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Show What's so great about Deer Valley? by Bettina Moench It used to be that when you told a friend you'd meet him on the mountain for a few runs, it was understood that you meant the Park City Ski Area. It also used to be that there was just one place to eat Mexican food in town and one place to pick up your mail. Now there's Deer Valley. Next to "Is it cold enough for you?" the second most often asked question in Park City these days is "Have you skied Deer Valley yet?" Among those who have answered in the affirmative, we have yet to find a person who has said anything less enthusiastic than "It's GREAT!" What's so great about Deer Valley? That's what we wondered, and while we had many more important and interesting things to do, we relented to some mild arm-twisting arm-twisting last Thursday and headed for the slopes. To hell with that meeting with Mayor Green; forget that interview about the local option sales tax. We know a good ski tip when we hear one, and we have come to grips with the fact that certain sacrifices must be made when you're in hot pursuit of the news. Before skiing Deer Valley, certain questions run through your mind. After all, it's been touted for the last two years as being a classy resort, a wintertime Riviera. Will my orange VW bus offend the Mercedes in the parking lot? Will my nylon ski jacket be eaten alive by a pack of haughty mink? Will I slip and label myself as second class by admitting that I gasp! work for a living? With those pressing questions ques-tions in my head, I entered the mystical domain of Deer Valley. My bus raised nary an eyebrow when I pulled into the Snow Park Center at the base of the resort, and I was comforted to find that my Rossignols were as classy as everyone else's. Perhaps it was because the media had been invited to preview Deer Valley that day and we all fall into the same socio-economic category, cate-gory, but all the skiers looked like, you know, regular regu-lar skiers. But there are differences at Deer Valley. First of all, you get no change back when you plunk down a twenty for a lift pass. But it is kind of nice that the money slides across a smooth wooden counter to a cheery employee em-ployee who returns your ticket, a trail map and a hi-how-are-you. It's then that you notice that everything at the center is wood; you stand under a wooden roof while you put on your ticket; walk on a boardwalk into the building, and sit at wooden tables in the lounge where the ceiling is supported by huge tree trunks. After you've admired the wood for a while, 'you remember that you came here to ski. The padded Carpenter triple chair whisks you to the top of Bald Eagle Mt., an elevation of 8,400 feet. If you stay on that side of the mountain, 13 runs are accessible: one expert, six beginner's and six intermediate. inter-mediate. If you're inclined to keep going up, a short run takes you past the Silver Lake Center and onto the Wasatch triple chair. It was a sunny, crisp day one of those bluebird days that makes you glad you're not living in New York City. But if there's one complaint that could be made about Deer Valley, it's that the runs are north-facing, north-facing, and various parts of the mountain are in the shade throughout the day. That has the advantage of keeping the snow around longer, but it has the disadvantage of making for cold chairlift rides on occasion. oc-casion. But Deer Valley regulars say you learn to follow the sun around the mountain, and by springtime, spring-time, the rays will warm you for longer periods. Even if you're not such a hot skier, it's worth the trip to the top of Bald Mountain just for the view. Standing at 9,400 feet, you can see Park City, Heber City, Mt. Tim-panogos Tim-panogos and the Park City Ski Area runs a truly spectacular spec-tacular panorama. If you are a hot skier, you'll find runs like Perseverance and the Ruins of Pompeii a real challenge. (We found that. ' . Pp ch ; 'V, -x :th It wmmsm , f . ? i w- - The NewspaperThursday, January 21, 1982Page C5 clmmp Claimjwnper Restaurant 7 DAYS A TEES B -10 WEEKDAYS G -11 WEEKENDS Main Street 649-G051 the bumps and the pitch can also be renamed the Ruins of Ego.) If you want to keep punishing yourself on the tough stuff, you can ski the Sultan triple chair, where there are seven expert runs and one intermediate slope. Or you can give yourself a break and move back to the Wasatch triple, where the runs are long, wide and smooth. The slopes that are groomed are done to perfectionthere's perfec-tionthere's hardly a ripple or an errant snowball to stop you from cruising top to bottom without a hitch. Nearly every run from the Wasatch lift has a clear view of Park City; those that don't slice through the aspen trees for an equally pretty sight. After you've taken a dozen or so leg-burning runs, it's time to bomb down Bird's Eye (like I said, it's a good view) to the Silver Lake Center. Before you even step inside, you get the feeling things are different here than at other resorts. There's a corral for your skis, where (free of charge) employees watch your equip-. equip-. ment while you eat on the i porch, in the cafeteria or at the Mariposa restaurant. Cafeteria may be a misnomer. mis-nomer. Yes, you walk around with a tray and pick up your own food, but that's where the similarity to your high school ends. One area has bottles of beer waiting frostily in ice, right next to the fresh croissants and pastries. You can have your burger grilled up any way you like, or watch while the roast beef is sliced for your sandwich, au jus, of course. There's a salad bar with such tantalizing tidbits as artichoke hearts, and warmers war-mers like homemade soups and stew. There are napkins printed with the Deer Valley logo, and a condiment counter (wood, of course) that has a backdrop of flowering plants. One of the skiers at our table, which had bird's eye view of Bird's Eye, reached up to scratch her forehead, and a uniformed employee rushed over to ask if there was something he could get for her. My high school days are not so far behind me that I didn't remember to clean up my ; World Cup Stenmark wins another battle, but may have lost the war Although Sweden's Inge-mar Inge-mar Stenmark now has won his last four World Cup races, the trophy for the overall over-all men's championship may be on its way back to Yakima, Yaki-ma, Washington. Defending World Cup champion Phil Mahre picked up 20 more points Tuesday by finishing second to Stenmark Sten-mark at the giant slalom held in Adelboden, Switzerland. Switzer-land. Mahre now has 237 World Cup points. If Stenmark Sten-mark holds firm on his decision not to compete in any downhill events, the maximum number of points he can accumulate is 250. Theoretically, a third place finish or better for Mahre in the slalom Jan. 24 in Wengen, Switzerland, could give him the trophy for the second straight year. In spite of his lead in the World Cup standings, Mahre is not satisfied with his recent performance. He finished a full two seconds behind Stenmark in the Adelboden giant slalom. "I really don't understand why I'm not skiing as well as I can," he said. "I lost at least one second in the first run on the bottom. Maybe I need a little more pressure. I shouldn't be losing so much time on Stenmark." Other U.S. finishers included in-cluded Steve Mahre in 20th position. Meanwhile, on the women's wo-men's World Cup circuit, Holly Flanders became only the second American (Cindy Nelson was the first) to win a World Cup downhill race in the last 10 years. Flanders, a native of Deerfield, New Hampshire, posted a time of 1 : 57.65 in the downhill held Monday in Bad Gastein, Austria, edging run-nerup run-nerup Lea Soelkner of Austria Aus-tria by 29 hundredths of a second. Other U.S. finishers included Nelson in eighth, Debbie Armstrong in 34th Cindy Oak in 40th,. Abbi Fisher in 44th and Park City's Roxanne Toly in 49th. Last week's downhill events on the World Cup tour were dominated by the Canadian team. On the women's circuit, Gerry Sorensen of Canada posted back-to-back wins Wednesday and Thursday in World Cup races at Grindel-wald, Grindel-wald, Switzerland. Then, on Friday and Saturday, Satur-day, her male teammates took over. On Friday, Cana dians Steve Podborski and Ken Read finished second and third behind Austrian Harti Weirather at Kitz-buhel, Kitz-buhel, Austria. On Saturday, also at Kitzbuhel, Podborski took the top spot ahead of sentimental favorite Franz Klammer. Read again finished third. Phil Mahre wrapped up his third consecutive combined title of the season by finishing 14th on Sunday at Kitzbuhel. eating area, but I was stopped with a look of surprise from the same fellow, who swept the trays away before I could further embarass myself. Of course, eating there is not cheap; you pay for the niceties and the good-looking and tasting array of food. But two skiers said they paid only slightly more for the homemade food at Deer Valley than they did for a lunch of Dorritos, beer and canned chili at another nearby resort. If you want to take more time and spend a bit more, you can sup at the Mariposa, an intimate restaurant just beyond the cafeteria. It has gained the reputation of serving one of the best lunches in town, and many people drive to the Silver Lake Center to eat rather than ski. I clumped into the restaurant for a peek in my ski boots, then turned on my heels when I thought I'd interrupted the quiet conversation. conver-sation. I've since then been reassured that one is not expected to carry after-ski boots with them to dine there. A black tie will be adequate. (Just kidding.) By the time, you. peel ; yourself away from the food, it seems you have only enough time to take one more cruiser before you head back down the mountain moun-tain and into the lodge at Snow Park for a few pitchers of beer. It does seem as though no expense has been spared at Deer Valley, and while the amenities can catch you off guard a little, they aren't nearly as intimidating as the slick advertising may have lead you to believe. You're as likely to see locals skiing there as Aspen look-alikes, as many Smith goggles as Porsche sunglasses. Deer Valley is a classy ski resort that makes you feel like it may cost a little more, but after all, vou're worth it. 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