[5][6][7] Alta is one of three remaining ski resorts in the U.S. that prohibit snowboarders, along with nearby competitor Deer Valley and Vermont's Mad River Glen.

Located at the head of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Albion Basin and Collins Gulch, barely 30 miles (48 km) from the Great Salt Lake, Alta resides in a unique micro climate characterized by over 547 inches (1,390 cm) of high volume, low moisture snowfall annually.

[citation needed] In 1937 a prominent Salt Lake City lawyer, Joe Quinney, along with other local businessmen, formed the Utah Winter Sports Association to oversee the development of skiing at Alta.

In the following year construction began on the original Collins chairlift, fashioned from a surplus mining ore tramway system that featured a clamp-cam bullwheel gripping a metal cable strung with single-seat chairs.

Alta opened to skiers for the first time in 1939 on January 15,[2][3] offering a single ride on the chair for 25 cents.

During the 2007–08 season, Alta introduced a new Axess RFID electronic lift ticket system, similar to that of the Solitude Ski Resort.

During the 2008–09 season, Alta added a conveyor system at the start point of the Supreme lift that assists skiers in loading.

For the 2022-23 season, Leitner-Poma constructed a high speed six pack to replace the Sunnyside and Albion lifts.

[12]On January 15, 2014, a group called Wasatch Equality[13] and four individual snowboarders filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Utah against Alta Ski Area and the United States Forest Service, seeking to permanently disallow Alta from enforcing its anti-snowboarder policy and snowboarding ban.