Be on the correct terrain
Snowbird is a big mountain. Let’s find your part of it.
Little Cottonwood Canyon, deep snow, and terrain for every level. Here is where and how I teach on it.
The mountain we ski
One of the great mountains in North America
Snowbird sits at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, about a 45-minute drive from downtown Salt Lake City. It is one of the snowiest resorts in the country — roughly 500 inches of light Wasatch powder in an average season — spread across nearly 2,500 acres of skiable terrain. From the 7,760-foot base you can ride the Aerial Tram all the way to Hidden Peak at just over 11,000 feet, with more than 3,000 vertical feet of skiing below you.That scale is what makes Snowbird such a rewarding place to learn. Gentle, wide groomers, sheltered beginner slopes, long intermediate cruisers through Gad Valley, and famous steep lines off Peruvian Gulch and into Mineral Basin all share the same mountain. The trick is knowing which terrain fits you today — and that is exactly what a lesson is for.
Matching the terrain to you
Being on the right terrain is half of skiing well. Put a nervous first-timer on a slope that is too steep and every instinct works against them; keep a strong skier on green runs all day and they never get the chance to grow. On a mountain the size of Snowbird there is always a run that fits — the job is to find it.New skiers start on the gentle, protected slopes near the base, where we build a comfortable stance, a reliable stop, and the first real turns. As those become habits, we move up onto the wider groomers of Gad Valley to link turns with speed and confidence. Skiers ready for more head up the mountain toward the steeper pitches, the trees, and eventually the powder that Snowbird is known for — always one honest step at a time.
How a day on the hill actually goes
Every lesson is booked through the Snowbird Mountain School, and every lesson is built around you. We meet at the base, talk through where your skiing is and where you want it to go, and then choose the terrain that will get us there. With a private lesson you also get lift-queue priority, so we spend the day skiing rather than waiting.Real change takes more than a single run. In my experience it takes a few days of focused practice to turn a new movement into a habit that holds up when the slope gets steep — so I encourage skiers to commit to more than one day when they can. Whether it is your first time clicking into bindings or your twentieth season chasing powder, we will spend the day on the part of this mountain that moves you forward.
Find Snowbird
Snowbird is at the top of State Route 210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. Give yourself extra time on snowy mornings — the canyon road can close for avalanche control — and reach out and I will help you plan the day around conditions.