Alta Ski Area
Snowbird
Alta, Utah and Snowbird, Utah
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Forget the snorkel. You'll need a full scuba set-up for the amount of suffocating powder that Alta and Snowbird get. Wedged into Utah's Little Cottonwood Canyon, the dumping grounds for storms with feather-light precipitation, these side-by-side resorts receive more than 500 inches of white stuff a year and have lured the world's top powder skiers to settle down in Utah. If you're lucky, you'll be caught in an interlodge, when the road shuts down and guests are locked up inside. When those doors open (choose between the funky, all-inclusive Alta Peruvian and the industrial-cool Cliff Lodge at Snowbird), you'll be first in line for the face shots of luscious snow. If you're on a snowboard, stick to the Bird -- whose new tunnel between Peruvian Gulch and Mineral Basin is the coolest moving sidewalk you'll ever ride -- as Alta allows only two-plankers on its lifts. Otherwise, buy a $79 Alta-Snowbird day pass for the nearly 4,700 acres of combined terrain and start carving your way through the finest wares of the Wasatch Mountains.
One day every spring, skiers congregate at the top of Alf's High Rustler to lament the last day at Alta with costumes, cocktails and clothing-optional schusses. The rest of the season, it's nearly as much fun -- a hard-to-reach, steep run that spills right into the base area.
Jeering Utah's liquor laws is passé. You'll find drinks aplenty at Snowbird's Tram Club; a temporary membership costs just $4.
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Photo #1: Courtesy of Alta
Photo #2: Courtesy of Snowbird
