• ALTA SKI AREA

The classic area in the Wasatch. Deep snow and vast, wild terrain (www.alta.com).

• BEAVER MOUNTAIN

SKI AREA

A good-value, midsize family resort. 400 inches of annual snowfall and 1,600 feet of vertical drop (www.skithebeav.com).

• BRIAN HEAD RESORT

Southern Utah resort. More than 60 runs and three terrain parks spread across two mountains (www.brianhead.com).

• BRIGHTON

Tree skiing, fast lifts, deep snow,

and three freestyle terrain parks

(www.brightonresort.com).

• THE CANYONS

With 3,700 acres of terrain, 163 trails and 17 lifts, this is Utah's largest resort (www.thecanyons.com).

• DEER VALLEY RESORT

All things luxury, from lodges to meticulous on-slope grooming. Excellent mountain and bowl skiing, too (www.deervalley.com).

• PARK CITY

MOUNTAIN RESORT

Top family resort. Terrain includes powder-filled bowls across eight peaks and up to 50 groomed runs

(www.parkcitymountain.com).

• POWDER MOUNTAIN

Old-school and underdeveloped (in a good way!). Only three chairlifts. But huge terrain across five mountains. Snowcat- and heli-skiing on site.

(www.powdermountain.com).

• SNOWBASIN

Diverse terrain, from beginner trails to true expert chutes. More than 100 named runs (www.snowbasin.com).

• SNOWBIRD

Cable-car tram to whoosh skiers uphill. Steep, craggy, fast and to the edge -- if you want to go there (www.snowbird.com).

• SOLITUDE

Rarely lift lines or over-tracked snow. A small, core area in Big Cottonwood Canyon (www.skisolitude.com).

• SUNDANCE

Built by Robert Redford decades ago. An hour from Salt Lake City. More than 40 alpine ski runs and 26 kilometers of groomed cross-country trails

(www.sundanceresort.com).

• WOLF CREEK

Small, family-oriented resort. Inexpensive lift tickets (www.wolfcreekutah.com).

STEPHEN REGENOLD

Snow 1 The region's self-proclaimed "greatest snow on Earth" is in reference to the fluffy white stuff that falls up to 500 inches deep many seasons at Snowbird Resort, Alta Ski Area, Park City Mountain Resort, Brighton and a half-dozen other areas near Salt Lake City. Mountains jutting past 11,000 feet adjacent to the Great Basin create an abrupt interruption to desert clouds coursing east. Big snow -- hundreds of inches of light, airy powder every season -- is the advantageous result. 2. Accessibility 2 Fly to Salt Lake City International -- an inexpensive hop from the Twin Cities most of the year, especially now that Southwest is in the game -- and you have 11 ski areas within an hour's drive. Rent a car and you can be booting up at Brighton, Solitude or Alta Ski Area in as little as 45 minutes. The glass skyscrapers of Salt Lake City cut a silhouette as you drive east just before the Wasatch takes over, the urban outskirts intermingling with the foothills of the mountains. Major highways then lead uphill to most resorts. Or you can jump on a bus. The city boasts a public bus system to transport skiers at low fares from the city to the ski resorts in the mountains above town. 3. Variety The tight fiefdom of ski areas in the Wasatch Range, though geographically aligned, maintain a variety of resort personality types. Want utter luxury? Try Deer Valley for a day. Halfpipes and stunts are popular with a freestyle crowd at Brighton, where three terrain parks are built on the hill. Alta can be a no-frills, nostalgic peek at how skiing grew out of one of America's original big areas. Snowbird is tall, steep and serious, with a cable car whisking skiers to 11,000 feet overhead. I have skied eight areas in Utah, and no two seemed the same. 4. Affordability With many ski areas so close to the Salt Lake metro area, lodging is plentiful, including moderately priced options. I have stayed in Salt Lake City for as low as $49 per night. Compared with other major ski centers in the United States, lift ticket prices in the Wasatch are not significantly less. Alta Ski Area, long known for its cheap lifts, now charges $66 per adult day, an average rate for a U.S. resort of its size. Deer Valley costs $86. But smaller Utah ski areas like Sundance Resort, Brighton, and Wolf Creek offer true mountain skiing at more affordable rates ($47, $58 and $32, respectively, for full-day adult tickets). 5. Steep slopes From the precipitous "Finger Chutes" atop Allen Peak at Snowbasin resort, to "Great Scott" and other stomach-in-throat drops in Snowbird's infamous Cirque formation, the craggy Wasatch Range has no lack of hairy terrain. Rock-lined chutes and double-black-diamond runs pepper most trail maps in the area. Compared with Colorado, Utah offers more thrills and better steep-skiing bang for the buck. 6. Back-country access Avalanche-savvy skiers and boarders can access the vast Wasatch back country via chairlifts at several resorts, where boundary gates offer legal entry points into mountain wilderness outside resort property. Two years ago, entering through a gate at Snowbasin resort, four friends and I skied -- with avalanche beacons on -- for 4 miles and nearly 5,000 vertical feet through the outback. A car shuttle picked us up at the other end for transport back to the resort. 7. Interconnect tour A unique guided trip operated by Ski Utah (www.skiutah.com), a private company, the Interconnect Tour allows intermediate and advanced skiers a chance to sample up to six resorts in the Wasatch in a single day. You take chairlifts and link from ski area to ski area via back-country routes that traverse alpine bowls and high passes through the Wasatch. For my trip, we began at Deer Valley Resort in the morning and finished at Snowbird. In between, guides led us through the back country and Park City Mountain Resort, Brighton, Solitude and Alta Ski Area for a whirlwind day. Cost is $250 per person, including lunch and a "golden" ticket for lift access at all resorts. 8. Raw acreage At the Canyons, a resort 30 minutes from Salt Lake International, there are powder bowls, alpine faces and more than 100 cut trails. Snowbird boasts 2,500 acres of terrain streaming off two peaks. Powder Mountain is a sprawling, low-budget resort near the town of Ogden that offers five mountains and vast back-country-like skiable terrain. Park City, Alta, Deer Valley and Snowbasin are biggies, too. Ample acreage -- which equals more turns in fresh snow and more mountain to explore -- is a hallmark of many Utah resorts. Stephen Regenold writes about outdoors gear at www.gearjunkie.com.