United States
1 / 8Alta ski resort is in Utah, United States, in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains. It has 71 km of pistes and 8 lifts.
Trail information
Alta lies at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon half an hour from Salt Lake City, on the site of a mining camp abandoned by the 1930s; its first lift started in 1939. It is one of three resorts in the United States that still bar snowboarders, and one of the snowiest anywhere: around thirteen metres of dry snow falls in a winter, delivered by storms off the Great Salt Lake. The canyon is narrow and avalanche-prone, the road is regularly closed for control work, and guests are then kept inside the lodges. The pass is shared with neighbouring Snowbird, a few minutes down the canyon.
Maps
Lifts
- 5Chairlifts
- 1Rope tows
- 2Magic carpets
Video
Contacts and opening hours
Average monthly snowfall at Alta
Snowfall per month - cm. Below each bar - how many days it snowed that month. Observation data for the last 3 completed seasons.
Accommodation
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Other accommodation near the resort
What visitors say about the resort
The praise is for the snow and the character: around fourteen metres of dry snow a season, steep chutes and stashes beyond the traverses, and snowboarding is banned - which regulars count as a virtue, because the tracks last longer. The area is independent and old-fashioned, the tickets are moderate by Utah standards, and Salt Lake City is under an hour away.
The criticism is that the mountain is lopsided: there are few lifts, and the best ground takes long traverses to reach. Beginners and intermediates have modest choice, and some guests feel there could be more groomed terrain, so that an expert can ski alongside a less confident companion. Luxury, shopping and après-ski are absent by design.
An editorial summary of public reviews on specialist sites. This is not a visitor review: we retell what is written about the resort most often, both praise and criticism.
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