Alta, Utah or Deer Valley?

Neither is a place for swimming, but Deer Valley at least has somewhere to get wet. Jordanelle Reservoir, a short drive below the resort, has a sandy state-park shore that is pleasant on hot July and August afternoons. In Alta, swimming means a lodge pool or hot tub, because the Great Salt Lake is too shallow and salty to tempt anyone.

In Alta, eating mostly means staying on half board, with a set dinner at communal tables and lunch in the day lodges and cafeterias. It is good fuel for skiers, but for any variety you have to drive down the canyon to Salt Lake City, and the road and weather decide whether you can.

Deer Valley offers polished food on the mountain, and Park City below has more steakhouses, sushi bars and modern American bistros than a town its size would usually support. Ordering a drink with dinner is also easier there than in most of Utah. Neither has markets, street food or a cuisine of its own.

Alta's history is written on the slopes rather than shown in buildings. Traces of the old silver mines survive around one of the oldest ski areas in the West, but there is nothing to tour. Deer Valley gives you a little more through Park City: a restored mining-era Main Street, a museum in the old city hall, and the ski-jump towers and small museum at the Olympic Park. That fills an afternoon, and for anything more serious both point you to Salt Lake City.

An evening in Alta means an après-ski drink in a lodge bar, then bed, and the regulars like it that way. Deer Valley's own lodges are just as quiet after the lifts close. The difference is Park City's Main Street a few minutes away, where saloons, cocktail bars and après spots fill up on ski-season weekends. It is still a small-town scene with few clubs and early closing times, but it is a real night out, which Alta cannot give you.

Both are outstanding mountain bases, but they differ in kind. Alta sits high at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Its snow is the deep, dry powder Utah is known for, the terrain is steep, and backcountry touring into the avalanche-prone bowls is taken seriously. In summer, Albion Basin's wildflower meadows, the walk to Cecret Lake and the moose on the trails are the reward.

Deer Valley is known for immaculate grooming rather than wild powder days, but Park City Mountain is next door and the Cottonwood Canyons, Alta included, are about an hour away. Its summers also have more to do: lift-served mountain biking, fly-fishing on the Provo River, paddling on Jordanelle and the high lakes of the Uintas. Alta has no water to speak of.

The day trips are about equal, and both lead mainly to Salt Lake City's Temple Square, State Capitol and museums. From Alta, Park City's mining-town Main Street makes a second outing, but every winter trip depends on the canyon road, which closes after heavy storms. Deer Valley is closer to the Heber Valley, with the Swiss-styled village of Midway, the historic steam railway and the arts village at Sundance, and its roads are less likely to close.

Deer Valley is clearly the better family base. Its children's ski schools run smoothly, the beginner runs are wide and free of snowboarders, and the Olympic Park adds tubing, ziplines and an alpine coaster. In summer there are lift rides and mountain coasters.

Alta has a ski school and gentle runs near the base, but nothing else built for children. Its higher altitude of around 2,600m tires young children more, and storm days can keep everyone indoors during avalanche control. Families who do not ski will struggle at either, Alta more so.

In Alta, the village itself is easy: lodges sit at the lifts, many are ski-in, ski-out, and a shuttle runs in winter. The trouble is the single road up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It jams on powder mornings, closes after storms and often needs chains, and outside the ski season you need a car.

Deer Valley is better connected. Fare-free buses link its base areas with Main Street, Park City Mountain and Kimball Junction, the old town is walkable, and the airport is about forty minutes away. You still need to drive to reach the Cottonwood Canyons or the Heber Valley.

Alta has ski rental and tuning shops and a little outdoor gear, and that is all. Deer Valley shoppers head down to Park City's Main Street, where galleries, western boots and hats, and upmarket boutiques sit behind the old mining-town shopfronts. The outlet centre at Kimball Junction is there for bargain hunters. Mountain gear is the strength in both places, and Salt Lake City is the answer for anything else.

Both are expensive, but Alta is the more forgiving. Its beds are few and its lodges charge high rates, often with dinner included. Its lift tickets, though, are moderate by the standards of major American resorts.

Deer Valley is among the costliest places to ski anywhere. The lodging is mostly luxury, lift access is priced at the top of the market, and ski school and meals add more. It eases somewhat in summer. At either resort, the usual saving is to sleep in the valley and drive or ride the bus up each day.

Alta has no theatre, concert hall or music venue, so any performance means a trip to Salt Lake City. Deer Valley has a modest but real programme. In summer, the Utah Symphony's outdoor festival brings picnics on the grass at the Snow Park amphitheatre, and all year the restored 1920s Egyptian Theatre on Main Street stages plays, comedy and small concerts. It is an evening's entertainment rather than a reason to visit.

Alta's wellness is simple: outdoor hot tubs in the snow, saunas and massages in a few small lodge spas. Its real strength is quiet, in a tiny village where snowstorms muffle everything and nothing keeps you up at night.

Deer Valley offers more polish. Its slopeside hotels have some of the finest spas in the mountain West, with fireplaces and terrace hot tubs, and the warm spring pool inside the Homestead Crater at Midway is about half an hour away. If you want to be pampered, it is the better choice.