So, my very best days at Deer Valley happen when I can, well, make someone’s day—either by turning them onto a new favorite run on the resort, or a new favorite dessert in one of the restaurant. Once in a blue moon, I get to do something really special—which is to make someone a fan of the resort before they have ever skied a run.

To wit: On a recent bluebird morning, I was booting up by the trunk of my SUV alongside a couple who said they were visiting from Vancouver, BC. “We heard this mountain is awesome—that we could not visit Park City and not take advantage of the best grooming in the country.”

I told them I would never disagree with that statement, and went on to offer some tips–my favorite groomers, plus the can’t-miss quality of the Blueberry Mojito at the Royal Street Café. If I drank it as much as I talked about it, there might be a problem!

“Wow, you know a lot about the mountain,” Mike said, after he and his girlfriend Arlie introduced themselves. “You wouldn’t happen to have an extra ticket voucher for us, would you?”

As it happened, I did. Instead of responding verbally, I simply slipped my hand into the cargo pocket of my plaid ski pants (you know, the ones I’m so proud of) and produced a voucher I had on hand, redeemable at the ticket window for a full-day ticket.

Is there anything better than sharing a passion with someone, and then being able to give a gift like that?

“It’s like winning the lottery!” said my new friends. I must say, that it felt like winning the lottery to hand over that pass.

“But I’m only going to ask one thing: you need to let me take your picture—and you need to email me to let me know what you thought of the resort,” I said, handing them a business card.

“Deal!”

We parted ways at that point. A few days later, this email arrived…All the way from Vancouver. I know, it’s like magic, this interwebs stuff.

“We had the good fortune of meeting you in the Deer Valley parking lot last week before our wonderful day skiing. We also had the good fortune of sharing our first lift with Tom, a former tour guide at Deer Valley to important people like presidents, who was kind enough to give us the presidential tour of the mountain all morning. We had lunch in the lower lodge instead of the Royal Street Cafe so we could get more runs in and take advantage of the amazing grooming and sunshine out on the slopes. The rumors about the grooming were all true! I can also say that the salad bar was best I’ve ever had… delicious! We were also very impressed with the service and staff at the resort. Everyone was very professional and the resort was definitely the classiest either of us have ever been to. Thank you so much for the lift ticket, it was a great start to a great day. We really appreciated it! Can you please send us a link to your blog and please feel free to ask any further questions you may have.

Michael and Arlie from Vancouver, BC, Canada HEH!”

And moments later, an email with this photo attached—way better than the parking lot shot I would have posted here!