Aspen or Snowbird?

Neither place is for swimming. In Aspen the summer water is right outside town: the alpine lakes and small reservoirs are cold, and the Roaring Fork River is better for rafting than for a dip, so most people swim in a hotel pool.

Snowbird keeps you in its heated resort pools unless you drive about an hour to the Heber Valley reservoirs, which have small beaches. The Great Salt Lake is close but is something to look at, not swim in.

Aspen eats far better. Its downtown grid holds chef-led restaurants, steak and sushi counters, Italian places and serious wine lists, there is a long après-ski hour at the base of Aspen Mountain, and the Food & Wine Classic comes to town each June. There is little cheap food, though, and many kitchens close in the spring and autumn lulls.

At Snowbird you eat at the resort: lodge restaurants, cafeterias, a dining room at the top of the tram with big views, and pizza at the bars. Utah's liquor rules add some quirks. Most guests drive the forty minutes to Salt Lake City for a night or two of variety.

Aspen at least has a past you can see. The silver boom left Victorian blocks and the Wheeler Opera House downtown, and painted miners' cottages in the West End. There is also the Aspen Art Museum and Herbert Bayer's modernist Aspen Institute campus, with the ghost town of Ashcroft up the valley. It fills an afternoon rather than a trip.

Snowbird has almost nothing to see. Its angular concrete lodges are built against avalanches, and the canyon's mining and quarrying history has left little trace. For sightseeing you go down to Salt Lake City.

Aspen is the one with a night out. Après-ski moves from the slopeside decks to downtown bars and lounges, and over Christmas, New Year and the X Games a few small clubs and hotel bars stay full late with a dressed-up crowd. Summer evenings are calmer, spent on patios.

Snowbird's evening peaks at the lodge bars and sunny deck at the end of the ski day. By mid-evening people are thinking about the first tram, and anything later means driving the canyon road to Salt Lake City or Park City.

Both are outstanding mountain destinations, but in different ways. Aspen gives you variety: four separate mountains linked by free shuttles, from Buttermilk's gentle slopes to Highlands' steeps and the size of Snowmass. In summer it is just as strong, with the Maroon Bells, 4,000m summits, Independence Pass, rafting and fly-fishing on the Roaring Fork, and gold aspen groves in late September.

Snowbird is one big, steep mountain with exceptional snow. The tram climbs to Hidden Peak, more than 12m of dry powder can fall in a season, and the chutes and bowls run through Mineral Basin to Alta, often skiable into late spring. Its summers are quieter, with wildflowers in Albion Basin, wilderness hiking and climbing on the canyon's granite.

Snowbird has the better choice of outings. Salt Lake City, forty minutes away, has Temple Square, the domed Capitol and real museums, and Park City's Victorian Main Street is about an hour off. Sundance, Midway and Ogden's 25th Street fill out a second day.

From Aspen you get small mountain towns: Glenwood Springs an hour down the valley, Carbondale on the way, and Redstone and Marble up the Crystal River. Leadville over Independence Pass is the best of them, but the pass closes in winter, which shortens the list.

Aspen is the easier family ski trip. Buttermilk and Snowmass have gentle terrain, good ski schools and kids' areas, and in summer there are lift-served coasters, ropes courses, nature programmes and fountains to play in downtown.

Snowbird's steep, expert reputation makes it better for teenagers and confident young skiers than for beginners. Its car-free base is easy to manage, and it has summer coasters and an alpine slide, but zoos and children's museums are down in Salt Lake City. The thin air can tire small children in both places.

Aspen is much easier to manage without a car. You can walk the flat downtown grid in minutes, the gondola leaves from its edge, free buses run to the other three mountains and down the valley, and the airport is just outside town. Only trips further afield, over passes that winter storms can close, need a car.

At Snowbird everything inside the resort is a short walk, but the whole place depends on one winding canyon road. It jams on powder mornings, and avalanche control can shut it and keep guests indoors for hours. For dinners in the city or day trips you need a car or a shuttle.

Aspen is a real shopping stop, if mainly for luxury. A few downtown blocks hold international designer boutiques, high-end ski wear, jewellers, Western leather and art galleries, and strolling the pedestrian malls is part of an evening out.

Snowbird has a few base-area stores for rentals, outerwear and the goggles you forgot. For boutiques you go to Park City's Main Street, and for malls and outlets to Salt Lake City.

Neither is cheap, but Snowbird is easier on the wallet. It is pricey like any big Western ski resort, yet multi-resort passes reduce lift costs, and staying in a Salt Lake City hotel and driving up saves a great deal, at the cost of not waking up on the slopes.

Aspen is among the most expensive places to vacation anywhere. Rooms, lift tickets, ski school, meals and drinks are all priced for very wealthy visitors. Staying in Glenwood Springs or Carbondale helps but does not make it a budget trip. Both are noticeably cheaper outside winter.

Aspen has a genuine summer arts season. For about eight weeks the Aspen Music Festival and School brings top soloists and orchestras to the Benedict Music Tent, where you can listen for free from the lawn, and there are also jazz, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and the Wheeler Opera House all year.

Snowbird offers plaza concerts in summer, oompah bands at its Oktoberfest and the occasional après-ski band. For the symphony, opera or theatre you drive down to Salt Lake City.

Aspen has more ways to unwind, at least outside peak ski season, when the town is busy. There are riverside paths, yoga in the parks and resort spas, the big mineral pools and cave vapour baths of Glenwood Springs an hour away, and Conundrum Hot Springs at the end of a long hike.

Snowbird puts its relaxation in one place: the rooftop spa on the main lodge, with a pool and hot tubs facing the canyon walls at dusk. Its car-free village and dark, still nights are calm, and the Homestead crater in Midway offers a warm soak inside a limestone dome.