Snowbird is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the

Wasatch Range The Wasatch Range ( ) or Wasatch Mountains is a mountain range in the western United States that runs about from the Utah-Idaho border south to central Utah. It is the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Gr ...

of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

near

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, United States. It is most famous for Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, an

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel Ski binding, bindings, unlike other types of skiing (Cross-country skiing, cross-country, Telemark skiing, Telemark, or ski jumping) ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

area, which opened in December 1971.

History

The development of Little Cottonwood Canyon and the town of Alta dates to the 19th century. A U.S. Army soldier first prospected for silver there in 1869. Mining became a large local industry, and Little Cottonwood Canyon became one of the largest producers of silver ore in the Wasatch Mountains. 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. At its peak, 8,000 people lived and worked in the narrow canyon, which held two smelters, 138 homes, hotels, boarding houses, stores and a railroad. The entire town was later destroyed by a series of avalanches. The resort is a multi-facility winter and summer (primarily winter) resort. Mainly known for its winter powder skiing and snowboarding, during other seasons Snowbird also hosts hikers, mountain bikers, fishermen, and other mountain vacationers. The facilities include ski lifts, hotels, condominiums, spa facilities, restaurants, other resort-related retail businesses, and medical services. The resort operates almost entirely on privately owned land, unlike the majority of Utah ski areas. 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. He had explored the terrain below Alta in the Peruvian Gulch and Emma Mine/Gad Valley watersheds that later became Snowbird. Johnson met

Dick Bass Richard Lee Bass (March 15, 1937 – February 1, 2006) was an American professional football player who was a fullback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) from 1960 to 1969. He played college football for the Pacif ...

, a Texas oilman, in 1969, and the two partnered to create the Snowbird resort, which opened in 1971. In 1974, Johnson sold his interest in Snowbird to Bass. On May 12, 2014, an ownership change was announced. Businessman Ian Cumming became the majority owner, in partnership with Bass, who remained chairman. Dick Bass died in 2015 and Ted Johnson died in 2018. In July 2021 Snowbird shut down the Tram Club, without any warning or prior intimation to the staff or public. It had been at Snowbird since 1994 and was a hot spot for locals in the community. The tram club was reopened in December 2022.

Climate

Hidden Peak, , is the highest point within the Snowbird ski area. Hidden Peak has a

subalpine climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfc''), bordering on an

Alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

(

''ET''). There is no weather station at the summit, but this climate table contains interpolated data for an area around the summit.

Ski resort

Snowbird Upper Middle and Lower Cirque photo D Ramey Logan

Snowbird resort is a year-round ski and summer resort located in the heart of the

Wasatch National Forest Wasatch National Forest was established as the Wasatch Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah on August 16, 1906 with to the east of Salt Lake City and Provo. It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 Grantsv ...

on the eastern border of the

suburb of Sandy. It is from Salt Lake City International Airport, from

downtown Salt Lake City Downtown (also called City Center) is the oldest district in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The grid plan, grid from which the entire city is laid out originates at Temple Square, the location of the Salt Lake Temple. Location Downtown S ...

and east of the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Sandy. The resort first opened in December 1971. Snowbird shares Little Cottonwood Canyon with

Alta Ski Area Alta is a ski area in the western United States, located in the town of Alta, Utah, Alta in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, in Salt Lake County. With a skiable area of , Alta's base elevation is and rises to for a vertical gain of . One of the ...

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 mountains: 26 ski lifts and tows and a skiable area of . 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 mountains that had been skiable within the resort since 1999. The installation of Baldy Express in 2002 allowed access to Alta from the Basin. Other access points between the two resorts exist as well. The offer is open to skiers only, as a result of Alta's skiers-only (no snowboarders) policy. Both areas receive more than of

snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

per year due to lake-effect enhancement from the

Great Salt Lake The Great Salt Lake is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. It lies in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah and has a substantial impact upon the local climate, partic ...

, making them the second snowiest ski areas in the United States (after the ones in the Cascades). In contrast to the humid and wet conditions in the Cascades near the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, the arid condition of the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

produces very dry and powdery snow, making Snowbird and Alta top global destinations for powder-skiing aficionados. 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. Loose powder for days after a snowfall is common. On very windy days the salt is lifted thousands of feet and has been known to coat the windshield of airplanes flying into Salt Lake City. Snowbird usually closes on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

in late May while the occasional ski year can last as long as the

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

on the upper part of the mountain (accessed by the aerial tram), perennially offering the longest ski season in Utah. Snowbird, which operates primarily on privately owned land, has a skiable area of with a vertical drop of from the summit of Hidden Peak, which has an elevation of above . Hidden Peak is serviced by an aerial tram from the base area. The resort covers three drainage areas: Peruvian Gulch, Gad Valley, and Mineral Basin. Snowbird is perennially celebrated by industry 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 of cumulative snow (mid-mountain measurement) in May 2011. Snowbird is known for its particularly challenging terrain, with most ski runs having a difficulty of "intermediates only" or higher. The most difficult part of the mountain is the cirque traverse, which contains all runs for experts only.

Lifts

Snowbird currently has 10

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

s (6 high-speed quads, 4 doubles), a surface lift, an aerial tram, and a tunnel enclosing a one-way conveyor lift connecting Peruvian Gulch to Mineral Basin allowing easier access for beginners and intermediates to new terrain. The tunnel, the only of its kind in North America, also allows for skier transport when winds require the closing of the aerial tram. The tunnel connects the front half of the resort to Mineral Basin, which is the back half of the mountain. Inside of the tunnel, there are also pictures with descriptions about the history of the tunnel's construction.

Facilities

The resort lodging includes: the Iron , the Inn, the Lodge at Snowbird, the Cliff Lodge and the Cliff Club. The resort also has gift shops, restaurants, arcades, hiking trails, pools and a rooftop spa. The summit restaurant was built atop Hidden Peak during the summer of 2015. The resort has of meeting space, with 31 meeting rooms and a Event Center available in the summer.

Summer activities

While being widely known as a ski resort, Snowbird is also open during the summer. Throughout the warmer months, Snowbird offers activities such as: Alpine Slide, Mountain Coaster, Summer Tubing, Vertical Drop, and Ropes Courses. The Alpine Slide is a course that runs down the Chickadee ski slope and includes twists, turns, and tunnels. The Mountain Coaster is a wheeled cart track that fits up to two riders. It sits near the base of the Peruvian Express chairlift outside the Snowbird Center. Summer Tubing is the warm weather version of snow tubing and is available to the east of Chickadee by the entrance of the Cliff Lodge. The Vertical Drop is a 50-foot tower drop ride located near the top of Chickadee. The

Ropes Course A ropes course is a challenging outdoor personal development and team building activity which usually consists of high elements, low elements, or some combination of the two. #Low course, Low elements take place on the ground or above the ground. ...

, located near Chickadee bowl, allows participants to be strapped into a harness and walk high above ground. Other activities include hiking and mountain biking.

Awards

''Skiing Magazine'' ranked the Alta-Snowbird ski area 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. In specific categories it was ranked third in North America for snow, fourth in North America for challenge, and fifth in North America for terrain. Snowbird ranks as the second best resort in North America, runner-up to Whistler Blackcomb resort in Canada, according to ''Skiing Magazine''. In 2008, ''Outside'' named Alta-Snowbird the number one ski destination in North America. More recently, ZRankings ranked Snowbird as the fourth best ski resort in North America. Snowbird's snowfall and weather is also considered to be 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 Magazines Top 100 list.

Images

Image:Salt Lake Valley from the Hidden Peaks summit photo D Ramey Logan.jpg, The Salt Lake Valley from Snowbird Image:Snowbird Gondola photo D Ramey Logan.jpg, Snowbird Tram to 11,000 ft. Image:Skiing at Snowbird Utah photo Ramey Logan.jpg, Skiing in Snowbird Image:Snowbirdutah.jpg, Snowbird mid-June 2003

References

* Shelton, Peter (1989) ''Insiders Guide to the Best Skiing in Utah'' Telluride: Western Eye Press * Asmus, Brad (1993) ''Powder Hound's Guide to Skiing Snowbird''

External links

Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort's official Web siteLive Webcams
{{authority control Sports venues in Salt Lake County, Utah Salt Lake City metropolitan area Ski areas and resorts in Utah Utah culture Populated places established in 1971 Unincorporated communities in Salt Lake County, Utah Unincorporated communities in Utah Articles containing video clips 1971 establishments in Utah