A week isn’t enough at Park City Mountain. You’d have to ski or board your pants off to find and explore every nook and cranny of the resort’s 2,954 hectares and 330 runs. America’s largest ski resort has two bases – Mountain Village and Canyons Village – and the 43 lifts are so spread out it takes a day to get from one end of the resort to the other and back again. Take on the challenge to try as many lifts and runs as you can in one day. The only problem is you might then be too tired for the buzzy après and dining scene on historical Main Street.

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As pretty as a Dickens’ Christmas card, Park City’s Wild West feel is best experienced on Main Street, with its clapboard buildings housing art galleries, quirky gift shops and more than a hundred bars and restaurants. Try a shot ski – a ski lined with shot glasses – at No Name Saloon or drop into High West Distillery and Saloon, which is the only ski-in/ski-out distillery in North America.

If you have the need for speed then you can’t get much faster (or crazier) than hurtling down the official Olympic bobsleigh track, where you go from zero to 60mph in a cloud of powder. Park City was home to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games – and the upcoming 2034 games – and you can get the full Olympic experience at Utah Olympic Park, with its bobsleigh track, six Nordic ski jumps and the 2002 Winter Games museum.

Yeah, you better make it two weeks.

If you want some of that guaranteed white stuff then Snowbird delivers, with an average annual snowfall of more than 12 metres. (It gets so much snow the slopes sometimes remain open until 4th of July.) Snowbird has it all – serious chutes, nail-biting cliff drops, moguls, trees, long lung-busting groomers, terrain parks and everything in between – making it one of the most diverse and challenging resorts around. 

If you’re a powder hound, your chances of hitting the jackpot are pretty good. Snowbird was my first-ever experience of the famed Utah smoky powder and I felt as if I was in a Warren Miller film as my knees disappeared in slow motion into deep snowy wonderfulness.

Snowbird is for hardcore skiers and sliders, but it does also have some fantastic terrain for beginners. Intermediates will have a blast on the cruisers, especially in Gad Valley. And make sure you take a ride through the mountain (literally – there’s a tunnel with a magic carpet) that leads you out to the intermediate and advanced terrain in Mineral Basin.

Best of all is that Snowbird is only a 40-minute drive from Salt Lake City Airport.

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I haven’t skied at Brian Head, but you’d think I would have, seeing as they named it after me. Set among the striking red rocks of Southern Utah, Brian Head packs a surprising punch into a small package. Thanks to its dual-peak layout over Navajo Mountain and Giant Steps Mountain, this resort has 218 skiable hectares and provides an even spread of different levels of terrain. Everyone from families to experts will get the most out of a trip here.

With an annual snowfall average of more than 10 metres, Brian Head often stays open longer than its bigger, better-known neighbours to the north. This same snow also provides spectacular views of the red rock hoodoos sprinkled with snow in the neighbouring national parks.

Bookend your ski trip with a visit to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon to experience the ultimate Utah trilogy.