Skiing In Utah

Photo: Travel Utah

The Greatest Snow on Earth

Skiing in Utah means powder. And the “greatest snow on Earth” according to Utahns. The kind that hovers, feathers, and makes you feel like you’re floating.

Locals brag about it. Visitors plan vacations around it. And year after year, our central Wasatch resorts deliver storm cycles that pile up 500 inches of famously light snow.

Why Utah’s Snow Is So Good

It is geography and a little luck. Pacific storms shed moisture over the Sierra and Cascades. Then they reload and cool as they cross the Great Basin.

When those systems slam into the Wasatch, the high terrain squeezes out more snow. Cold, dry and powdery snow.

The wild card in all this? The Great Salt Lake between the Nevada and the Utah mountain ranges. This gives the extra kick we call the “lake affect.”

This often spectacular “lake effect” multiplies the amount of snow which hits the Wasatch often dumping 2-3 feet at a time. That “multiplier effect” is real.

Photo: Travel Utah

Why I Live Where I Live

The mountains are right here where I live. My home office window looks right out on Mt. Olympus rising up on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley.

It’s not like in some cities where you can see mountains way off in the distance. They’re right here. Part of the city. Rising straight up from the east side of the Salt Lake valley floor.

Only Minutes Away

As spectacular as the scenery is, this unique geography makes Utah the most accessible winter vacation playground in the world! It's unbelievably easy to get to. In fact, locals tend to take this closeness for granted.

Believe it or not, half the people in the US are within a 2½ hour flight from the Salt Lake International Airport. When that flight lands, you’re less than an hour drive from 11 world-class ski resorts.

Drive a little or come from another direction and you’ll find four more.

Skiing in Utah Means Powder

Skiing in Utah means powder skiing. Brooke Williams said in his book Utah Ski Country, “To ski powder is to be engulfed by nature.” The Little Cottonwood Canyon resorts … Alta and Snowbird … consistently finish right at the top in the "Best Powder" category.

When you see photos about powder skiing in Utah, you might wonder whether they’ve been enhanced. Most likely not. There’s no need to retouch or alter them. It really does look like that.

Nevertheless, as more and more people come to Utah in search of those perfect powder conditions, the harder it becomes to find them. They still exist but more and more it’s becoming a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

But that’s why you want to keep coming back. Once you experience it, you can’t get enough.

The Utah ski resorts are grouped in several geographic areas. As you can see below and in our links to more info about each resort, there’s a skiing experience for every budget and type of skier.

Photo: Travel Utah

Utah’s Ski Regions & Resorts

Cottonwood Canyons (Salt Lake City)

• Little Cottonwood Canyon: Alta and Snowbird share a skyline and the neighborhood. Alta is ski-only and old-school soulful. Snowbird is steep-and-deep with tram laps and big vertical. Both routinely tally around 500" in a typical winter.
• Big Cottonwood Canyon: Brighton (Utah’s night-skiing king and a family favorite) and Solitude (Honeycomb Canyon, quieter vibe) sit side by side. Expect a balanced trail mix, mellow-to-rowdy options, and that same Wasatch powder pedigree.

Park City Area

• Park City Mountain is the largest lift-served ski area in the U.S. It is formed by the 2015 interconnect of Park City Mountain Resort and The Canyons (now Canyons Village at Park City).
• Deer Valley … next door … is ski-only, caps daily tickets, and leans five-star with immaculate grooming.
• Woodward Park City rounds it out with a small lift-served hill plus an indoor action-sports hub - great for progression and park-curious families.

Ogden & North

• Snowbasin has an Olympic pedigree and provides wide-open groomers.
• Powder Mountain has an enormous footprint and deliberately low skier-density. These two anchor the Ogden Valley.
• Nordic Valley is the local’s hill that once wore the “Wolf Mountain” name.
• Beaver Mountain is farther north up Logan Canyon. It is a beloved family-run classic.
• Cherry Peak is a small modern upstart also near Logan.

Provo/Heber

• Sundance ... Robert Redford's former residence ... sits under the dramatic hulk of Mount Timpanogos. It is quieter, artsy, and downright photogenic with night skiing and a growing lift network.

Southern Utah (High Plateau)

• Brian Head (Utah’s highest-elevation base) is on top of the mountain just north of Cedar City. It provides southern Utah views and a laid-back pace. Great for families and progression days.
• Eagle Point is located in the Tushars. It is a quiet, higher-elevation escape with steeper surprises and on-mountain lodging.
• These two serve up bluebird powder days, red-rock vistas, and a laid-back scene. Perfect for mixing skiing with a wider Southwest road trip.

Current Utah Ski Resorts (15)

• Alta
• Beaver Mountain
• Brian Head
• Brighton
• Cherry Peak
• Deer Valley
• Eagle Point
• Nordic Valley
• Park City Mountain
• Powder Mountain
• Snowbasin
• Snowbird
• Solitude
• Sundance
• Woodward Park City.

Getting Here

Salt Lake International Airport is served by 14 major airlines. More than 700 flights daily. Whether you fly in from the east coast, the west coast or in-between, you’ll be skiing in Utah powder that same day!

And there’s a ski resort for every budget and type of skier. As convenient as it is to get here, it’s equally as convenient to leave. This convenience can give you two more days of vacation compared to many other places you’ll consider.

The 2002 Winter Olympic Games provided unforgettable memories for everyone who saw them or participated in them. They also left behind fantastic facilities and an unparalleled winter playground for people like you to enjoy.

Want nightlife to go with your ski trip? Utah has outgrown its old-school (and often unwarranted) reputation. Visitors from all over the world now enjoy a wide variety of choices to satisfy whatever they are looking for in terms of dining, beverage and atmosphere.

What is it about skiing in Utah which has prompted professionals from LA to New York to move here and take a low-paying job so they can ski every day?

What causes millionaire business people to travel the world to earn their fortune but return to their home in Park City or Deer Valley so they can live, play, and enjoy skiing in Utah powder?

Photo - Travel Utah

Where to Base

Stay slopeside in the Cottonwood Canyons if your priority is storm chasing and first chair. Choose Park City for a walkable old-town scene and a huge trail map.

Post up in the Ogden Valley if you want room to roam at Snowbasin and Powder Mountain (and a calmer pace).

Southern Utah shines for crowd-free weekends and sun-after-storm days. A base at Brian Head or Cedar City may be the way to go.

Heading north to the Logan resorts involves a 2-hour drive from Salt Lake City or a stay near Logan.

Passes & Tickets

Day tickets vary widely and are dynamic. Buy ahead online to save. Multi-mountain passes (Epic, Ikon, Indy, etc.) cover many Utah resorts.

Powder Mountain limits day tickets to keep the skier density low which many powder hounds love. Check the resort’s site for your dates and fine print.

Photo: Travel Utah

When to Come

Storm doors usually swing open in late November and keep delivering into April. January - March is prime time for cold storms and that trademark Wasatch fluff.

If you want to read an interesting anecdotal post about February snow in Utah (we seem to get our biggest storms in February), go here.

Early and late season can be sneaky good on the right pattern. Watch the weather reports and be flexible.

Getting Around

Roads up the Cottonwoods are steep and will be restricted during storms (4WD/AWD or chains). Consider riding up with a friend, a shuttle, or … when in season … the UTA Ski Bus to ease canyon traffic and skip the parking shuffle.

You won’t find me driving up either Cottonwood Canyon in winter especially on weekends. The traffic is nuts.

Snow Science, Short & Sweet

Want the 30-second version of why our powder skis so well? Cold temps plus dry air equal lower snow-to-water ratios. This means lighter flakes with more loft.

The varied terrain funnels that snow into bowls and gullies. And the Great Salt Lake sometimes sparks additional convection causing intense snowfall (the lake effect) across the central Wasatch.

This combo is why “right storm, right canyon” remains a Utah mantra.

Final Thoughts

Utah is the rare place where you can chase an overnight 2-foot powder dump, ski bell to bell, and still make it home for dinner.

The mountains are close. The storm cycles are frequent. Terrain variety lets first-timers, cruisers, and powder addicts all have their day.

If you’re plotting one big winter trip, build it around the Wasatch. If you’re piecing together long weekends, Utah makes it easy to keep coming back.

Bryce Canyon National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Wasatch Mountains

Lake Powell

Zion National Park

Arches National Park

Great Salt Lake

Monument Valley