A mountain that is routinely close to empty, served by base lodges of improbable extravagance built for the 2002 Olympics, with chandeliers, stone fireplaces and marble bathrooms. The contrast is the first thing everyone notices, and the lodges are worth stopping in for lunch just to see the rooms. The skiing is excellent and underrated. Long groomed descents including the Olympic downhill courses, open bowls above the treeline, steep gladed terrain off two gondolas, and substantial vertical.

There is no lodging at the resort at all. Most people stay in Ogden forty five minutes away or Salt Lake City an hour off, and that absence is exactly why the mountain stays quiet. Fresh snow lasts here, particularly midweek. Beginners have limited terrain, so this is not the Utah resort for a first week.