By air: Salt Lake City is a major airline hub, so flights are numerous. Go directly to the shuttle desks in the airport for well-organized ground tranportation.

By train: Amtrak's California Zephyr stops in Salt Lake City (at 4 a.m. coming from the West Coast. The fare is quite reasonable. From Chicago, the train arrives at midnight). Call (800) 872-7245 or consult the Amtrak website, www.amtrak.com.

SALT LAKE CITY TRANSPORTATION

Getting around: Rent a car if you want to cover a lot of ground in the evening; otherwise, use public transportation. Getting to the resorts is a snap: Several ground transportation companies operate shuttles to the ski areas from Salt Lake City. Ask your lodging about arrangements.

You can take the Utah Transit Authority light rail (known as UTA TRAX) from downtown and transfer to a UTA ski bus to take you to any of the Cottonwood Canyon resorts. Be prepared to make transfers and pay close attention to bus schedules associated with going up and down the canyon. This is convenient and very affordable, and the rail cars and buses are remarkably clean. It costs $6 round trip for a Ski Pass. Ski buses have different daily weekday and weekend schedules. They start at 6:53 a.m. and stop around the city and at 10 different hotels. Plan for about an hour total travel time. The only drawback: On Sunday, TRAX doesn't run from downtown until after 10 a.m. If you want to get to the resorts early, you can call a cab (about $25 one way; still cheaper than renting a car) to take you to the ski bus stop. You also can ride the Utah Transit Authority ski buses for $3 round trip from the park-and-ride at the canyon's mouth to any of the Cottonwood Canyon resorts (exact fare is required).

UTA also has a free fare zone downtown, convenient for sightseeing and evening activities. Buses run at night downtown until about 11:30 p.m., but only about once per hour. Call (801) 287-4636 for more info. The city also has several taxi companies.