Talk to me about Deer Valley/Park City

[Anonymous]

I have free passes at Deer Valley ski resort and would like to take our family of 5 there over the winter. DH, me, 11 year old, 6 year old, and 3 year old -- kids will be in ski school mostly.

Where would you stay? I see properties right at Deer Valley but I also love the idea of being in more of a ski town and I hear there's not much of a village in DV, it's more in Park City. I think I'd prefer to rent a condo with more space than just hotel rooms, also. If we stay in Park City, do you have to drive to DV? Likewise, if we stayed in Deer Valley would we need to drive into Park City if we want to go there?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Oh, one more thing - do you think end of March is too late to ski here?

[Anonymous]

I don't think the end of March is too late. All three mountains are super close. We liked staying in Park City in a condo so we could cook if we were tired. We drove everywhere because we are too impatient to take the shuttle bus and there is easy parking. I'm sure you'd be fine on shuttle buses though. That said, if you know you will only ski at deer valley, it may be worth just staying there.

have fun!!!

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine has a time share up there and loves it, best snow on earth. If you have very young kids Deer Valley, Park City and The Canyons have resort daycares. Her kids are under 10 and are doing black diamonds now! Where you stay would depend on whether you want to wander Park City in the evenings or if you think it would take less energy to roll out of bed and get the kids to ski school without having to drive or shuttle - it's less than 10 minutes away. She said the skiing on Park City Mountain is not quite as good - slushy due to lower elevation.
Interesting - you can drive to Brighton from Park City but Alta does not connect, you have to drive back through SLC, takes about an hour from Park City.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you need to drive in either direction. it's easy though, and parking is plentiful at DV. We've stayed in DV, in downtown PC and farther away from PC. The nicer condos/houses tend to be just outside PC or at DV. DV has lots of condo units, although some are on the shuttle rather than walking distance. The on-hill ones are beyond expensive, although March may be a little less expensive. If you do DV just make sure you know where you are. The Snow Park base is closest to PC, with lots of condos, but many are just a little to far to walk. Silver Lake and Empire are right in the middle of DV but a longer drive to PC. If you stay in/near PC be aware that the developments near the Canyons are a bit farther so you probably want to try to be closer to PC itself.

Any location is fine, and driving in to PC for dinner, or groceries, or whatever isn't that big a deal. So I'd go with where you can find a condo you like. I am all about on-line, but I find that talking to agents is useful for PC because it's such a big area.