Montage Deer Valley

Empire Pass lies near the top of Deer Valley, above Park City in Utah, on ground where silver miners once sank shafts into the Wasatch. Montage Deer Valley opened there in December 2010, a large stone and timber lodge on the slopes, built so that skiers walk out of the ski room and onto the runs.

History

Park City grew out of silver mining in the late nineteenth century, and the hills above the town are laced with old workings, among them the Daly West mine near Empire Pass, whose headframe still stands. When the mines closed, skiing took their place. Deer Valley Resort opened in 1981 and in 2002 staged the Olympic slalom, moguls and aerials events of the Salt Lake City Winter Games. The Empire Pass area was developed during the 2000s as a mountain village of residences and lodges, and Montage, the company founded by Alan Fuerstman in 2002, opened its lodge there in 2010 as the centrepiece. In 2024 the Winter Games were awarded to Salt Lake City and Utah once again, for 2034.

Architecture and design

The lodge takes the form of a big mountain house in stone and timber under gabled roofs, broken into wings that follow the fall of the land. Inside, the public rooms are built around large fireplaces, wood beams and windows framing the slopes and the peaks beyond. The interiors draw on the materials of the region's mining and ranching past rather than on theme decoration, and the scale is generous throughout.

Rooms and suites

Rooms and suites have fireplaces and look over the ski runs or out across the valley, and many have balconies. The larger suites add living and dining rooms for families, and private residences occupy part of the building.

Dining

Apex, the main restaurant, serves mountain cooking in a dining room facing the runs. Daly's Pub & Rec, named for the mine, combines a casual bar and grill with bowling lanes, billiards and games, and fills with families in the evenings. In winter a lounge with an open fire and a terrace over the snow catch skiers coming off the mountain at the end of the day.

Wellness

Spa Montage covers about 35,000 square feet, with treatment rooms, a large fitness centre, pools and hot tubs, among them outdoor pools heated for swimming in the snow. Fitness classes and yoga are part of the daily programme, and the ski valet looks after boots and skis.

Weddings and events

The lodge has a ballroom, a series of meeting rooms and outdoor lawns and terraces used for ceremonies in summer, when the slopes turn green and the wildflowers come out. Weddings and corporate meetings fill much of its year outside the ski season, and winter events can use the slopeside terraces with the runs as backdrop.

Location

Deer Valley is one of the few American ski areas that allows no snowboarding, and its careful grooming and limited ticket sales give it a calmer feel than its neighbour, Park City Mountain. Historic Main Street in Park City, with its restaurants, galleries and Victorian storefronts, lies about 15 minutes below by car. Salt Lake City International Airport is about 45 minutes by road, which puts this luxury hotel in Park City within easy reach of a morning flight from most American cities. In summer the trails around Empire Pass are used for hiking and mountain biking, and the lifts carry riders and walkers up the mountain.