Whether you’re a season passholder who got to ski at Deer Valley Resort on Friday or part of the hoi palloi public not allowed in until Saturday, this was the first Thanksgiving weekend opening ever for the growing ski mountain in all its 43 years.Plans to open Dec. 7 chilled fast with cold temperatures and timely snowfall making the resort’s leaders rethink: Why not open … now?“It’s a quieter opening for us this year,” said Director of Communications Emily Summers. “The first time we ever moved opening day was three years ago, on the record snow year. We had this nice opportunity to get people here a week early and on the holiday, and that’s a very new thing for us.” Deer Valley Season Passholder Appreciation day on Friday featured Carpenter Express, Homestake Express, and Sterling Express lifts, giving skiers access to nine trails. The lifts started spinning at noon.Saturday, the official opening day, will open with regular season hours from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., adding access to Silver Lake Express lift. “I’ve been skiing here since ’81. We’ve been waiting all season for this,” said Craig Hiebard, who arrived early for the passholders’ opening on Friday with his son, Evan, and soon to be daughter-in-law, Rachel Blitz. “Its awesome. It’s so nice to have an appreciation day like this, it’s pretty mellow. Looking to practice my carving.”“We missed the appreciation day last year,” said Evan. “We made sure to make it out this year. It’s just nice to be out in the snow again after the hot summer,” added Rachel. A skier with a season pass snaps in for the beginning of Deer Valley Resort’s ski season on Friday. Credit: Tyson Bolduc for the Park RecordPassholder appreciation day included free lunch at the Snow Park lodge restaurant along with a gift. This year that was a Gogglesoc with an image of Deer Valley terrain on the front. Some who have skied Deer Valley before, but experiencing their first year as season passholders, were extra excited. “We are so happy to be members here for the first year,” said Todd Dirkschneider, skiing with his wife, Lin. The Dirkschneiders made the jump to passholders because of their excitement for the new terrain in Deer Valley East Village. “We’re so thrilled to see the East Village gondola open up. It’s just such a resource for us because we live over in Heber,” said Lin. Brian and Erica Provines got out early for the start of their 25th year at Deer Valley.“We’re here to enjoy another bluebird day at Deer Valley and get back on skis,” said Erica. The sunny skies provided some welcome warmth to the cold temperatures on Friday morning, and lots of families were happy to take advantage of the holiday weekend that excused them from work and school. TJ Graber and his daughter Harper have been skiing Deer Valley for five years, and said they were happy to get to have this day together while she has a day off from middle school. “Harper is joining us because it’s the day after Thanksgiving and she got school off, so she gets early tracks as well,” said TJ. “I would say we chose Park City, and then Deer Valley chose us.” This season, TJ and Harper are just looking to “have fun and ski with a smile. I love Deer Valley because people always say hello, people are always in a good mood and it really shows,” he said. The Burky family also showed up early, hoping to experience the Deer Valley terrain they have loved for four years and practice new skills. “We love Deer Valley groomers, and we have little racers here who love it, too,” said Amy, skiing with husband Jonathan and children Lily and Benjamin. Last season, Lily was the fastest U10 champion in Utah, Montana and Wyoming. This year, she is excited to see Deer Valley open early and get to work on her racing technique. “I’m really working on retraction and getting on my left edges,” said Lily. First turns at Deer Valley Resort’s early opening for season passholders on Friday. Credit: Tyson Bolduc for the Park Record“First chair is our church,” said Adam Smith, who has been skiing at Deer Valley for over 30 years. He was joined by his daughter, Zoe, who has skied this terrain for her whole life; and CJ and Monica Eccher, old friends who have skied the resort for just as long. The Smiths and the Ecchers have a longstanding tradition of getting first chair at Deer Valley. “We’ve had a lot of good powder days, not too many missed powder days. We do church here, we’ve called it,” said CJ, who said he is looking forward to skiing good powder this year and is excited to get another Deer Valley year under his belt, staying healthy and happy on the hill.Passholder Appreciation day is an annual tradition that began six or seven years ago, said Summers. “We started opening the afternoon before our official public opening for our season pass holders as a thank you. It’s a way to get them out there first, and get an inkling of what conditions are like on the hill,” she said.In addition to the Gogglesoc gift, Deer Valley handed out stickers to remember the historic Thanksgiving weekend opening. The stickers read “Give Thanks for Two Planks.” Deer Valley opens this season alongside their highly anticipated plans for the new Deer Valley East Village and terrain expansion set to open its first stages in December. “This season is just the beginning of what’s to come, as we enhance our mountain experience while preserving excellent service and attention to detail our guests expect,” said Todd Bennett, president & COO of Deer Valley. Because of the late change to the opening date, events scheduled for Dec. 7 remain on that day, including the Shred for Red fundraiser and Kids Ski Free Week.  Skiers cheer to the camera, excited for their first runs of the season at Deer Valley Resort. Credit: Tyson Bolduc for the Park RecordThe post Deer Valley opens on Thanksgiving Weekend for the first time ever appeared first on Park Record.