The greatest snow on earth
Skiing in Utah means “The World’s Greatest Snow” according to Utahns. And we are not the only ones who say it. SKI Magazine says so too. Utah resorts held the top four spots and six of the top 10 spots in last year’s “Best Snow” rankings.
An average of 500 inches each year. 42 feet 14 yards That’s the amount of snow that falls in Utah’s Wasatch Mountains in an average year during the prime skiing months of November through May.
But what causes such fantastic skiing and snowboarding conditions to exist? It’s the simple good luck of being located where it is. The result of a geographic oddity. Utah sits at the foot of the western edge of the Rocky Mountains, but it also sits just to the east of the vast Nevada desert. In fact, directly west of Salt Lake City is pretty much where that desert begins.
This location results in the fluffy powder that skiers crave. Most of Utah’s winter storms originate from the northern Pacific Ocean. As they move over the Cascades and Sierra Nevada, they lose much of this moisture. As these storms hit the high mountains of Utah, even more moisture is drawn out. In cold and relatively dry conditions, the resulting snow floats to the ground as fluffy down or “dust.”
When enough of this dust accumulates, the general effect on a skier is a sensation of floating down a hill. And skiing in Utah means powder. The wild card in all of this is the Great Salt Lake. Located just west of Salt Lake City, it can create a multiplier effect in the amount of snow dumped on the Wasatch Front and beyond. Transient storms absorb and feed on moisture from the lake. This often spectacular “lake effect” multiplies the amount of snow the Wasatch hits, often spewing 2-3 feet at a time.
Get there
Believe it or not, half of the people in the US are within a 2½ hour flight from Salt Lake International Airport. And when that flight touches down, you’ll be less than an hour’s drive from 11 world-class ski resorts. At most less than 4 hours of skiing in Utah.
- 13th overall in Utah
- 7 within 30-45 minutes
- 4 of them actually on the Salt Lake City public bus route
And world class resorts. Deer Valley has just been named the #1 Resort in North America! Park City Mountain Resort was ranked fifth in the same Ski Magazine survey.
The biggest snow on Earth!
Utah means dust. Skiing in Utah means skiing powder. Brooke Williams said in her book Utah Ski Country: “Powder skiing is immersing yourself in nature.”
In last year’s Ski Magazine survey, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Alta and Snowbird resorts finished right at the top of the “Best Powder” category. Alta was #1. Snowbird #2.
When you see photos of powder skiing in Utah, you may wonder if they’ve been improved. Probably not. There is no need to touch up or alter them. It really does look like that.
Utah ski resorts are grouped into three geographic areas. The Northern Wasatch. The South Wasatch. Southern Utah. As you can see below and in our links to learn more about each resort, there’s a ski experience for every budget and type of skier.
Utah Ski Resorts
- High – Little Cottonwood Canyon
- Beaver Mountain – Logan Area
- Brian Head – Cedar City area
- Brighton – Big Cottonwood Canyon
- The Canyons – Near Park City
- Deer Valley-Park City
- Park City Mountain Resort – Park City
- Dust Mountain-Eden
- Snow Basin – Huntsville
- Snowbird – Little Cottonwood Canyon
- Soledad – Big Cottonwood Canyon
- Sundance-Sundance
- Wolf Mountain – Eden