solitude for snow, value, weather and access; Alta for snow, terrain/challenge, terrain/variety, value, weather, access and scenery; and Brighton got high ratings for snow, weather, access and terrain park.

"When you look at the competition, the number of ski areas in the country, very good ski areas, I think it speaks very well of Utah's skiing experience to constantly receive such high ratings. Utah resorts are consistently rated among the top resorts in the country, and that's a real credit to all of Utah," said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah.

For the past four years, SKIING Magazine has rated the conjoined twins — Snowbird/Alta — No. 1 in its reader poll.

Rounding out the top 10 are Snowmass, Colo., at No. 3, Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia, No. 4, Breckenridge, Colo., No. 6, Aspen, Colo., at No. 7, Beaver Creek, Colo., No. 8, Steamboat, Colo., No. 9 and Sun Valley, Idaho, No. 10.

Utah and Colorado resorts reported receiving their first snow of the 2006-07 season last weekend.