Deer Valley officially opened in 1981, but its history actually goes back into the 1940s. Bob Burns and Otto Carpenter opened Snow Park with a single T-bar on Deer Valley land, then added a chairlift back in 1949.

The vision of Deer Valley belongs to Edgar Stern, who at one time was an owner in Park City Mountain Resort.

Stern set out to build an upscale resort and did just that, introducing many new services other resorts have now adopted. These include fine dining, guest service attendants to help guests unload skis, limited lift ticket sales to avoid crowding, parking lot shuttle, complimentary ski check and a state-licensed child care center.

The resort opened with two fashionable lodges and skiing on Bald and Bald Eagle mountains. Eventually lifts would be built on two other mountains and a third lodge, Empire, would open.

It now has lifts running up five mountains — Little Bald Peak, Bald Mountain, Bald Eagle Mountain, Flagstaff Mountain and Empire.

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