Snowbird or Sonoma?

Neither place is a swimming destination. At Snowbird, swimming means the resort's heated pools, or a drive of about an hour to the cold reservoirs of the Heber Valley. The Great Salt Lake is somewhere to look at, not somewhere to swim.

Sonoma does a little better in summer. The gravel beaches of the Russian River warm up enough for a lazy afternoon in the water. The dramatic coast around Bodega Bay is for scenery, though, because the Pacific there is cold and has dangerous currents.

At Snowbird you eat at the resort. That means lodge dining rooms, slopeside cafeterias, burgers and pizza at après-ski, and one standout dining room at the top of the tram where the main attraction is the view. Most guests drive down to Salt Lake City for variety a night or two each week.

In Sonoma, food and wine are the main reason to visit. You can taste old-vine Zinfandel and Carneros Chardonnay a few steps from the plaza, and eat seasonal Californian cooking made with valley cheese, olive oil and oysters from the coast. The choice of restaurants is small, but the quality is far ahead of anything up the canyon.

Snowbird has almost nothing to see. It is a 1971 resort of avalanche-proof concrete lodges, and the canyon's silver-mining past has left little trace. Museums and historic buildings mean a trip down to Salt Lake City.

Sonoma has a small but real history of its own. The Bear Flag Revolt began on its broad plaza in 1846. Around the plaza are the last Franciscan mission in California and the adobe barracks, and General Vallejo's Gothic-style house is a short walk away. Together they make an easy half day, with the ruins of Jack London's Wolf House to add in Glen Ellen.

Both places are quiet by late evening, and neither has clubs. The difference is when the evening happens. At Snowbird the high point is late afternoon, with skiers on a sunny deck and in the lodge bars, and most people are in bed early before the first tram. In Sonoma, the evening starts after dinner, with wine bars, a brewpub and a couple of saloons around the plaza, and summer nights on the square. For anything livelier, Snowbird guests face a mountain road to Salt Lake City or Park City, and Sonoma guests drive to Santa Rosa.

Snowbird's mountains are its whole reason to exist. The aerial tram rises to about 3,350m, and the canyon is often buried under more than 12m of snow in a season. There are steep chutes, bowls and tree runs that continue through Mineral Basin to Alta. In summer the same slopes lead into the Twin Peaks and Lone Peak wilderness areas, and there is climbing on the canyon's granite.

Sonoma's landscape is gentler: vineyards between the Mayacamas range and the Sonoma Mountains, oak-covered slopes, and redwood groves at Sugarloaf Ridge. It suits cycling, easy hikes up to the Overlook and balloon flights at dawn. It is lovely in spring, but summer heat and the occasional fire smoke limit it in a way the high canyon does not suffer.

From Snowbird there are two outings that really count. One is Salt Lake City, for Temple Square and the State Capitol. The other is Park City's Victorian Main Street. Beyond those, Midway, Sundance and Ogden's 25th Street make pleasant drives rather than real destinations.

Sonoma is much better placed. San Francisco is about an hour away, close enough for a full day in the city. Napa's wine towns are over the hills, and Healdsburg, Petaluma's river town and Sausalito on the bay are all within reach. The catch is that many of these outings feel like another version of wine country, and nearly all of them need a car.

Snowbird suits active families better, especially those with confident young skiers or teenagers. It has a ski school, a compact base without cars, and in summer a mountain coaster, an alpine slide, a ropes course and tram rides. The mountain's expert reputation and the thin air make it harder going with toddlers.

Sonoma is calm and safe, but its days are organised around wine. The plaza playground, the miniature railway park and an African wildlife park near Santa Rosa will fill a day or two. Many families do better staying in San Francisco and visiting the valley for a day.

Once you are at Snowbird, everything is a short walk along the car-free base, and many rooms open straight onto the slopes. The weak point is the single canyon road. It jams on powder mornings and can close for avalanche control, so for restaurants and day trips you need a car or a shuttle.

In Sonoma, the plaza and some tasting rooms are easy to reach on foot, but the wineries, parks and coast are spread out, and buses are of little use. Most visitors hire a car or book a driver, which also settles who stays sober. The flat valley roads are good for cycling to the nearer wineries.

Snowbird's shops are for practical needs: rental skis, goggles, outerwear and resort-branded clothing. For browsing you have to drive to Park City's main street or the malls in Salt Lake City.

Sonoma gives you a pleasant hour or two round the plaza and its arcades. There are independent boutiques, galleries and kitchen shops, and you can buy wine, olive oil and cheese to take home straight from the producers. In summer there is also a farmers' market. Neither place has fashion or department stores.

Both are expensive, but the money goes on different things. At Snowbird the main cost is the skiing itself: lift tickets, rentals and slopeside rooms in peak winter weeks. Multi-resort passes help regular skiers, staying in Salt Lake City cuts costs if you are willing to drive up each morning, and summer is noticeably cheaper.

In Sonoma the costs build up gradually. Rooms are priced for wine-country weekends and harvest, tasting fees add up, and you need a car or a driver. Staying in Santa Rosa or Petaluma, picnicking among the vines and limiting tastings to a few chosen wineries keeps the bill down.

At Snowbird, live performance means summer concerts on the base plaza, oompah bands at the long-running Oktoberfest, and the occasional band at après-ski. Anything more serious means driving down to Salt Lake City.

Sonoma has a modest but real calendar, mainly in summer. Broadway-style shows are staged among the oaks of Jack London State Historic Park, wineries hold concerts, and the 1930s theatre on the plaza puts on some live performances. The Green Music Center, about half an hour away, brings touring orchestras to a fine concert hall.

Snowbird's version of relaxation is the rooftop spa on its main lodge. There is a pool and hot tubs facing the canyon walls, and it is at its best after a hard day on the slopes. For warm mineral water, the Homestead crater in Midway is about an hour away.

Sonoma has its own hot springs. The mineral water at Boyes Hot Springs has fed a historic resort spa for well over a century, and the spa sells day passes. Calistoga's mud baths are an hour away. The calm pace of the town also helps: quiet mornings on the plaza, long afternoons in the shade and early nights make it easier to unwind here than in a resort run on early ski starts.