It was pitch dark as I pulled out of our driveway, heading to the resort. My wife, Carole, had warned me that the elk were back. It was a good heads-up as I navigated amongst a small herd of a dozen staked out along our Silver Creek roadway.The morning was clear, with stars in the sky and headlights of snowcats visible on the ridgelines, as I sped out onto U.S. 40, heading to Deer Valley’s Snow Park Lodge. My eye was drawn to the temperature on the dashboard: minus 5! It was going to be a chilly one.In the past, skiing as a local between Christmas and New Year was never a great idea. If you hit New Year’s Day right at 9 a.m., you might have a chance before the late-sleepers arrived. But a year ago, Deer Valley Resort had the genius concept of opening at 8 a.m. during the Christmas holiday.My first thought was, “It’s just too dark.” I started pondering, too, about this being a trial run for whenever our elected leaders decide to go with full-time with daylight savings time. I tried it out a year ago, and it was sensational. During the holiday week, when the early opening is in place, you can effectively ski lift-line free from 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.As I drove in on Deer Valley Drive, I craned my neck to see how many lots back I would be. To my surprise, here were simply no cars! Were they even open? I pulled around to the lots and was car number seven in the first row — and I didn’t even need to be driving a Land Rover! It was 7:25 a.m.This was downright civil! Our lift line at Carpenter was a blend of longtime locals with a few tourist parents savvy enough to see the opportunity, bundling up the kids in the predawn hours to hustle over to the resort. Standing in line, we watched the first rays of sunrise strike the ridgelines.One thing to remember on north-facing slopes: there’s no early sun! You need to use your edge-feel on the corduroy in the early morning hours. It was only a minor problem to have as I began arcing turns off Bald Mountain down Nabob towards Wasatch Express.Lift rides were mostly with locals as tourists sorted out their day. I had a nice chat with a young man crashing at his grandparents’ ski-in/ski-out home, then met an Orange County transplant who now skis every single day.Stein’s Way wasn’t open yet, so I decided to head down to Mountaineer and see what the Jordanelle Run was like in the early morning hours. It was a dreamy way to start the day, linking turns down the narrow real-estate-lined run to the gondola — an opportunity to warm up a bit in the chilly morning air.Pulling up behind me was my good friend Emily Fisher, executive director of Youth Sports Alliance, and her partner, Shawn. We shared a gondola ride to discuss the extraordinary morning on the Jordanelle Run, fresh corduroy mixed with grippy snow crystals that let you really sink an edge in.I still pinched myself as we skied lap after lap without needing to dodge straightliners or beginners wandering side to side across the run.About 9:30 a.m., reality began to set in as holiday skiers found their way to the slopes. I wandered into Empire Lodge, enjoying a hot tea by one of the stone fireplaces, reminiscing on my locals laps at the break of dawn.Alas, all good things must come to an end. After 10 days of early ups, it was back to 9 a.m. lifts on Sunday. To all the Deer Valley lifties and mountain crew, thanks for getting up early to give us locals an opportunity to get in our hour-and-a-half of skiing every morning.The post Ridgelines: Uncrowded holiday runs at the break of day appeared first on Park Record.