Park City or Winter Park, Colorado?

Neither town is a beach destination, and both send swimmers to hotel pools. The difference is in the lakes. Park City has Jordanelle Reservoir, which has sandy swimming areas and lawns where a summer dip is realistic.

Around Winter Park, Grand Lake and the Granby reservoirs stay cold from snowmelt even in July, so people go out on boats and paddleboards rather than swimming. The hot springs pools down the valley are the warmer way into the water.

Park City eats noticeably better. Wealthy ski crowds support a group of serious restaurants on Main Street and at the resort bases, après-ski on the slopeside decks is a ritual, and Salt Lake City's wider range is a short drive down the canyon.

Winter Park feeds you well enough but rarely gives you a meal to remember. Expect green chile, barbecue, breakfast burritos and brewery pints, with only a few more ambitious dining rooms. On busy weekends, tables fill early.

Neither town is a place for sightseeing, but Park City has a story to show. Its silver-mining past survives in the wooden storefronts on Main Street and the old headframes on the slopes. The Park City Museum and the Olympic Park museums from 2002 fill an afternoon.

Winter Park's heritage is thinner. The Moffat Tunnel railway history and a small ranch museum in Fraser cover it, and a proper day of museums means a long drive to Denver.

Park City has more of a night out. Its run of saloons, cocktail bars and venues with DJs or bands on Main Street can get rowdy at the height of the season, although it still closes well before the small hours.

Winter Park's evenings are mostly après-ski at the base, followed by pubs and brewery taprooms along the highway. The crowd is largely families and skiers heading out for the first lift, so it gets quiet earlier, and there are no clubs.

Both are excellent mountain bases, and the difference lies in the type of terrain. Park City has two big ski areas rising straight from town, Utah's dry, light powder, and Alta, Snowbird, Brighton and Solitude within an hour. In summer, singletrack leaves straight from the streets.

Winter Park is higher, with summits above 3,600m and a season that often runs well into spring. Mary Jane's bumps and trees reward strong skiers, the summer bike park is one of the best known in the country, and the moose and tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park are an hour north.

Both have a modest list of outings, but they work differently. From Park City, Salt Lake City is an easy forty minutes for Temple Square and the Capitol, and the Heber Valley's steam railway and the Swiss-style chalets of Midway are closer still.

From Winter Park, the outings are small historic towns: Georgetown and Idaho Springs over the pass, and the boardwalk at Grand Lake. Denver is farther away, and winter storms on Berthoud Pass can rule out any of these trips.

Both are proven family ski towns, and Park City has a slight edge. At the Utah Olympic Park, children can ride the alpine coaster and ziplines and watch freestyle jumpers land in the splash pool. Salt Lake City's zoo and aquarium are close enough to rescue a bad-weather day.

Winter Park has a large children's ski school and a compact village where everything is a short walk from the lifts, plus tubing, sleigh rides and skating. Its greater altitude and sharper cold are harder on small children, and there is little to do indoors.

Park City is much easier without a car. Free buses link Old Town, both ski bases and the lodging areas, Main Street is walkable even though it is steep, and the airport is only a shuttle ride away.

Winter Park's free shuttle covers the ski week, but lodgings are spread along several kilometres of highway. Trailheads and the national park need a car, and the drive in from Denver crosses a high pass that requires proper winter tyres.

Park City is the one where browsing is a pleasure. Main Street mixes art galleries, cowboy-boot and Western-wear shops, jewellers and ski fashion, and there is an outlet centre at Kimball Junction. Winter Park's shops cover practical needs, such as rental, tuning, bike repairs and a forgotten pair of gloves, and not much else.

Both are costly in ski season, but Winter Park takes noticeably less out of the wallet. It costs less than Colorado's glamour resorts, Fraser's condos and motels undercut the base village, and kitchens trim the food bill.

Park City's slopeside lodging, lift tickets and ski school are among the most expensive in North America, especially over Christmas and New Year. Summer and autumn bring both towns' prices down.

Park City has a real if small stage. The 1920s Egyptian Theatre runs plays, comedy and cabaret all year, and in summer the Utah Symphony plays on the lawns at Deer Valley.

Winter Park has nothing comparable. There are free summer concerts in the town park, and the rest of the year live music means an après-ski band, with no theatre or hall.

Both towns unwind with a hot tub after a day outdoors, and Park City has a slight edge in spa polish. The grand lodges at Deer Valley and the Canyons base run large spas, and Midway's Homestead Crater lets you swim in warm water inside a limestone dome.

Winter Park's spas are fewer. Its real treat is Hot Sulphur Springs, where mineral pools step down a hillside above the Colorado River, and they are best enjoyed in the quiet weeks of late spring or autumn.