I am planning on skiing Utah (around Salt Lake City) early in the season. I usually go out west once a season, usually in Feb. Circumstances are forcing me to go earlier this year. I have never been to Utah.

How early can I go and expect good skiing with all/most of the runs to be open?

Will any Utah ski areas be better than other areas at that time of the year?

I can only tell you anecdotally that we were in Park City a few years ago the week that ended just before Christmas and the snow cover was pretty bad. I think it's different from year to year though.

It totally depends on the year, and how early it starts snowing. We have gone to Snowbird/Alta at Christmas and had really good snow the whole time.

You will improve your chances by skiing as high as you can---in other words, Alta. It doesn't take a lot of snow to give good coverage on the runs there. Snowbird, on the other hand, needs quite a bit, at least on the front side around the Peruvian area. Gad Valley might be OK with less.

December does not tend to have the best snow. Given that, the better places are in the Cottonwood Canyons--Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude--because they are higher and in the right place to get hit with "lake effect" snowstorms.

Then again, it depends on your standards. One December day, I got on the lift and asked the person on the chair with me if it was icy. He responded by saying "You're asking the wrong person. I'm from New Hampshire. If you can't see yourself in the reflection, its not icy." I laughed. And December is definitely warmer than January. I wouldn't go at the beginning of December but I wouldn't go between xmas and new years either--crowded and can be REALLY cold. So some time in the 2 middle weeks of December would be best.

Have others experienced the same as sf7307? Might Park City be a poor choice in December?

What is more important? Really good snow or good restaurants, shops etc? Because the Cottonwood Canyons will have the better snow but Park City is a better after ski experience. Or you could stay in Salt Lake and have good restaurants, shopping etc and then decide each day where you want to ski. It's about 30-45 minutes from SLC to the ski resorts. Again--depends on the experience you want to have.