When Denver builds a mountain closer than 2 hours from the airport, or Tahoe gets a Costco, they can challenge for the title of Ski City.
Half your crew are diehard powder-hounds. The other half just want a five-star dinner and world-class ballet. (Is that so much to ask?!) For the first — and probably only — time in your life, you can satisfy everybody.
It feels like asking for way too much, but in Salt Lake City you can actually combine a fully realized city vacation with an epic ski holiday.
From touchdown to the ski resorts in 45 minutes
Forty-five minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from downtown sit four legendary resorts, with skiing, boarding, greens, blues, blacks, double-blacks and terrain parks on a combined 7,000 skiable acres.
Transportation options include light rail, bus, shuttles, shared vans, horse-drawn carriage, or taxi. Just grab a cup of joe, pick up your skis from baggage claim and enjoy the quick eastward jaunt.
Ski the Super Pass — 4 resorts in one trip
Little Cottonwood Canyon
Alta — Classic powder skiing with challenging terrain (but some great runs for beginners). Skiers only.
Snowbird — Steep chutes, wide-open bowls and long runs.
Big Cottonwood Canyon
Solitude — 77 named runs, three bowls, and a Nordic Center.
Brighton — The locals’ favorite. Huge powder, three terrain parks, an outstanding ski school and superb grooming.
Maximize the activity of a major metropolis
At night or on your rest day, see a movie at an indie theater, eat fancy in Salt Lake’s up-and-coming gastronomy scene, stroll the Natural History Museum of Utah, watch a Jazz game, tour Temple Square or do a little shopping at City Creek.
If performing arts (you know, watching others perform art) are your thing, the new George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater is a palatial venue where the likes of the Utah Symphony, Capitol Theatre, Ballet West and the Utah Opera take up residence. It also features a lineup of broadway shows, including The Book of Mormon… in Utah (if musicals were a sport, this would be like home-court advantage).
Après-ski
You love the nightlife. You got to boogie. If you think SLC can’t oblige, we’re pleased to invite you to think again. On the mountain or off, find food, drinks, music, dancing, shopping. A few ideas to get you started planning the pre-/post-skiing part of your SLC ski vacation:
Salt Lake’s international fare, A to Z
To begin planning your Salt Lake ski vacation, visit SkiCity.com. Or, you know, just keep procrastinating.
