Charles Leocha Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

Skiers and snowboarders in the U.S. are enjoying an epic year of snow. Right now, the U.S. has the best skiing and riding conditions in the world. Better yet, most of the resorts with the longest seasons in North America are within only an hour of two great spring skiing airports—Salt Lake City, Utah, and Reno, Nevada.

Salt Lake City, Utah, and Reno, Nevada, are two of America’s easiest airports to reach. Within an hour’s springtime drive from these cities there are 18 wonderful resorts with some of the longest ski and snowboarding seasons on the continent. Both Salt Lake City and Reno have nearby golf courses that allow visitors to ski in the morning and then golf in the afternoon when the snow begins to get mushy. It’s a combination that’s hard to beat.

Spring is the best time to glide down snowy mountain trails and carve monster GS turns. Daytime temperatures rise comfortably above freezing. The sun seems warmer and brighter. Apres-ski definitely heats up in the afternoon warmth. Jackets come off. Sunscreen goes on. Then throw in the discounted pricing most resorts offer during the spring like cheap midweek rooms and 2 for 1 ticket deals, and a skiing or riding vacation makes all the sense in the world.

Salt Lake City is so committed to skiing and snowboarding that the city runs regular buses from downtown right to the lifts of Brighton, Solitude, Alta and Snowbird. Plus, visitors can purchase a single lift ticket that allows skiing at all of these resorts.

Tucked into the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons, these resorts are blessed with copious amounts of snow. After getting pounded all winter long with their signature powder, April in these canyons normally sees more than five feet of new snow. Believe it or not, the snow comes down fluffy and dry even in the spring.

Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon is the Utah champion when it comes to the longest ski season. It has kept its lifts running into May ever since it opened in the 70s. Some years, it stays open until the 4^th of July. If you are planning to ski later in the season, speak with the locals to learn how the sun moves across the resort. Skiers and riders who plan correctly will be rewarded with some excellent corn snow. It’s an art.

The same weather patterns that bless Snowbird with exceptional spring snow also dump snow on Alta further up the Little Cottonwood Canyon and on Solitude Ski Resort and Brighton Ski Resort in the adjoining Big Cottonwood Canyon.

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These four resorts are an easy 45-minute to hour-long drive from the Salt Lake City airport. In fact folk flying in from the East Coast can catch an early morning flight and make tracks in the afternoon.

Nearby Park City, only about an hour from downtown Salt Lake City, has three more world class resorts — Park City Mountain Resort, The Canyons and Deer Valley — surrounding a quaint old mining town. Park City Mountain Resort trails drop right into the town (however, in the spring skiers may be limited to skiing to the base area). Deer Valley, known for perfect grooming, has spectacular brass and glass cafeterias and hundreds of beach chairs set up to let skiers and snowboarders catch rays and watch the other skiers.

Forty-five minutes north of Salt Lake City, Snowbasin trails curl down Olympic slopes and lead to some of the most beautiful lodges and mountain restaurants on any mountain in North America that beckon for long lazy lunches. Only a few minutes further across the Upper Ogden Valley, Powder Mountain’s trails spread out over the largest in-bounds terrain in Utah. The snow quality normally remains excellent in the trees down “The Backside” and the bus ride back to the base area is a gas.

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