Hotels in Alta, Utah

A little about Alta...

Alta is a town in Salt Lake County, Utah, United States. The population was 370, at the 2000 census.a slight decrease from the 1990 figure of 397. Its 2004 population was estimated at 366, a slight decrease from 2000.

Alta is also a ski resort that has 500,000 visitors a year. It is known for its powder skiing and its refusal to allow snowboarding.

Alta Ski Area, one of the world's premier ski resorts, is located in the Wasatch Mountains just east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Renowned for "The greatest snow on Earth," the skiable area consists of 2,200 acres (8.9 km²) beginning at a base elevation of 8,530 ft (2,600 m) and rising to 10,550 ft (3,216 m) for a vertical gain of 2,020 ft (616 m).

With an average annual snowfall of over 500 inches (12.7 m), Alta is home to some of the most remarkable powder skiing in North America. Skiing legend Alf Engen developed what is usually recognized as modern powder skiing technique at Alta in the mid-20th Century. Alta is one of the oldest ski resorts in the country and still maintains a mystique as one of the havens of "skiing's soul" as exemplified by the "skiers-only" policy at the resort - no snowboarders are allowed. As of November 2006, the resort has initiated an addendum that allows staff members to forcibly remove anyone who is even carrying a snowboard at the resort. Alta's unique location in the Little Cottonwood Canyon, just east of the Great Salt Lake, allows for huge lake-effect storms to dump copious amounts of dry powder snow at the resort, even when neighboring ski areas (primarily those in Park City) and Salt Lake City receive little or no snow. This has led to Alta being ranked #1 in North America for Snow quality, Powder, and Value by Skiing Magazine.

The slogan, "Alta is for skiers" is more than just a marketing ploy, as many skiers feel that Alta's culture and atmosphere of "old school" or "authentic" ski culture is the way skiing should be.

Beginning in the winter of 2002, Alta and its neighbor, Snowbird, began offering both a joint day-pass and a joint season ticket, allowing skiers to fully access all of the terrain on both mountains. See Also Snowbird, UT