Alta, Utah or Big Bear Lake?

Alta has no water to swim in at all. The Great Salt Lake is not a bathing lake, so summer swimming means a lodge pool or a hot tub.

Big Bear at least has its lake. The water stays cool, at around 19°C even in high summer, and the Meadow Park swim beach is the only supervised spot. Most of the shore is rock and granite, and the lake is used more for kayaks and paddleboards than for swimming.

At Alta you mostly eat where you sleep: set dinners at long communal tables on half board, then cafeteria lunches at the day lodges. Utah's liquor rules shape how drinks are served, and for any variety you drive down to Salt Lake City.

Big Bear offers a little more choice, though none of it is special. There are log-cabin diners for breakfast, barbecue, Mexican plates and brewpubs in the Village, and a few tables with lake views. Many visitors simply cook in their cabins.

Neither place is visited for its sights, and both have mining pasts. Alta's history as a silver camp, and as one of the oldest ski areas in the West, survives only as old mine workings on the slopes, with no museum to visit. Big Bear has a little more to visit: the Discovery Center on the forest, a small history museum and a dirt-road drive past gold-rush remains in Holcomb Valley.

Neither town has clubs or anything that runs late. Alta's evening is a drink in the lodge bar and bed, and the livelier après scene is at the neighbouring resort.

Big Bear gives you a few more places to go after dinner. Bars near the slopes and pubs in the Village fill up in ski season, and a brewpub or sports bar keeps some people out a little longer.

For skiing there is no contest. Alta sits at about 2,600m and often gets more than 12m of light Wasatch powder a winter. The terrain is steep, the mountain is for skiers only, and backcountry routes lead into real avalanche country. In summer Albion Basin's wildflowers, Cecret Lake and sightings of moose and mountain goats take over.

Big Bear's two ski areas are modest and rely on snowmaking, but the place offers more variety. The lake brings fishing, sailing and paddling, the Pacific Crest Trail runs along the north shore, the San Gorgonio Wilderness is close by, and bald eagles spend the winter here.

Alta has the better day out on its doorstep. Salt Lake City, under an hour away, has Temple Square, the State Capitol and museums, and Park City's old silver-mining Main Street is about an hour away. In winter, though, every outing depends on the canyon road staying open.

From Big Bear, winding roads make most trips slow. Lake Arrowhead is about an hour away and the Oak Glen orchards are also within reach, while Riverside's citrus-era streets take longer. Los Angeles and Palm Springs are two hours or more.

Alta really only works for families who all ski. There are lessons and beginner slopes, but there is nothing built for children, and storm days can keep everyone indoors.

Big Bear is built around family weekends. It has sledding and snow-play areas for children seeing snow for the first time, an Alpine Zoo of rescued bears and bobcats, and summer go-karts, mini-golf and pedal boats. Roomy cabins with kitchens make family life easier, though the weekend traffic can be tiring.

Both depend on mountain roads that snow can shut or slow, so the two are much alike here. The difference is that in winter you can manage Alta without a car. A shuttle or ski bus covers the 50km from Salt Lake City airport, the lodges are ski-in, ski-out, and a village shuttle links them, though the single canyon road backs up and closes for avalanche control.

At Big Bear a car is close to essential. The Village is easy on foot and a bus and seasonal trolley reach the slopes, but most cabins are scattered on hilly forest roads.

Alta has ski rental and tuning shops, some outdoor gear and branded souvenirs, and that is all.

Big Bear's Village gives you a pleasant hour of browsing. There are fudge and candy shops, bear-themed gifts, a few antique and home-decor shops and outfitters for ski and lake gear, though nothing in fashion or design.

Alta is the dearer of the two. Its few beds are almost all in ski lodges that charge high rates in season, usually with dinner included because there is nowhere else to eat. Lift tickets are moderate for a major American resort, but the cheapest way to ski here is to stay in the valley and come up each day.

At Big Bear, when you go matters more. A shared cabin midweek or out of season, with your own cooking, can be fairly cheap. Winter weekends and school vacations push the cost up sharply.

At Alta there is nothing on stage. Concerts, plays or the symphony mean an evening in Salt Lake City.

Big Bear has a modest local programme. A community arts centre puts on theatre and the occasional touring act, there are free summer concerts by the lake, and Bavarian bands play at the long-running autumn Oktoberfest.

Both offer the same simple kind of rest: a hot tub, a sauna or a massage after a day outdoors, with no thermal water and no real spa scene. At Alta it is the lodges' outdoor tubs steaming in the snow, and the quiet lasts every evening and is deepest on storm days.

Big Bear's version is the private hot tub and wood stove that come with many cabins. It is peaceful midweek, but crowded winter weekends break the calm.