One of two cable cars composing the Aerial Tram at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort approaches the top station on top of Hidden Peak at an altitude of 11,000 feet One of two cable cars composing the Aerial Tram at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort approaches the top station on top of Hidden Peak at an altitude of 11,000 feet Snowbird is an unincorporated improve in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains near Salt Lake County, Utah, U.S.
It is most famous for Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, an alpine skiing and snowboarding area, which opened in December 1971.
Known as the Emma Mine (the origin of the name of the Big Emma ski run in Snowbird's Gad Valley), the soldier's find eventually produced more than $3.8 million in silver.
Primarily known for its winter powder skiing and snowboarding, amid other seasons Snowbird also hosts hikers, mountain bikers, fishermen, and other mountain vacationers.
The originator of the Snowbird resort concept was Ted Johnson, who had managed the Alta Lodge in the town of Alta at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon for about a decade.
Snowbird resort is a year-round ski and summer resort positioned in the heart of the Wasatch National Forest on the easterly border of the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy.
It is 29 miles (47 km) from Salt Lake City International Airport, 24 miles (39 km) from downtown Salt Lake City and 4 miles (6 km) east of the suburb of Sandy.
Snowbird shares Little Cottonwood Canyon with Alta Ski Area to the east, just up the canyon over a ridge that separates the two.
Beginning winter 2002, the two resorts offer a joint day pass and a joint season ticket allowing full access all of the terrain on both mountain peaks: 26 ski lifts and tows and a skiable region of 4,700 acres (19 km2).
The collaboration coincided with the opening of a new lift in Mineral Basin, a large bowl owned by Snowbird on the back of Snowbird's Hidden Peak and Alta's Sugarloaf mountain peaks that had been skiable inside the resort since 1999.
Both areas receive more than 500 inches (1,270 cm) of snow flurry per year, due to lake-effect enhancement from the Great Salt Lake, making them the second snowiest ski areas in the United States (after the ones in the Cascades).
Another benefit of being East of the great salt lake is that salt from the lake provides the condensation nuclei that creates ice pellet snow that doesn't pack like normal snowflakes.
On very windy days the salt is lifted thousands of feet and has been known to coat the windshield of aircraft s flying into Salt Lake City.
Snowbird usually closes on Memorial Day in late May while the occasional ski year can last as long as the Fourth of July on the upper part of the mountain (accessed by the aerial tram), perennially offering the longest ski season in Utah.
Snowbird has a skiable region of 2,500 acres (10.1 km2) with a vertical drop of 3,240 feet (988 m) from the summit of Hidden Peak, which has an altitude of above 11,000 feet (3,353 m).
Snowbird is perennially jubilated by trade magazines for its exceptional snowfall, vast and wide-ranging terrain and easy accessibility from the Salt Lake City International Airport.
Snowbird set a resort record of 776 inches (1,971 cm) of cumulative snow (mid-mountain measurement) in May 2011.
Snowbird presently has 10 chairlifts (6 high-speed quads, 4 doubles), a surface lift, an aerial tram, and a 600-foot (180 m) tunnel enclosing a one-way conveyor lift connecting Peruvian Gulch to Mineral Basin allowing easier access for beginners and intermediates to new terrain.
The Little Cottonwood Canyon resort has a total of four lodges: the Iron Blosam, the Inn, the Lodge at Snowbird, and the Cliff Lodge.
Snowbird Tunnel with Magic Carpet Ski Lift Video Skiing Magazine ranked the Alta-Snowbird ski region second in North America overall and first in the United States for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons.
According to SKI Magazine (October 2002) Snowbird ranked 20th in North America with Gold Medals in snow, access, challenge, terrain, scenery, weather, and lifts.
Snowbird rates as the second best resort in North America, runner-up to Whistler Blackcomb resort in Canada, as stated to Skiing Magazine.
More recently, ZRankings ranked Snowbird as the fourth best ski resort in North America.
Snowbird's snow flurry and weather is also considered to amongst the best in the world for skiing; ZRankings rated Snowbird's snow as the second best in North America (behind its next-door neighbor, Alta). Two of Snowbird's mountain school instructors, Rob Sogard and Nancy Thoreson, made SKI Magazine's Top 100 list.
The Salt Lake Valley from Snowbird Skiing in Snowbird "Best Ski Resorts: Snowbird Terrain, Snow Quality and Mountain Ranks".
Asmus, Brad (1993) Powder Hound's Guide to Skiing Snowbird ISBN 0-9631113-1-0 Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort's official Web site Bluffdale Cottonwood Heights Draper Herriman Holladay Midvale Millcreek Murray Riverton Salt Lake City Sandy South Jordan South Salt Lake Taylorsville West Jordan West Valley City
Categories:
Sports venues in Salt Lake County, Utah - Salt Lake City urbane region - Ski areas and resorts in Utah - Utah culture - Resorts in the United States - Populated places established in 1971 - Unincorporated communities in Salt Lake County, Utah - Unincorporated communities in Utah
|