Big Sky or Vail?

Neither place has any beach life. The water is cold in both even in July, so a swim usually means a hotel pool. In Big Sky the summer alternative is a picnic on the bank of the fast, rocky Gallatin, while Vail's small mountain lakes are better for lying in the sun than for swimming.

Vail has the wider table. Vail Village and Lionshead offer fondue rooms, sushi counters, polished steak and game restaurants and hotel dining rooms with serious wine lists, and in summer there is a farmers' market.

Big Sky sticks to hearty mountain cooking: bison, elk, trout, wood-fired pizza and big ski breakfasts, spread thinly across three villages and the canyon roadhouses. In both resorts kitchens close in the quiet seasons, but in Big Sky the answer to wanting more variety is an hour's drive to Bozeman.

Neither resort is a place for sightseeing, and the little each has is different in character. Big Sky's one genuine piece of the past is the Crail Ranch homestead, a pair of pioneer log cabins in Meadow Village. Vail's village is a 1960s imitation of a Tyrolean town, but its Colorado Snowsports Museum tells the story of the Tenth Mountain Division ski troops, and the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens fill a summer hour.

Vail is where you can actually go out. Après-ski fills the slopeside terraces of Vail Village and Lionshead, and on winter weekends a few bars and a small club keep going past midnight for a well-off, festive crowd.

Big Sky's evenings are shorter and plainer. You get beer on the decks at the lift base, a few taverns in Town Center and old canyon saloons with pool tables, then bed before the first lift. Both go almost silent in spring and autumn.

Both are first-rate mountain bases, so the difference is in character. Big Sky has Lone Peak's steep, high terrain, the Spanish Peaks and the Lee Metcalf Wilderness, and the Gallatin River for fishing and rafting. Its trump card is Yellowstone, about an hour south, with geysers and wildlife no Colorado resort can offer.

Vail answers with its open Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin under dry Rocky Mountain powder, and in summer the Gore Range and Holy Cross wilderness, with lakes and peaks above 4,000m. Autumn, when the aspen slopes turn gold, is its best season outside winter.

Vail has more towns within reach. Breckenridge's Victorian main street is under an hour away, Leadville's brick streets and opera house make a half day, and Glenwood Springs lies down the Colorado River canyon, with Aspen and Denver further off.

From Big Sky, the main town outing is Bozeman and its Museum of the Rockies with its dinosaur fossils. The gold-rush boardwalks of Virginia City and Nevada City are about two hours away. Its best days out are into the landscape rather than to other towns.

Both work for outdoor families in much the same way, with good ski schools, gentle slopes and no zoos or rainy-day museums. Big Sky's summer appeal is horse riding, zip lines and spotting bison in Yellowstone. Vail has a car-free village that is easier to stroll with a pushchair, plus a mountain coaster, tubing and creekside parks. Both sit high enough that small children feel the altitude at first.

Vail is far easier on foot. The village and Lionshead are pedestrian, the gondolas leave from town, and a free bus runs the length of the valley, so a week without a car is normal. The weak point is the road in, as the interstate over Vail Pass can close in heavy snow.

Big Sky is strung out along about 15km of road, from the canyon to Mountain Village. A free bus links the villages, but walking between them is not realistic. Bozeman airport is an hour away, and for Yellowstone or anything beyond the resort you need a hire car.

Vail's pedestrian lanes give you real browsing, with upmarket ski clothing, fur and leather, jewellery, Western boots and hats, and mountain-landscape galleries, though all of it is aimed at wealthy visitors. Big Sky offers little beyond gear shops, a handful of Western boutiques and wildlife art, which is enough for new gloves or a fly rod. For anything more you drive to Bozeman from one, or to Denver from the other.

Neither is a place to save money. Slopeside lodging, lift passes, ski school and restaurant meals cost a great deal in both, and both are cheaper in summer and the shoulder seasons than in winter. In Big Sky, beds down in the Gallatin Canyon, still part of the resort's own stretch of road, cost less than those at the lifts. The bigger saving is to stay in Bozeman, but that means an hour's drive each way.

In Vail, peak winter weeks push prices higher still. The free valley bus is what makes cheaper lodging further down the valley practical, because you can reach the slopes without a car.

Vail has the stronger arts life, concentrated in July and August. Bravo! Vail brings major orchestras to the open-air Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, and the Vail Dance Festival and a long-running jazz festival follow. In winter there is little beyond après-ski bands.

Big Sky's offer is smaller but spread more evenly. A small arts centre in Meadow Village has touring musicians, chamber music and theatre through the ski season, and in summer there are free lawn concerts in Town Center.

Vail does wellness a little better. Its village hotels run polished spas with saunas and steam rooms, and Glenwood Springs, about an hour away, has large mineral pools and vapour caves that have been used since the 1800s.

Big Sky offers hot tubs on the deck, lodge spas built around tired ski legs, and quiet, starry nights. Its nearest natural hot springs are towards Bozeman, so they are an outing rather than part of the stay.