We figure that you’ve spent a weekend or two in Park City—or heard so much chatter about it (and Sundance) that you’ve already lost interest. You’re probably also familiar with Snowbird and Alta, other great slopes in the Wasatch mountain range, up the canyon from Salt Lake City. But did you know that up another, even more convenient canyon is a mostly local ski resort that has more family-friendly terrain, freshy groomed runs, and almost no lift lines in a cozier setting? Over the past few years, a small-scale village of condos has taken shape at the foot of the slopes—complete with a central plaza, where kids pelt each one another with snow­balls while ice skaters bumble and twirl—and the savviest out-of-towners are starting to opt in.

Go for a run
Advanced skiers find plenty of steep chutes and powder-filled glades here, but the bread and butter of this mountain are the intermediate cruiser runs. It’s a family thing: Multigenerational packs break apart to weave through the trees, then reconvene on open bowls. Since the powder doesn’t get skied off, you don’t have to spend your vacation trying to hunt down fresh snow. Plus, the major lifts from the base were upgraded this summer, making what had been a sluggish ride downright zoomy. Serious snowboarders, while welcome at Solitude, will find their Valhalla just up the road at Brighton, with a Disneyland of a terrain park and lifts that operate well into the night. Nearby, at the high-alpine Silver Lake, Solitude’s Nordic Center keeps 12 miles of wooded trails immaculately groomed for cross-country skiers and snowshoers.

Ski to your front door
Choose your après-ski pad from a collection of mountain-chic condos that range from couple-size studios to sprawling, bring-the-whole-gang, three-bedroom, two-baths. Pick a place in Creekside for the easiest ski-in, ski-out access to the lifts, or one in Eagle Springs East to be closest to the steamy outdoor pool and hot tubs, plus the foosball, pool table, video games, and screening room with dive-in beanbags. Mid-November to mid-December is the time to swoop down on deals and the resort’s cocky money-back guarantee, if it turns out there’s no snow.


A skier in Wasatch’s backcountry, with the Salt Lake Valley in the background.

Chew on these options
Place your grocery order on albertsons.com before you arrive, and you’ll find your condo fridge

and cupboards stocked with food when you walk through the door. That way, you can dine in private in front of your fireplace. On winter evenings, 20 or so hungry guests gather to click on cross-country skis, pull on fuzzy hats, and glide down a gas lantern–lit path into the woods. After less than a mile, they come to the warm, glowing Yurt restaurant, where chef Matt Barrigar is prepping a five-course dinner that he cooks tableside—in, you guessed it, an actual yurt. On warm afternoons, the place to be is on the patio at Creekside, with your hands wrapped around a well-earned bowl of chowder while you watch your cohorts fly down the runs. At locals’ favorite Silver Fork Lodge, sassy wait­resses heft overloaded plates of waffles, pork schnitzel, and other comfort-food classics.

Fresh alternative
For serious skiers, it doesn’t get more hard-core than Revelstoke Mountain in British Columbia. When the new Anticipation Gon­dola opens in November, it will have the longest lift-served vertical in North Amer­ica: 5,620 feet of continuous vertical descent. The brand-new pedestrian-only village will offer a restaurant, shops, and 59 condo/hotel units—plus a choice of helicopter, snowcat, and lift skiing. The village’s centerpiece will be the Nelsen Lodge, which combines futuristic glass with wood beams and will have a giant helipad on the prop­erty. The only trouble is getting there: It’s a long (albeit stunning) four-and-a-half-hour drive or a short chartered flight from Calgary. This winter, for the first time, a turbo prop plane service will run from Calgary four days a week.

Resources
Brighton: 801-532-4731 or 800-873-5512, brightonresort.com
Condo rentals: 801-536-5707 or 800-748-4754, skisolitude.com
Silver Fork Lodge: 888-649-9551, silverforklodge.com
Solitude’s Nordic Center: 801-536-5774, skisolitude.com/winter/nordic_center.php
Solitude Mountain Resort: 801-534-1400, skisolitude.com
The Yurt at Solitude: 801-536-5709, skisolitude.com/yurt.cfm
Revelstoke Mountain: 250-837-9400 or 866-373-4754, revelstokemountainresort.com

---

Main photo: Mount Timpanogos peeks through the clouds.