Skiing Alta Keeps You Young (ish...)

In the winter of 1938-39 – when skiers had to fend off woolly mammoth for their daily dose of fresh tracks and snowboarders were burned as witches (allegedly) – the Alta Ski Area first opened its doors.

Eighty years on there are a few more buildings, plus roads and stuff, but otherwise it’s business as usual. The resort is even home to the oldest family-run lift company in the US.

Skiers-only Alta boasts seriously deep snow, making it the Holy Grail of resorts for slope fiends. Spend even a few days at Alta and you’re guaranteed to encounter people who’ve been coming back year after year. Or, as Destination Utah customer Damien Frost put it…

“I have skied Alta Resort a heap of times and I hope to be skiing there well into my nineties!”

“I love this resort because it is not upmarket, the facilities are pretty basic and I always have a damn good time skiing there.”

Damien, meet George Jedenoff. He IS skiing Alta Resort and he is 100 years old. The grandfather has skied Alta and Snowbird since 1960 without missing a year.

“Skiing is like having a fancy dessert,” according to George. “It adds just so much to your life. It’s worth all the effort of exercise.”

And as for Alta’s world-famous POW.

“Oh powder!” George says. “Oh, don’t get me started on powder.”

“I just love it when I come out here [and] I can find a little powder by the tree. I’ll go hit it ‘cause it’s just great. Hard-packed’s OK, but powder is just… powder.”

A Piece of Alta For Everyone

Whatever the skiing ability of your Utah posse, Alta Ski Resort has runs to suit. Your kids will feel safe and secure with you on the green slopes, or, if you’re travelling with fellow hardcore skiers, you’ll find the 45-degree chutes off the ridges very much to your liking.

Need more room to roam? No sweat. Alta Ski Resort has teamed up with neighboring Snowbird Resort to give skiers access to double the terrain. Alta-Snowbird was even voted Skiing magazine’s #1 resort in the US for five consecutive years. Good times ahoy.

If you’re looking for a colourful après ski scene, Alta may not be your first port of call. However, there’s plenty of fun to be had both on and off the slopes. And since Utah’s ski resorts are so accessible, it’s easy to enjoy the nightlife elsewhere should the mood take you.