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Ski Snowbird Accommodation
Book Snowbird ski accommodation direct with owners chalet apartment or hotel.
Snowbird canyon setting is rugged and grand the resort buildings are mainly for convenient skiing. If function is more important than form, Snowbird Resort, tucked right under some of Utah's most exciting slopes, are ideal. The canyon up to Hidden Peak at 3355m. The famed cable-car ('Aerial Tram', with a capacity of 125 persons) takes eight minutes to reach Hidden Peak from Snowbird Centre. The toughest skiing is around the line of the Tram and in Peruvian Gulch, to the east. To the west of the Tram, in Gad Valley, there are five of the seven double chairs and skiing from very tough to nice and easy. With Little Cottonwood Canyon apparently acting as the local snowfall magnet, and with north-facing slopes and all the skiing above 2400m, snow reliability is very good.
Snowbird and Alta typically average about twice the snowfall of the Park City area or of most Colorado resorts. Snowbird was created for and still appeals mainly to advanced skiers. For such a relatively compact area there is a lot of tough skiing. The trail map is liberally sprinkled with double black diamonds, and some of the gulley's off the Cirque ridge are at least that - Silver Fox and Great Scott are very narrow, very steep and frequently neck-deep in powder. Great Scott is considered to be one of the US's steepest trails. At the edge of the ski area High Baldy is an expert trail that leads to an off-piste route to Alta. Lower down the mountain lurk the bump runs, including Mach Schnell -a great run straight down the fall line through trees.
There is some wonderful off-piste skiing in the bowl beneath the Little Cloud chair, and Carbonate opens up some attractive off-piste tree skiing. Chip's Run provides the only comfortable run down from the top of Hidden Peak for intermediate skiers - at 5km it's Snowbird's longest run and is now a designated Family Skiing area. It's a good place from which to enjoy the views, winding down on the east side of the Cirque ridge. Gad Valley is the best area for intermediates to ski - there are some testing runs through the trees off the Gad 2 lift. Beginners have the Chickadee lift right down in the resort - ideal for getting started - and then there's a small network of suitable trails on the lower slopes of Gad Valley. Big Emma is a lovely smooth trail, broad enough to accommodate the widest of turns. There are no cross-country trails at Snowbird.
