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Courtney Orton reportingUtah skiers have new terrain to play in. Deer Valley opened up 200 additional acres of ski trails, and the resort fired up a brand new chairlift today.
Hundreds of skiers showed up to give it a try.
From the sounds of it, skiers were ready to ride the brand new Lady Morgan Express chairlift. "It opens up a couple hundred acres of new terrain and just some awesome skiing," said Bob Wheaton, president of Deer Valley Resort. Nine new runs, in fact. Wheaton said, "Because of where it sits on the ridge, the way the storms come in, it really loads all the snow in here."
And a certain kind of snow is what these skiers were excited about. One skier said, "We're excited about skiing the powder." Two other skiers said the same thing.
Another skier said, "I'm glad it's open. That means we get powder. All the other runs don't have much."
Deer Valley was hoping for a flawless opening, but when the lift stalled, patience ran thin. Several skiers decided to leave the pack because they didn't want to wait any longer.
"Yeah, it had a couple of hiccups when we loaded it up, but it's running fine now," said Wheaton.
That was welcome news for those who decided to stick it out.
One skier said the wait was absolutely worth it. Another said, "Couple feet of new snow set up. It was perfect, just silky perfect powder wonderful run."
"Oh, it's powder. You can't really put it into words. It's fantastic, beautiful blue day. There's no place I'd rather be," said a very happy skier.
Those new runs are ungroomed, and right now the avalanche danger is very high.
So if you're heading out, whether to the resorts or the backcountry, be prepared and carry the proper emergency equipment.
