photo: Adam Barker | skier: Forrest CootsAcres: 2,200 | Vertical: 2,020 | Snowfall: 560 | Web: alta.com

(cont'd)

 Alta's base sits in Little Cottonwood Canyon, a critical watershed for Salt Lake City. As a result, expansions to its base area are essentially prohibited. To most Alta skiers, that's a good thing. "We have a café, chairlifts, two small on-mountain lodges-we don't even have a true base lodge," says Alta fanatic Annie Kramer. "There is an incredible focus on skiing and nothing more. It's skiing in its purest form. Once you've been bitten by the Alta bug, it's hard to go anywhere else."

From the Early Winter 2012 issue