Alta: Ski Legend, Updated
Utah Ski Resort Surprises With Groomed Runs, Families
Famous among AARP crowd and powderhounds, still off limits to snowboarders, Utah ski area modernizes lifts, welcomes families while keeping old-school charm
Alta, one of the American West's grand old resorts, ranks high among mature skiers who love its legendary runs, abundant powder and no-snowboarding policy.
However, this legend in Utah's Little Cottonwood Canyon has been wisely updated in recent years.
Many runs are combed by its fleet of 10 grooming machines in good weather to make intermediate and novice skiers comfortable. "Alta's myth looms larger than its reality," said Connie Marshall, the Marketing and PR director. "We groom between 5 and 12 runs off every lift, every day."
The 3-year old Collins high-speed quad chair whisks skiers high onto the hill in 8 minutes, making it remarkably easy to ski your buns off in a few hours. There's also a lift-served connection now from Alta to Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort next door, so you can drop into Snowbird's east-facing bowl, Mineral Basin, then tackle its challenging 3,240-foot vertical front side .
Last season brought a new incarnation of Alta's Watson Shelter, now a multi-level restaurant at the elbow-bend of the Collins lift. It's got a 21st century cafeteria and a "fine-dining" grill. The food prices would still be considered a bargain at most big resorts.
Because Alta's five traditional lodges include most meals in its packages, they are popular with skiers who travel alone, have a non-skiing spouse, or simply want to meet like-minded folks.
One loyalist, a 77-year-old Midwesterner, met his wife here 36 years ago. Although she no longer skis, he returns to the Alta Lodge several times a season, he told me recently as the Alta Shuttle conveyed us from the Salt Lake City airport, a half-hour away.
If you are over 80, you can ski free. But you don't have to be even half that age to be awed by the beauty of its mountain landscape or by terrain that ranges from hair-raisingly steep chutes to gentle cruising runs.
A growing number of families are discovering its no-hassle ambience. "We like it because there's no glitz and we don't have to fuss with dinner reservations," Pete Bleyler, a New Hampshire grandfather, said one morning at the Alta Lodge while breakfasting with his wife, daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. The Alta Lodge has free child care; the other traditional lodges (Rustler, Goldminer's Daughter, Snowpine and Peruvian) will find you qualified babysitters for a fee.
Ultimately, it’s the snow that counts. During dinner one night at the Goldminer's Daughter, marketing director Helen Reynolds pointed out two guests, one from Indiana, the other from Texas. "We call them the Weather Channel guys," she said. Seems there are skiers throughout the U.S. who, upon hearing of a storm heading toward Utah's Wasatch range, jump on the next plane for Salt Lake for the chance to play in Alta's feathery snow. Now that's loyalty.
There are still some rooms left at discounted prices for April. (Closing day is April 15; the lifts will run the following weekend too. Next winter? It would be smart to reserve now; over 70 percent of Alta guests are returnees.
