Alta, UT

united states

Alta is a tiny ski town of 284 people tucked at 8,530 feet in Little Cottonwood Canyon, 25 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Take I-215 to State Route 190, which winds 8 miles up through granite canyon walls to reach the road's end. Most visitors are day-trippers from the Salt Lake Valley, though serious powder hounds drive from across the region for the 500+ inches of annual snowfall. Alta Ski Area famously remains one of only three U.S. resorts that still bans snowboarders.