The Canyons
The Canyons is a 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City Airport and is Utah's largest ski resort with 3,700 acres of terrain. The mountain receives an annual average snowfall of 355 inches. The base elevation is 6,800 feet, the summit at 9,990 feet, and the vertical drop is 3,190 feet.
The Canyons has eight different peaks, five bowls and has 18 lifts, with an uphill capacity of 32,700 skiers per hour, to carry skiers to its 167 trails. Skiers can hit 10 percent beginner terrain, 44 percent intermediate terrain and 46 percent expert terrain.
Wasatch Powderbird Guides, a heli-ski service in operation since 1973, offers heli-skiing trips from The Canyons. The Canyons is open from Thanksgiving to mid-April.
The Canyons
4000 Canyons Resort Drive
Park City, UT 84098
435-615-3440
thecanyons.com
Park City Mountain Resort
Park City Mountain Resort, the location of the Sundance Film Festival, has a base elevation of 6,900 feet and a summit elevation of 10,000 feet, with a vertical drop of 3,100 feet. Park City averages 360 inches of snowfall per year and has 3,300 acres of skiing.
Skiers can ride on seven different peaks and nine different bowls, with 108 trails served by 15 lifts, with an uphill capacity of 30,800 skiers per hour. The terrain is 17 percent beginner, 50 percent intermediate and 33 percent expert. Park City opens right before Thanksgiving and stays open through mid-April. Park City also offers night skiing on the First Time lift and PayDay lift beginning Christmas Day and lasting through the season as conditions permit.
Park City Mountain Resort
1310 Lowell Ave.
Park City, UT 84060
435-649-8111
parkcitymountain.com
Snowbasin
Snowbasin, located east of Ogden and north of Salt Lake City, was the site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Snowbasin averages 400 inches of snowfall per year and has a base elevation of 6,291 feet and a summit elevation of 9,250 feet, with a vertical drop of 2,959 feet.
Skiers can ride 10 lifts to access the 113 trails, finding terrain of 20 percent beginner, 50 percent intermediate and 30 percent expert. Snowbasin has a lift capacity of 14,650 skiers per hour.
Snowbasin
3925 East Snowbasin Road
Huntsville, UT 84317
801-620-1100
snowbasin.com
Snowbird
Snowbird is the place to go if you want lots of snow, averaging 500 inches of snowfall per year, and has Utah's longest ski season, from mid-November to mid-May, weather permitting. The mountain has a 3,240 foot vertical drop, with a base elevation of 7,900 feet and a summit elevation of 11,000 feet.
Snowbird has 2,500 acres of skiing, with 13 lifts and 85 trails. One of the lifts is an aerial tramway. Snowbird has an uphill capacity of 17,400 skiers per hour, and the terrain is 27 percent beginner, 38 percent intermediate and 35 percent expert.
Alta, a ski area that has a vertical drop of 2,020 feet and 116 trails on 2,200 acres, is just up the road from Snowbird. Alta maintains a more old-school feel, and snowboarders are not allowed at Alta. The resorts are under separate management, but skiers can purchase the AltaSnowbird Pass to ski at both resorts. Skiers can move between the two at a gate that separates Alta's Albion Basin and Snowbird's Mineral Basin, accessed via Snowbird's Baldy Express lift or Alta's Sugarloaf lift or Collins lift.
Snowbird
Hwy 210 Little Cottonwood Canyon
Snowbird, UT 84092
801-933-2222
snowbird.com
