Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (SLC) is the Utah state capital and is powderhound central. The Salt Lake City airport is the gateway to most
Utah ski resorts, and seven of these resorts are less than an hour drive from downtown SLC. Many skiers choose to stay in SLC and use it as a base from which to sample multiple ski areas and “the Greatest Snow on Earth”. A ski holiday based in Salt Lake City also affords the benefits of visiting an urban area - dining, nightlife, shopping and non-alpine activities. Another advantage is that the
Salt Lake City hotels provides better value for money than on-mountain or
Park City hotels.
Where is Salt Lake City?
Salt Lake City is located in northern Utah in a large valley between the Oquirrh and Wasatch Mountain ranges, and only 24km (15 miles) east of the Great Salt Lake. Many major airlines fly from other US cities into Salt Lake City, and Delta flies from Canada.
Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics was hosted by Salt Lake City. The city itself hosted various events, and
Park City,
Deer Valley and
Snowbasin hosted the skiing events. The Olympics put the city on the map, and the profile of skiing in Utah has continued to increase since 2002. Watch out Colorado!
Awesome Snow and Great Skiing
The “Salt Lake resorts” are generally considered to be those in Little Cottonwood Canyon and Big Cottonwood Canyon –
Snowbird,
Alta,
Brighton, and
Solitude Ski Resort. The motto of the “Greatest Snow on Earth” definitely has plenty of truth to it, and even though the slogan is used across Utah, it really refers to the awesome snow at these four SLC resorts. The average annual snowfall is 500 inches (12.7 metres), and the quality of it is superbly dry.
The proximity of the Great Salt Lake to the Cottonwood Canyons is the secret behind the fabulous snow. Due to the lake’s salinity the water doesn’t freeze, and storms pick up moisture from the lake and dump it on the mountain ranges in the form of dry powder.
Lift tickets can be purchased at each of the ski resorts, or the
Salt Lake Super Pass is valid at all four resorts, and enables the flexibility to mix and match your skiing experience whilst still enjoying multi-day discounts. The pass also covers the cost of the UTA public bus. Various ski shops in Salt Lake City sell discounted lift tickets for various Utah ski resorts including
SkiTruck.com, Casco,
Ski N See and
Canyon Sports.
Characteristics of the City
The population of the Salt Lake City metro area is 170,000, but the Salt Lake area has 1.2 million residents, almost half of the Utah population. A large percentage of the population have a Mormon faith, and SLC is the worldwide headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
SLC is big enough to have some cosmopolitan culture, but is small enough to retain the warmth and hospitality that you would expect from a western US town.
Accommodation
A great range of
Salt Lake City hotels are available for all budgets. Downtown accommodations include quality hotels and bed and breakfasts. In the suburbs of SLC that are located close to the canyons such as Midvale and Cottonwood Heights, there are various hotels and motels that are very inexpensive.
Salt Lake City Travel A rental car provides the ultimate in flexibility to get around SLC and to the ski resorts. For those on a tight budget or those who don’t want to drive on the “wrong side” of the road, there is cheap public transport around SLC and to and from the Salt Lake ski resorts (
Snowbird,
Alta,
Solitude,
Brighton).
Other Activities
There are various non-skiing activities to do in and around SLC. One example is a visit to the Historic Temple Square which has various Mormon buildings including the famous and majestic Salt Lake Temple. There are also over twenty art galleries in the downtown area and lots of shopping opportunities.
Why Go on a Ski Holiday to SLC?
Salt Lake City provides the flexibility to sample the terrain at multiple resorts. Utah provides some of the best skiing in the world where powderhounds can find the perfect combination of powder – both quantity and quality. Awesome!