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Take the Funicular to St. Regis Deer Crest Resort

Where: 2300 Deer Valley Drive East [map], Park City, UT, United States

We don’t usually think much about ski season in July, except maybe when it’s so hot and sticky that we try the ol’ “think cold” mind trick game to cool down. But we hear the new St. Regis Deer Crest Resort is inching closer to a fall opening, which is exciting enough to convince us to look ahead to ski bunny time.

Just last week, the fancypants Deer Valley resort installed a 500-foot-high funicular — reportedly the first and only at a North American ski resort — to scale the vertical space between the resort’s Snow Park Building at the mountain’s base and the primary hotel building. Flown in from Switzerland, the funicular cabins were installed using a 500-ton crane. And get this: The ride takes just 90 seconds, proffering quick-as-a-flash panoramas of the valley.

St. Regis Deer Crest assures us that it’s “bound to be the most well-appointed mode of transportation at any mountain resort.” We’re sure it will be, considering the resort is Utah’s first five-star branded luxury resort. Lucky for all us non five-star guests, the funicular will be free for guests as well as non-guests. Of course, they’d just love it if you stuck around and explored Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new J&G Grill, or maybe the 14,000-square-foot Remède Spa, or the 3,000-bottle wine bar.