Steamboat Springs or Sun Valley?

Neither valley is anywhere near a coast, and swimming in either is cold and limited to a short summer. In Steamboat, getting in the water mostly means tubing the Yampa through town, with chilly dips at Steamboat Lake and Stagecoach. Sun Valley has a real sandy shore at Redfish Lake under the Sawtooths, about an hour north, and heated outdoor pools for a reliable swim.

Both eat like the ski towns they are, and neither is worth the trip for food alone. On Steamboat's Lincoln Avenue and at the ski base the cooking is hearty and western: steakhouses, Colorado lamb and beef, and local breweries. Ketchum is slightly more polished for its size, with a few ambitious kitchens cooking Idaho trout and elk and a summer farmers' market, but it has few cheap options and some kitchens cut their hours in the quiet months.

Each town has about an afternoon of sightseeing, and in both the history is about skiing. Steamboat's grew out of the place itself. You see it in the old western storefronts on Lincoln Avenue, the Tread of Pioneers Museum and Howelsen Hill, where a Norwegian ski jumper started the sport here and Olympians have trained ever since.

Sun Valley's story has more glamour and was built from scratch. The railroad opened the resort in 1936 with the world's first chairlifts, the lodge is lined with photographs of film stars, and Hemingway's grave and memorial are in Ketchum.

Steamboat has a little more going on after dark. Après-ski at the gondola base carries on into the saloons and brewpubs of Lincoln Avenue, and in ski season some of them stay busy into the late evening.

Ketchum's après-ski is quieter: wine bars and hotel lounges, plus a couple of loud western bars, and most evenings end soon after dinner. Neither town has a club.

Both are serious mountain destinations, and the outdoors is the reason to go to either. What differs is the terrain. Steamboat is famous for its light Champagne Powder and tree skiing through aspen glades, with night skiing at Howelsen Hill and backcountry on Rabbit Ears Pass. In summer it has Fish Creek Falls close to town and the Mount Zirkel Wilderness for backpacking.

Sun Valley's Bald Mountain has steep, long runs that drop straight down the slope, which suits strong skiers. In summer the jagged Sawtooths, an hour north, add alpine lakes and climbing, and there is rafting on the Salmon River.

Both towns are remote, and most outings go into the hills. Sun Valley has a bit more to aim for: Hailey's historic main street down the valley, the log-cabin outpost of Stanley beyond the Sawtooths, and Shoshone Falls on the Snake River about two hours south. Near Steamboat there are only small ranching towns such as Hayden and Oak Creek, and anywhere bigger, such as Vail, is two hours of mountain driving away.

With children, Steamboat is the easier choice. As well as a strong ski school and quiet first runs at Howelsen Hill, it has Old Town Hot Springs, with slides and a climbing wall, for days in town. In summer there is tubing on the Yampa, the gondola and the rodeo.

Sun Valley's separate beginner hill is a good place to learn, and there are bike paths, horse rides and an outdoor ice rink. Little is built for children, though, rainy days are hard to fill and teenagers who don't ski may find it dull. In both towns the altitude can tire small children at first.

In both you can manage a ski week without a car, and in both you need one for anything further out. Steamboat has two centres, downtown on Lincoln Avenue and the ski base a few kilometres east, linked by the town bus. Sun Valley is more compact, with Ketchum's small grid, a free bus to the village and the lift bases, and a paved bike path down the valley.

Strawberry Park and Fish Creek Falls in Steamboat, and the Sawtooths and the Warm Springs soaks near Sun Valley, all mean driving mountain roads that need care in winter. The nearest airports, at Hayden and Hailey, are both small.

Sun Valley has a little more to browse. In a few blocks of Ketchum there are fine art and western art galleries with evening gallery walks, well-stocked fly-fishing and outdoor shops, and upmarket boutiques selling cashmere and home decor.

Shopping in Steamboat is more of a western souvenir hunt along Lincoln Avenue: boots, hats and saddle-blanket goods, with the long-established F.M. Light & Sons as its landmark. Neither town is worth a trip for shopping.

Neither is cheap, but Steamboat is the easier on your budget of the two. Self-catering condos, town buses and free trails help, and summer, spring and late autumn cost noticeably less than the Christmas and spring-break weeks.

In Sun Valley the wealthy second-home community sets the prices, there is little budget lodging in the valley, and midsummer is as costly as peak ski weeks. Staying further down the valley and coming in the quiet spring or autumn months are the main ways to bring the cost down.

In both towns live performance comes almost entirely in summer, but the two offer different things. At Sun Valley a full professional orchestra plays several weeks of free symphony concerts in the pavilion by the lodge, with people picnicking on the lawn, and star figure skaters perform on the outdoor rink on summer evenings.

Steamboat's Strings Music Festival covers a wider range, from chamber music to jazz and bluegrass, and Perry-Mansfield in Strawberry Park, founded in 1913, puts on student theatre and dance. For the rest of the year both have little more than bar bands and the odd touring show.

Hot springs gave Steamboat its name, and they make it the better place to slow down. The spring-fed pools of Old Town Hot Springs are right in town, and the rock-lined pools at Strawberry Park, up a mountain road in a wooded creek valley, are a memorable soak on a snowy evening.

Sun Valley relies more on resort spas and heated hotel pools. Its natural springs up the Warm Springs valley are rough creekside soaks with no bathing tradition behind them, and rest there mostly means quiet mornings and early nights.