Utah really has it all for the traveling skier. When it comes to great skiing near major airports, Utah dominates the list, because of the unparalleled convenience of the Salt Lake City airport. Airport: Salt lake City Downtown Park City 2,000 is a pretty low bar, most resorts we mention below have way more than that. Sure, you can fly into Minneapolis and be downhill skiing within 30 minutes at a few different ski hills, but those are not the resorts we had in mind for this piece. The ski area has to have at least 2,000 skiable acres and be well-regarded with our staff.The good news is that with the major air carriers flying larger planes to more places, direct routes are being opened up that did not exist before. We wanted to focus on those places where you can likely fly directly in from many different parts of the country, get your rental car, and be on the slopes quickly. You can fly to many ski resorts by connecting and then getting on a small plane to finish the trip, but that wasn’t what we were looking for. The airport has to be served directly from at least 15 cities.Keep in mind that we are only talking about “major” airports, and that brings us to our next point. 60 minutes might still seem like a long drive, but the fact is that there are not many major airports situated right in the mountains. Be 60 minutes or less from a major airport.To make our list, a ski area had to have a few qualities. We set out to find the 5 best ski resorts near major airports. The good news: There are some more convenient ski areas relative to airports than others. Not factoring-in the post-flight drive to your overall travel consideration could make for a rude surprise. The fact is that the travel to and from a ski vacation can be a major part of the expense, time commitment, and overall experience of a ski trip. You pack the skis in a ski bag and boots in a boot bag, pack all of your warm-weather gear, check your luggage and hop a flight to a new ski destination. For the rest of us, travel to and from a major ski resort is just something that comes with the hobby if we want world-class skiing. If you live in a ski town, consider yourself lucky.

Park city, utah airports