Silver Lake Lodge, Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT USA

The strike at Park City Mountain left a very sour taste in our mouths.  To see guests of the mountain show up without Vail Resorts notifying them of the impact this would have on their vacation. To watch people standing in hour long lift lines as their apps told them it would be minutes. For the issue to be over such a minor pay increase to such a critical component of ski safety. For everything to be resolved only after it was plastered on The Today Show, the most watch TV show in America.

Shame on you Park City Mountain and Vail Resorts! We shall take our business elsewhere…

… and so two weeks before our trip, we cancelled everything and moved tickets, lessons, and rentals to Deer Valley. The mountains are right next to each other, so the switch would have no impact on our trip… rather we would get to test out Deer Valley, and decide which mountain we’d like to ski for next year. Thank you Vail Resorts for giving us this opportunity!

Fantastic trails, wonderful snow, and quite the new epic expansion, Deer Valley delivered on a solid skiing experience. To top it off, their kids lesson program is far superior to Park City Mountain’s. I’d go into detail about why, however that’s not what this post is about… this is all about the self-titled Deer Valley Club Sandwich.

Known for its upper-echelon dining program, Deer Valley Mountain boasts a myriad of experiences, from elk chili and gourmet salads to champagne-clad après-ski and premium non-alcohol beer offerings, and the ski in/out renowned Stein Eriksen buffet (they have since stopped serving their epic seafood buffet at the base of Snow Park), you can find it all at Deer Valley, as long as you’re willing to pay for it.

This made the fact they had a club sandwich on their menu – and not just any, but the tried and true Deer Valley Club Sandwich – very exciting and enticing. I wanted skiing luxury nestled between two idyllic pieces of bread, and a moment of pure enjoyment and warmth as we rested inside with 10 degree weather outside.

Unfortunately, that’s not what I received.

A ham-like turkey was literally glued to the wheatberry bread by the Swiss cheese. What on earth cut of turkey was that?! Flavorless, salty, and rubbery, I was taken aback by the low quality offering. The wheatberry bread was fantastic, as was the tarragon aioli lightly shmeared on its underside, but the whole sandwich turned to muteness mush during each bite down when all of the ingredients vibing together.

The sad sandwich began to fall apart after only a few bites, and I was left with a mess on my plate, which was equally as depressing as the initial plating itself. The greasy, bland, dejected Deer Valley Club Sandwich was the only disappointing experience during the three day trip to Park City… we had an absolute blast skiing, and meals to remember, but this was one I’d rather forget.