Picto Diary - 01 to 03 February 2026 - Freddie Shunned

Above: Summit Keetly Express and Galena Express Lifts. Lady of the Lake ski run. Image looks due east. Deer Valley, 01 February 2025.
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Skiing alone from Homeward Bound, down Northern Light ski run to the Green Monster ski run, I took my time stopping at each intersection to get my bearings. I learned that despite having skied this direction at least a half dozen times this year, I hadn't really skied the entirety of the four mile long Green Monster ski run, sure to become one of America's iconic, must-ski, ski runs. Heretofore, thinking I was skiing The Green Monster, intent on keeping up with ski companions, I had taken alternative routings... faster... blue rated... routings to the East Village base. So, I took Green Monster all the way down this time. I also took the Galena Express lift for the first time. Post break at my Empire Lodge office, I skied Lady Morgan lift and Dakota ski run for the first time this season.

Earlier, pre break, I rode up the East Village gondola with an Indian fellow and his circa 12 year old son, and with a couple who were speaking a Chinese language. The Indian guy started the conversation. He was from Hyderabad and was living in SLC working in some Silicon Slopes tech company. After telling him about my love for India and that our most recent trip there was to Gujarat, I relayed to him the comments of a Silicon Slopes CEO who, at one of our ROMEO LSDM talks, was asked what it would take to accomplish a "unicorn" in Silicon Slopes. The CEO replied, temples.... more Hindu temples.

I asked (in English) the Chinese speakers where they lived and in perfect colloquial American, they said New York City. I didn't pry any further. They switched their language to English and started peppering me with questions about the East Village side of the resort. I told them, that despite the paucity of real snow this year, more than half of the east side runs were open having been seeded with Deer Valley's world class manufactured snow. Funny thing, with half the east side runs open and half the west side runs open, there are as many skiable groomed runs now at Deer Valley as there were in previous seasons when Deer Valley was only half the size as it is now. No doubt, off piste skiers are disappointed with this year's ski season. But, if you are a groomed run skier (which I believe 80% of skiers are), the Deer Valley skiing conditions today were in tip top condition in fabulous blue bird weather. There are more runs open than most people will be able to ski in a day.

It was good, after spending most of last week motorcycling in the southwest, to get back to my old ski routine today. The absence of real snow is surely a puzzlement. In my twenty-five years in Park City, I've never seen such a low snow fall year to date. As per above, though, the low snow fall doesn't prevent me from having a maximum ski experience on Deer Valley's impeccably groomed ski runs. Getting to know the new east side is also a ski bonus this year.

Above: Deer Valley, 02 February 2026.
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Top image looks south from Homeward Bound to mid station East Village Gondola and, just below, summit of the new Pinyon Lift. The "selfie" is me on the Crown Point lift. The last image is Dew Drop, shooting down under a roadway bridge.

Groomed skiing has never been better at DV. Bluebird conditions. Fifteen new open runs on the east side. Low attendance. Skiing at least half of my fifteen runs this AM I was the only one skiing the run. Deer Valley's snow making in an otherwise bad snow year has been positively prodigious.
I deviated from my normal AM East Village routine this AM. The Silver Lake Express lift was down for mechanical reasons so all of the 9:00 AM Snow Park skiers were bunched up at Carpenter Express. The extra wait wasn't too long... ten minutes or so... but I decided, atop Carpenter, to take the path of least resistance, down Little Stick, where few people ski at the start of a ski session, over to the Jordanelle side and Mountaineer Express Lift. This is a ski pattern I have done a lot in prior years. I once skied with Stein Eriksen. He liked to ski over to the Jordanelle sunshine at the beginning of the day.

Why avoid East Village and the Silver Lake side this AM? I didn't want to ski down Silver Link to the Wasatch Lift. Because of the hoards riding up Carpenter and because most of them, like lemmings, would head over, via Silver Link, to the Silver Lake side, Silver Link would be exceedingly busy. It's one of those four or five runs at Deer Valley that, despite its benign green/blue slope can be dicey. When crowded there are all manner of skiers on Silver Link. Beginners, experts, hot dogs, little kids, doofi, and average skiers. At peak usage it reminds of traffic on a Hanoi intersection.

There are other tricky, otherwise benign routes, at Deer Valley that periodically engender the same conditions as a busy Silver Link. Bandana and Deer Hollow to name a couple. Both of these runs have a narrow turn, like an hourglass, halfway down. I avoid these runs at busy times as well.

I skied all of the open Mountaineer Lift runs this AM: Jordanelle, Mountaineer, Crescent (a steep, short black), Fairview, Deer Hollow, and Gnat's Eye.

I rode up the now empty Carpenter Lift again, skied down to Wasatch Lift, skied via Homeward Bound and Orion to the Quincy Lift, up the Quincy and down Hawkeye, a short turn at Custer, and down to Lady Morgan Lift. Hawkeye, a long, fairly benign blue, was empty but for Mwah (sic). Next, I skied the also totally empty Dakota ski run, down past the Montage Hotel, to my office at Empire Lodge. Fabulous. Just fabulous!

I finished off the AM at Dew Drop (see image) where, as is often typical, I found corduroy beyond the bridge. Dew Drop to Last Chance to newly open Little Kate and then outta there! Great Day! Why corduroy on Dew Drop? It's hidden away as an offshoot of the popular, green, Success run. People who start a green run don't like to drop off onto a blue run.

Above: Willow Creek Dog Park. Summit County, UT. 02 February 2026.
Birthday party five golden doodles and their mom. Freddie, not invited, sulks in the background. I felt very badly for Freddie that he was excluded in this shameful manner.

Above: Deer Valley, UT. 03 February 2026.
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FeeBee and NuFee pose on Lady of the Lake ski run, East Village. Image looks due east. Steamboat is 300 miles, just that way.