For the third year in a row, Deer Valley was chosen by skiers as the No. 1 ski area in North America.

Park City Mountain Resort move up a spot to No. 4.

Voting is conducted each year by SKI Magazine.

It is the first time in recent history that a ski area has held the spot for three consecutive years. In fact, during the past seven years, Deer Valley has earned the top spot four times.

"We're proud and humbled at the same time," said Bob Wheaton, president of Deer Valley. "All of this can be attributed to our employees. Everyone is paying attention to their job, and it's reflected in this survey.

"Over the years, we've focused on customer service, and it seems to have worked. I think the humbling part of all this is the quality of the company we're with in these rankings."

Finishing No. 2 was Whistler Blackcomb, in British Columbia. No. 3 was Vail, in Colorado, No. 4 was Park City and No. 5 was Beaver Creek, also in Colorado.

The Canyons finished No. 20 in voting, while Snowbird was No. 25, Solitude was No. 26, Alta was No. 28 and Snowbasin was No. 29.

Last year, The Canyons was No. 13, Solitude came in at No. 22, Snowbird was No. 25, Alta was No. 28 and Snowbasin was No. 29.

"It used to be that it wasn't cool to ski in Utah," said Krista Parry, marketing director for Park City Mountain Resort. "Now, it is cool to ski in Utah. This shows that we've evolved. Colorado is our main rival, and here in the top five, there are two resorts from Utah and two from Colorado."

She added, "Being voted No. 1 in access is really important. People want to spend most of their time at the resort, not traveling, and they can do that here in Utah."

Each spring, SKI Magazine sends out a survey to readers and asks them to rate resorts in 18 categories. Those categories range from on-hill grooming to skier access to off-hill activities.

Deer Valley was voted No. 1 among the 18 categories in grooming, service, on-mountain food, lodging and dining.

"Those are a nice set of skills," said Greg Ditrinco, executive editor of SKI Magazine. "I believe Deer Valley does as good a job as anyone out there in understanding clients and delivering what clients want."

He pointed out that the results are those of readers, "and the editorial staff does not get involved. We agree with some and might have discussions on others, but this survey does reflect the values of skiers."

In individual categories, Park City received high marks in skier access (No. 1), après-ski (No. 5), off-hill activities (No. 4), family programs (No. 9) and terrain parks (No. 5).

"With respect to après-ski and off-hill activities, five years ago, scoring high in those areas would never have happened," said Ditrinco.

"Main Street (in Park City) has evolved significantly in the last three to four years. It's really as good as it gets for any Main Street in any ski town."

One requirement in voting is that voters can only report on those resorts they've skied within the past two years.

The ski-resort survey is the most comprehensive and longest-running in the winter-sports industry. Readers of SKI Magazine ski an average of 23 days a season.