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Snowbird Ski Resort

Home / Ski Resorts / Snowbird Ski Resort

Snowbird Ski Resort is a world-renowned ski destination located in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. The resort boasts over 2,500 skiable acres of terrain and offers a wide variety of runs for skiers and snowboarders of all abilities. The ski season at Snowbird typically runs from November to May, depending on snow conditions.

Annual snowfall at Snowbird is substantial, averaging around 500 inches per year. The resort is known for its deep, light powder snow, which is a favorite among skiers and snowboarders.

In addition to its extensive skiing and snowboarding terrain, Snowbird also offers a number of other features for visitors to enjoy. These include several terrain parks, ski and snowboard lessons, on-mountain dining, and a variety of other activities and events. Snowbird also has a ski and snowboard school, and offers guided tours as well as private ski instruction.

One of the most distinctive features of Snowbird Ski resort is that it offers the longest ski and snowboard season in Utah, with the ski season extending well into May, which is perfect for spring skiing and snowboarding. The resort also has a tram service that take guests to the top of the mountain and offers breathtaking views of the surrounding areas.

We recently ranked all of Utah's ski resorts, so you can see where Snowbird stacks up against all its nearby ski hills!

Season Passes

Snowbird is a part of the Ikon Ski Pass network. This allows you to buy one lift pass, and ski at all or most of the Ikon-sponsored slopes with it throughout the year, depending on the type of pass you bought.

Snowbird is a part of the Mountain Collective network. This allows you to buy one lift pass, and ski at all of the slopes that are also a part of the Collective.

Lodging Options

There are numerous options to stay at Snowbird around the resort. Check out the available options with the form below.

Snowbird Mountain Resort Terrain Overview

Snowbird has a total of 171 ski trails, which are serviced by 14 ski lifts, gondolas and/or trams. The amount of skiable area in this park is huge, with a maximum of 2,500 acres available to skiers. This area is equivalent to 1,012 hectares, 3.9 square miles, or 10.1 square kilometers.

Snowbird's slopes see on average 500 inches (15.2 meters) of snowfall a year. That is almost 41 feet every year!

Trails
Total Runs
171
Ski Lift
Lifts
14
Skier
Skiable Acres
2,500(10 km2)
Snow
Annual Snowfall
500"(15,240 cm)

Snowbird Ski Resort Elevation

Snowbird Ski Resort has a summit elevation of 11,000 feet, or 3,353 meters. However, not all of that elevation is able to be skied. The base of the ski slope sits at 7,760 feet above sea level, creating a ski hill that is 3,240 feet (988 meters) high. This is referred to as the slope's vertical drop - or a measure of how high the skiable hill is.

The summit of 11,000 feet makes this ski resort one of the highest in the country. The average ski slope summit is around 4,000 feet, so this is extremely high compared to its peers.

Mountain Summit
Summit Elevation
11,000'(3,353 m)
Vertical Drop
Vertical Drop
3,240'(988 m)
Mountain base
Base Elevation
7,760'(2,365 m)

Snowbird Ski Resort Difficulty Level

Score
Difficulty Score™
82.8out of 100
←  EasyHard  →
Snowbird is one of the hardest ski areas in the country, with a difficulty score of 82.8. This mountain ranks in the top 10% of most-difficult ski resorts in all of North America, mostly due to the fact that it has 67% of its trails rated as expert-level, and a vertical drop of 3,240 feet.

 DID YOU KNOW?

At Parks & Trips, we've created a proprietary Difficulty Score that attempts to show how difficult a particular ski slope is. We get to this number by combining a number of metrics for each resort and comparing them to its peers. Most of the score is based off the amount of easy-intermediate-expert slopes by acreage and the maximum vertical drop of the overall resort, but also includes a few lesser-used metrics as well.

Our algorithm compares each resort’s metrics with all others in North America, then assigns each a Difficulty Score, which we use to rank them accordingly. Resorts with a lower score are easier to ski than those with a higher one. However, a high score does not mean that the resort does not have any easy slopes, or vice versa. This is just an overall score given to the resort based on all its metrics grouped together.

Skiable Terrain by Difficulty Level

Snowbird has 2,500 total skiable acres, which can be broken down into the three main groups of difficulty: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.

Seeing as Snowbird is one of the hardest ski areas in the country, it's no surprise that over 92% of its trails rated as either intermediate or expert-level. This leaves only 8% of its skiable acres as beginner terrain.
Green Circle
Beginner
8%(200 acres)

Beginner trails (identified by a green circle) are the easiest trails on the hill with a gradual 25% or less gradient, and are usually wide to accommodate beginner skiers.

Blue Square
Intermediate
25%(625 acres)

Intermediate trails (identified by a blue square) are usually the most popular and crowded runs, which have a slope of anywhere between 25-40%.

Black Diamond
Expert
67%(1,675 acres)

Expert trails (identified by a black diamond... or two) are the hardest slopes on the mountain, and have very steep gradients over 40%.

Is Snowbird Ski Resort good for beginners?

This is one of the hardest ski areas in the country to ski at, so it is not great for beginners. Snowbird Ski Resort ranks in the top 10% of the most-difficult ski resorts in the country. It has 67% of its trails rated as expert, or black-diamond level.

Snowbird Ski Resort Location

Snowbird Ski Resort is located in the state of Utah, USA. This ski area is nearest the town of Snowbird, UT.

Address:
Snowbird, UT 84092 USA
View on Google Maps

Website:
snowbird.com

GPS Coordinates:
40.58000, -111.65000

Getting to Snowbird Mountain Resort

By Car: If you are driving, you would set your GPS to either the ski resort's name (Snowbird Ski Resort), its coordinates of 40.58000, -111.65000 (latitude, longitude), or simply drive towards the town of Snowbird, UT to get close.

By Air: If you are coming in from across the country, then you may need to board an airplane to get here.

A large airport has scheduled major airline service with millions of passengers per year. This type of airport always accepts international flights. Here are the closest large airport(s) to Snowbird Ski Resort.

NameCodeCityDistance
Salt Lake City International AirportSLCSalt Lake City, UT22 mi

A medium-sized airport has scheduled regional airline service. This type of airport may or may not accept international flights. Here are the closest medium-sized airport(s) to Snowbird.

NameCodeCityDistance
Provo-Utah Lake International AirportPVUProvo, UT25 mi
Ogden Hinckley AirportOGDOgden, UT47 mi
Southwest Wyoming Regional AirportRKSRock Springs, WY152 mi

There may also be much smaller regional airports next to Snowbird Ski Resort, but we didn't list them here due to the fact that no major airlines go through them.

Other Nearby Ski Resorts

Skiers will - especially if coming from far away - try and visit a couple different slopes all in the same trip. Here are the closest other ski slopes within 100 miles of Snowbird Ski Resort.

NameLocationSummitDifficulty Score™Distance
AltaSalt Lake City, UT10,550 ft53%1 mi
BrightonBrighton, UT10,500 ft53%4 mi
SolitudeSalt Lake City, UT10,035 ft53%5 mi
Deer ValleyPark City, UT9,570 ft66%8 mi
Park City MountainPark City, UT10,000 ft76%11 mi
SundanceSundance, UT8,250 ft58%12 mi
Woodward Park CityPark City, UT6,840 ft14%12 mi
Nordic Valley (Wolf Mountain)Eden, UT6,400 ft42%34 mi
Powder MountainCedar Valley, UT9,422 ft58%41 mi
Eagle PointHuntsville, UT10,600 ft53%47 mi
SnowbasinOrangeville, UT9,350 ft62%92 mi
Cherry Peak ResortRichmond, UT7,040 ft40%93 mi
Beaver MountainGarden City, UT8,860 ft43%96 mi

Snowbird Ski Resort Mountain Stats

NameStatistic
Summit Elevation11,000 ft
Base Elevation7,760 ft
Vertical Drop3,240 ft
Trails171
(8% Beginner,  25% Intermediate,  67% Expert)
Lifts14
Skiable Acres2,500
Avg. Annual Snowfall500 inches
Snowbird Ski Resort Mountain Stats
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