Snowbird or Sun Valley?

Neither is a swimming destination, but Sun Valley at least gives you a real summer swim. Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths has a sandy shore and cold, clear water, and there are river eddies on the Big Wood closer to town.

From Snowbird the nearest options are the Heber Valley reservoirs, about an hour away, or the resort's heated pools. The Great Salt Lake is a sight to look at, not a place to swim.

Sun Valley eats better because Ketchum is a real town with a surprising number of restaurants. Some of its kitchens cook Idaho trout, lamb and elk, and summer adds a farmers' market and patio tables.

Snowbird's dining is confined to the lodges, the base plaza and the dining room at the top of the tram. It is competent but repetitive over a week, which is why guests drive down to Salt Lake City for dinner once or twice.

Snowbird has almost nothing to see at the resort itself. Its silver-mining past and the old granite quarry at the canyon mouth survive only as stories, and the resort is a 1970s creation whose only real interest is its stark concrete architecture. Anything historic means a trip down to Salt Lake City.

Sun Valley can fill an afternoon, which Snowbird cannot. It was the country's first destination ski resort, opened by a railroad in the 1930s, and the lodge still carries the feel of that era. Ketchum adds Hemingway's grave and memorial and two small museums. It is a short list, but you can see it all without leaving the valley.

Both wind down early, and the difference is in the setting. At Snowbird the evening is a couple of lodge bars and a sunny deck at the base, and it is over by mid-evening. Ketchum has more places to choose from, with saloons, wine bars, hotel lounges and a couple of loud western bars that stay open until closing time. Neither has a club.

Both are outstanding mountain destinations. Snowbird is about the snow itself: the tram to roughly 3,350m, often more than 12m of dry powder in a season, steep chutes and bowls linked through Mineral Basin to Alta, and skiing that can last into late spring.

Sun Valley is more varied. Bald Mountain has long, unbroken fall-line runs and there is a separate beginners' hill. Around them are Nordic trails, fly fishing on Silver Creek, rafting on the Salmon and the Sawtooth range an hour north, so its summer is broader than Snowbird's hiking and wildflowers in Albion Basin.

Snowbird has far more within reach. Salt Lake City, with Temple Square and the State Capitol, is forty minutes away, and Park City's Victorian Main Street is about an hour. Midway, Sundance and Ogden's 25th Street can fill further days.

Sun Valley's outings mostly lead into empty country. You can visit Hailey's small main street, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley or Shoshone Falls two hours south. Boise is too far for a comfortable day.

The two suit families about equally, in different ways. Snowbird's car-free base and summer coaster, alpine slide and ropes course appeal to active older children, but the steep mountain favours teenagers and confident skiers. Sun Valley's separate beginners' hill is better for small children learning to ski. It has no attractions built just for children, though, while Snowbird is within reach of Salt Lake City's zoo and aquarium.

Both are easy on foot once you arrive, and the difference lies in getting out. At Snowbird everything sits along one car-free base, but the only road in is a single canyon road that jams on powder mornings and can close for avalanche control.

Sun Valley has a free bus linking Ketchum, the village and the lift bases, plus a valley-long bike path, so many people manage a ski week without a car. Reaching a major airport or the trailheads beyond town still means long drives.

Sun Valley is the better place to browse. Ketchum has fine and western art galleries, serious fly-fishing and outdoor shops, and upmarket boutiques selling cashmere and western wear. The galleries hold evening walks in season.

At Snowbird, shopping amounts to a few base-area stores for rentals, goggles and resort-branded clothing. For anything more you need Salt Lake City or Park City.

Both are expensive, and the ways to save differ. At Snowbird you can stay in a Salt Lake City hotel and drive up each morning, and multi-resort passes help frequent skiers. Sun Valley has little budget lodging. The main ways to cut costs there are staying further down the valley, using the free buses and visiting in the quiet spring or autumn.

Sun Valley wins clearly, though only in summer. The music festival brings a full professional orchestra to the pavilion by the lodge for weeks of free concerts, with picnics on the lawn, and star skaters perform on the outdoor rink in the evenings.

Snowbird has summer concerts on the plaza and oompah bands for its Oktoberfest weekends. For symphony, opera or theatre you have to drive down the canyon.

Sun Valley has more ways to relax. It has hotel spas and outdoor heated pools that are lovely in falling snow, and the rough natural hot springs beside the creek up Warm Springs give a wilder kind of soak.

Snowbird puts almost everything into one place, the rooftop spa on its main lodge, with pool and hot tubs facing the canyon walls. For something different, the warm geothermal crater at Homestead in Midway is about an hour away.