Deer Valley Resort Opens With Annual Celebrity Ski Fest (12-Nov-09)

Deer Valley, USA, November 12, 2009 - Deer Valley kicks off its winter ski season with the excitement

Deer Valley Resort kicks off its winter ski season with the excitement of  the annual Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest on December 5 and 6, 2009. The invitational ski event pairs former Olympic ski legends with television and film celebrities for a weekend of skiing, live music and fundraising for the environmental group Waterkeeper Alliance, which supports and empowers Waterkeeper member organizations to protect communities, ecosystems and water quality.

“It’s natural for us to kick our ski season off with a celebration,” says Deer Valley Marketing Director Coleen Reardon. “We celebrate the arrival of great snow, the start of a new ski season, the excitement of hosting celebrity guests and television crews to experience our mountains, and the satisfaction of helping out a non-profit organization we feel strongly about: the Waterkeeper Alliance.”

The Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest will include giant slalom races on both Saturday, December 5 and Sunday, December 6 on Deer Valley’s Birdseye ski run.  The competition will be televised by CBS on Sunday, December 20, 2009, at 5 p.m. (EST) following the NFL.  The public is invited to watch the ski racing portion of the event adjacent to the Birdseye ski run.  A Pro-Am race will be held Saturday, December 5 at 1 p.m., with the final race taking place on Sunday, December 6 at noon.

Some of the best-known legends of U. S. skiing will compete in this year’s event, including Steve Mahre, Phil Mahre, Tommy Moe and Deer Valley’s own Ambassador of Skiing Heidi Voelker. Celebrities scheduled to attend at this time include: Cheryl Tiegs, Larry David, Bobby  Kennedy, Jr., Max Kennedy, Chris Kennedy, Cheryl Hines, Gloria Rueben, Rob Morrow, Neil Patrick Harris, Dylan Bruno and David Conrad.

Site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games slalom, aerial and mogul events, other upcoming events at Deer Valley Resort this winter include the 2010 Visa Freestyle International FIS World Cup, January 14 – 16, 2010. The world’s best freestyle aerial and mogul competitors will show off their moves amidst extracurricular events like fireworks and live entertainment.

The Deer Valley Celebrity SkiFest is presented by JUMA. For more information on the event, please call Deer Valley Communications Manager Erin Grady at 800-424-DEER (3337) or 435-645-6522; or view the Resort website at deervalley.com.

Deer Valley was named the #1 ski resort in North America by readers of SKI Magazine an impressive three years in a row – in 2008, 2009 and again in 2010.