Snowbird is tucked away up a canyon access road above Salt Lake City. It's a compact resort with a handful of chair-lifts and a centre-piece “aerial tram” (cable-car to us imperialists). The base area is a narrow canyon subject to obvious avalanche danger; for this reason the resort buildings are substantial concrete beasts with internal design which wouldn't be out of place in a nuclear bunker. That said, the architecture has stood the test of time quite well. For a 1970s structure it's efficient without being ugly. Leaflets available in the lodge explain that when the avalanche danger is high visitors may be confined to the buildings on pain of arrest. Although you can stay at the Cliff and a few other low-rise structures in the valley, Snowbird isn't really a destination resort. Most visitors stay in or live in Salt Lake City, which is half an hour down the road for those with a 4wd or snow tyres.

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