[Flat Six]

Worked in a Seattle ski shop for a decade; skiied 35 years & most of the west. Live in SoCal now and when I go on a trip Utah is usually my first choice. Easy to fly into, airport and rental car companies are all geared toward serving skiers/boarders. Less than 45 minutes up a 4-lane highway to Park City.

We usually stay at the Newpark Resort (we rent two condos for four couples). Love Deer Valley; always thought it was froo-froo groomers (and you can get that still) until we hooked up with a guide there -- some seriously good expert-level terrain and open glade skiing. No boards allowed, though. Plenty of cruisers at Park City, and I hear they've opened up even more terrain. Canyons is also fun, but some of the runs have this funky side-camber pitch to them that makes it hard (for me, anyway) to get a nice good rhythm going. Plenty of shopping and dining in PC.

Little Cottonwood Canyon (Alta & Snowbird) is a very easy 40-minute drive. Huge areas, and you can get a combo ticket to ski both (no boarding at Alta). Big Cottonwood Canyon (Brighton & Solitude) is a very easy 35-minute drive. Solitude is becoming my favorite West Wasatch area; it's quiet, pure, friendly, and aptly-named.

About 45 minutes north of PC is Snowbasin, my favorite Utah resort. Owned by the Sun Valley Corp., SB offers exceptional snow conditions, lots of varied terrain, really fast detachable chairs (and gondola) for lots of runs. Well protected from the wind, too. And world-class food on the mountain.

Personally, I'd stay away from Mammoth. It's my 'home hill' and I get 8-10 days a year there, but a real PITA to get to if you need to fly in. Takes me 5 hours to drive there; takes me the same amount of time to fly to SLC/drive to Park City. Nothing to do for non-skiers (a reasonable spa at Snowcreek is about it). A couple of good restaurants and a bunch of mediocre ones.

Tahoe is easy to fly to (Reno or Sacramento), but snow conditions can be sketchy around the holidays. The last 3 times we tried to do a week in Tahoe for XMAS, we had to cancel at the last minute & reschedule (Hawaii, boo hoo for me) because the snow sucked. Heavenly and Sierrra-at-Tahoe can get wickedly miserable when it's windy. Love Sugar Bowl (NLT) when there's fresh snow; Squaw's good, too. Squaw and Northstar can be zoo-like during the holidays because you get a bunch of noobs from SAC/SFO trying out the new gear they got for XMAS. Most fun we've had at Tahoe is a small, 4-chair hill called Homewood. Chair off the back side, skiied fresh knee-high powder for almost 4 hours -- just doing laps.

Whistler/Blackcomb usually pretty reliable at XMAS, but busier (and now spendier) than I care for.

Conditions in Colorado, IMHO, can be inconsistent around the holidays. January+ is pretty reliable, but late December can be a crapshoot. I also don't like the fact that you have to drive a couple of hours from the airport to get to most of the major resorts.

Lemme know if you have any questions and/or want any specific recommendations; am happy to help.

Good luck and happy tracks!