Incredible resort. Greatest there is.
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During college I fell in love with Utah skiing, and the first job I got after graduation was a lift operator position at Alta. I will say Alta treats their employees incredibly well, but that's unrelated to the skier experience I am reviewing. However, as a result I got PLENTY of skiing time even while on shift, and I'd say I know the mountain inside and out because of it.

The most impressive and standout feature of Alta by far is the snow. I have gone skiing in almost every part of the Western USA, but the Cottonwood Canyons stand alone as the best in terms of both snow quality and quantity. And despite the close proximity all four Cottonwood resorts share, I believe Alta edges all of them out in its snow. Being up on the mountain at least 5 days a week for the entire Winter season, fresh, good powder almost began to seem commonplace! In February and March powder days were at least a weekly occurrence! And every once in a while the powder would be so deep that it felt more like surfing than skiing. If you just pick a random day to visit Alta in midwinter, there is a solid chance that you will land a powder day, and that alone makes it one of the most exciting resorts to ski at.

Another thing I love about Alta as someone who skied it nearly every day was that Alta is a strong believer in the "If it's good, it's worth searching for" motto. Given if you're only at Alta for a day or two this may be a bit annoying. So much of the best and even the most iconic terrain at Alta is difficult to get to or even just to find in the first place! But if you are a local it's absolutely ideal. So few runs are signed, and most have hidden side chutes or tree runs off of them that Alta gives a genuine feeling of exploration even on a world class ski resort. This does make things quite terrifying for a progressing skier, as when combined with Alta's lack of the double diamond rating, expert terrain can be anything from relaxing to impossible. Generally the ski patrol is quite good at placing cliff signs and ropes around truly extreme terrain but there is still a huge variation of difficulty when exploring. It takes a confident and skilled skier to truly get the most out of Alta's terrain. But if you are confident and skilled, I believe Alta can be the most rewarding ski resort out there.

On that note, I want to mention the skiing culture at Alta. On all lifts except the Sunnyside beginner lift, the crowd is pretty intense. If you're skiing slowly or poorly on a traverse the other skiers will let you know, with varying levels of politeness. If you are ruining the powder with poor or unprofessional lines, the other skiers will call you out. If you stop in the middle of a run, you will get chastised by passing skiers. All of this can make for a very unwelcoming first impression, but while I don't really support this sort of behavior myself, I can't deny that it improves the expert experience as a result. Even the longest traverses can be tackled with great efficiency, you can frequently find an untouched line of powder even on the 2nd or 3rd run, and you rarely have to worry about dodging those less experienced and can simply enjoy your run. Of course, none of this applies to the beginner area so beginners have little to fear. But for the early-advanced level skiers Alta can be quite hostile of a learning environment. But I guarantee you that if you go to Alta, you will learn quickly. One way or another.

As for the actual signed trails and main runs, I will admit Alta has mediocre variety. It's still enough to keep an intermediate skier well satisfied for a day, but probably not somewhere to frequent for that sort of terrain. Many runs can be groomed, but many are rarely worked, and with the frequent snowfall can get buried the very next day. Again this is a treat for the powder skiers because it just means more powder runs, but if you're looking for grooming Alta is not a great example. It does have a surprisingly good beginner area for those learning to ski, and a fantastic ski school to compliment it, so again it's a solid choice for learning to ski.

In terms of infrastructure, all of Alta's main lifts are detaches except for Wildcat, which I believe is just too iconic for them to swap off of fixed grip. But I think that's perfect, as you can get to wherever you want to go quickly, but the option of the more seldom-used fixed grip is still present. However for the amount of terrain Alta has, it admittedly has very few lifts. The lifts are very efficient in the terrain they access, with two of their detaches sporting an angle in the middle to optimize their path! But the small amount of lifts may make Alta seem smaller than it really is, and often require long traverses or hikes to get to the more secluded spots. This is a bit of a mixed bag, as said secluded spots can hide great powder and lines throughout the day, but lapping them is incredibly taxing, and it would take great athletic skill to hit multiple in the same day. But that's very much the Alta experience.

In terms of crowds, Alta has become significantly more crowded by being part of the Ikon pass, but as a result remains very affordable for what it is. But luckily Alta still has a strategical advantage on keeping crowds down: Parking is naturally hard limited by the amount of space available. Being in a narrow canyon, the parking lots are small, and buses run irregularly, so unless its the holiday season and all the lodges are packed to the brim, the crowds never get frustratingly out of control. Sure the lift lines may frequently get long due to the limited amount of lifts on the mountain, but overall the wait time rarely becomes annoying, and with the physical effort the resort can demand, the wait time can be perfect for recovering your strength! But oh, on a powder day, you may want to wake up before dawn to get in line for the canyon. That parking lot will fill up ridiculously fast, but just remember that if it wasn't for the limited parking the skiing wouldn't be nearly as good.

And lastly, there isn't really much nightlife at Alta. Pretty much all the skiers just pack up and go home at the end of the day. There are still some hanging out in the parking lots, and the Goldminer's Daughter is always packed after each ski day, but I would recommend heading to Snowbird center for the nightlife, but even that is nothing to write home about. In all honesty the Cottonwood Canyons are a place for the hardcore skiers and riders. The ones that come there for the skiing and riding. And hey, I'm one of 'em. The lack of Apres doesn't bother me, and even adds to the charm of the resorts in my opinion. But compared to the typical ski experience, it is without a doubt the weakest part of Alta.

To top this all off, I love Alta, I love working at Alta, and it is just such a rewarding resort to ski at. It has its rough edges, and may not deliver the FULL skiing experience that some may be looking for, but if you're just looking for the best place to physically go skiing, I struggle to think of anywhere else in the world that tops it. Just make sure you get there early.
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Very careless operator and hard/wrong surface at the base of wild cat chair that cost broken ribs! Super fast skiers with no speed patrol, if they hit a person at that speed, they would really hurt! They are focused on covid and there is no human sympathy or help. I broke a rib missing getting on the chair! At the base of Wild Cat chair! I told the operator it was my first time and he did not slow down the chair. I got unconscious and he did not call for help. they just put me back on chair to get rid of problem! One day later, Nov 29th, I asked to speak w a patrol as I had extreme pain skiing. he came and assured me my rib is not fractured and it is pulled muscle! this was despite finding an extremely painful spot which would take my breath away! he said just falling like that, not even from the chair, does not break a bone; it should be really hard! so one of the problems is the super hard surface at the base of wild cat which caused broken bone! I am a strong healthy person, hiking regularly, eating well, etc. this was in vain, could have been prevented w just slowing down the chair! I was not kidding when I expressed concerns on the fast chair. The operator was very inexperienced doing nothing! Unacceptable. I have got on these chairs at Mammoth in past and even on Nov 30th at snowbird where the operator slowed it down for me. Another major problem is super fast skiers. I noticed many skiers stopping at the sides to let fast and crazy skiers go by. It is worse than what they say for snowboarders, Alta made me miss them! AT that speed, skiers cannot control and would knock out someone really hard and bad. Alta should post that there is no speed patrol on their main website! Colorado, Jackson Hole, Mammoth all have speed patrols. I found Alta very wild and uncared, just keeping open w covid concerns and not caring for skiers overall. On 28th when I took ride share up the mountain, there was no way to come back down, with my injury and willing to pay, no uber, no lyft, no bus, nothing! why wouldn't they post a note on their site saying u have no way of getting down mountain! UTA started on 29th!
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We spent two weeks at the Alta Peruvian Lodge this February (2020). After being interlodged for two and a half days upon arrival, we were ready to experience the world famous Alta powder in full force. Well, that wasn´t quite the case.

Apparently, that particular storm had brought in some of the heaviest, most water dense snow that most people in the region had ever experienced. Of course, this just means normal powder by any "normal" standard, so it was still pretty good. If you get lucky, they will close the rode up Little Cottonwood Canyon for avalanche safety controls and you will have the resort all for yourself and a few others. However, the crowds were never a problem. The wait times for the lifts were negligible, the only issue could be things tracking out quickly; but with storms occurring so often this shouldn´t be a major problem either.

The terrain at Alta is just amazing; with just enough lifts (and more importantly, not too many), a few traverses and a bit of hiking one can access skiing terrain of all kinds. If this wasn´t enough for you, you could still just ski over to Snowbird to find even more spectacular terrain (this might be of particular interest to you if you are more on the extreme side of skiers).

Not to talk about the endless offers for Backcountry skiing when based at Alta would be a sin. We did one ski tour crossing from Little Cottonwood Canyon over to Big Cottonwood Canyon and that was easily the highlight of the trip (this is including one day of cat-skiing).

After ten days at Alta, we finally received about 8 inches of the long awaited blower pow, Champagne Powder, or however you want to call it. It was definitely worth the wait and fulfilled every single one of our expectations. Hiring a guide for that day helped us find the best stashes to make the most out of that incredible day.

The only cases where I would not recommend Alta to you is if you are a) looking to party each night as hard as you ski during the day, b) only looking to ski groomers or c) are not willing to work to get to the goods.
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Charging $65 for a 4 year old is simply ridiculous. No other resorts do this. Snowbird for me from now on after many many years of Alta . Very sad .
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Alta is a special place and everyone unfortunately knows it. If you can make it on a weekday and do a bit of hiking you should get some fresh stashes. One of the best around
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Great snow
Best runs
Not much of a wait
Best food
Nice people
Really nice employees.
It really made the day special hope to keep visiting :)
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Alta is an institution of skiing.
Greatest snow on earth.
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At 72 years of age I had to pay full price,$148, for a day's skiing! This resort is certainly not worth that much regardless of age.
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Great powdery mountain. The best mountain that I have ever skied at.
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