Snowbird, Utah

This Wasatch snow magnet is the same as it ever was—only better.

- Gordy Megroz

ASK JUST ABOUT ANYBODY WHO’S BEEN TO SNOWBIRD AND THEY’LL TELL you that three things stand out: the snow, the terrain, and the tram. The first piles up to about 500 inches annually, ranking the ’Bird among the top five ski resorts in the U.S. for average snowfall. But it’s really the consistency of the stuff that causes patrons to breathlessly chatter about the best snow they’ve ever skied. You’ll hear them call it the “lightest” and the “fluffiest” and it’s true. Skiing deep powder in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon is like skiing through kittens (pardon the unsavory mental image).

To get to that snow, most people flock to the tram, two boxes that together carry 200 people from the bottom of the mountain to the very top of Snowbird in eight minutes. It’s so beloved because it accesses nearly every trail on the mountain and allows skiers to spin laps so fast they can easily bust out 10 to 12 exhausting, 2,900-vertical-foot runs a day on some of the more challenging inbounds slopes in North America. That includes the 40-degree steeps on Great Scott, the bumps and rock features on Silver Fox, and the steep glades in Tiger Tail. Together, those three things— the tram, the terrain, and the snow—distract you from the fact that not much has changed at Snowbird since the mid-’80s. Until now.