Utah powder and steeps, without the crowds

During a quick swing through Utah last spring, I texted my husband a photo from a ski area of rock- and tree-lined steeps. “Is that Snowbird or Alta?” he responded. His guess was good, but he was about 70 miles off.I was at Snowbasin in northern Utah, a 45-minute drive from Salt Lake City. Most skiers from out of state head to one of the resort clusters on the city’s eastern edge, to Snowbird and Alta, or Brighton and Solitude, or Park City and Deer Valley, which draw thousands