We ripped some glory turns down the broad green boulevard of McHenry, soaring down past the base of Wasatch and Crown Point, and pitching into the rock-faced walls of the canyon. Suddenly, a rush of cool air enveloped us along the shady lane that rushed downward towards the Jordanelle. “Did yo u feel that temperature drop in this canyon?” asked my skiing partner for the morning, Steve Graff, Deer Valley Resort’s vice president of mountain operations. We stopped to enjoy the coolness on another spring day, when temperatures were pushing into the 60s. Despite the warmth, McHenry was holding up well, without even the stickiness that often comes with late-March days. Graff knows McHenry Canyon well. Long before the canyon was on the drawing board of Deer Valley East Village designer Chris Cushing, the naturally sheltered route was a main artery for miners. And when Graff joined the Deer Valley team as a young patroller in 1993, oftentimes in the spring, he would draw the job of driving up to check water retention ponds in the spring. In the waning days of the season on the first full day of spring, Graff and I did a springtime tour of the East Village expansion. On a morning that would later break into the low 60s, we enjoyed a ski day filled with friendship, camaraderie and arcable runs that lasted into the early afternoon. “Howdy Steve. Thanks for all the great work to make this possible,” was the recurrent phrase we heard when we would get off lifts. Graff has a distinctive presence on the mountain. He’s worked his way up the ranks over more than three decades, from patrol to mountain ops to now overseeing one of the largest mountain resorts in the country. Skiers know him, respect him, and appreciate what his team does to deliver great skiing. Continuing down McHenry, Graff called me over to a wooded area on the left to an old shack that was once a power station. “We cleaned up a ski in and out,” he said, “so a ski school class can come ski back to the cabin — just give the kids a break.” Looking back over the past five months, it would be easy to focus on the frustration from what Mother Nature served up. But for Graff, it was more about the learnings, a consistent theme as we toured East Village. He quickly acknowledged that it was the most challenging season Deer Valley has seen, on top of its big expansion. “”OK, we’re going to throw you the worst, and let’s see what you can do with it,” he laughed. “But if we can make it happen in these conditions, you know? …  Well, we pulled it off, and we learned a lot.” One of those learnings was what he and his team discovered about themselves. “There’s probably a greater sense now of what we can do together — pride in team,” he said. “Sure, there’s always that wish that it could be better. But they’re making skiing possible.”  Climbing onto the East Village Gondola, we rallied up with the incomparable Wayne Wong for photos. In typical Wong Way fashion, he was hanging out with eight Tipsy’s, a group of former western New York state ski racers all decked out in matching one-piece suits with western frill zipped open to reveal their Sticky Wicket T-shirts. What struck me most about my morning ski with Steve was the positivity. Here we were, nearing the sunset of a season most would want to forget, and every single person we encountered met us with gratitude. They had seen the work that had gone into the resort this winter. They had seen the extraordinary means that crews had exerted during long March nights to move snow. And there was this truly genuine appreciation for the mountain team’s efforts to provide the best skiing possible. Today, the last bowl of turkey chili had been served for the season. The last cup of Offset had been raised. The beach at Silver Lake was quiet. But we were left with the memories of exploration of a brand new resort at East Village. We’ve all found our new ways around the mountain. And for me, I still have that great memory of the day I found Stein’s Way to Lady of the Lake and a new way to rip down a mountain I love. The post Ridgelines: A season of learning appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less