Ask a fur-clad aristocrat to point you in the direction of alpine glamour, and you might well end up in St. Moritz, the ritzy Swiss ski resort famous for swanky hotels and a celebrity-fueled après scene. That reputation comes with sky-high prices—think $2,700 a night at the palatial Badrutt’s Palace—and, surprising for a place that markets itself as exclusive, major crowds.

Here’s a domestic alternative: Sun Valley. This independently owned Idaho resort gets around 200 inches of snowfall every year and remains mostly crowd-free, thanks to its remote location. Like St. Moritz, the Sun Valley resort area includes a bustling town, but Ketchum, Idaho, feels more Old-West cool than see-and-be-seen glitz. While the resort attracts its share of one-percenters, you’ll see them lugging their gear to the lifts like the rest of us—no white-glove concierge services here.

Here, a few reasons to ignore St. Moritz (even if you could afford it) and head to Sun Valley instead this winter.

Serious Snow, Stupendous Views

Yes, St. Moritz hosts tremendous pistes like the Hahnensee run. But there’s a reason 56 former and current Olympians hail from Sun Valley. Bald Mountain’s consistent fall-line terrain means no flats or plateaus, just mega downhill. For those whose knees go weak at the sight of black diamonds, plenty of intermediate areas feature gentler groomed trails.

High-speed lifts zip across the mountain’s 3,400 vertical feet, enabling skiers to access a variety of terrain in one day—all against the backdrop of the Pioneer, Boulder and Sawtooth mountain ranges.

A Hemingway Haunt and Destination Dives

Unless you’re willing to settle for pizza or crepes, expect to pay upward of $100 a head for dinner in St. Moritz. Sun Valley, meanwhile, combines high-end offerings with casual-but-tasty spots. For about $20, you could enjoy a baked Idaho potato heaped with teriyaki beef at the taxidermy-adorned Pioneer Saloon; or green curry chicken and Taiwanese-style eggplant at Rickshaw. If you want dinner with a literary patina, grab the French onion soup at Michel’s Christiania, a favorite of longtime resident Ernest Hemingway.

For fine dining, head to Vintage where modern seasonal fare is served in a cozy cabin, or to the Ram, which has delivered comforting classics like pork-tenderloin schnitzel since 1937.

Dive bars are an essential part of the local culture too. At Lefty’s or Grumpy’s, swap powder conquests over a post-piste beer.

First-Class and Second-Hand Shopping

Instead of ritzy chain boutiques, Ketchum offers locally run shops like Independent Goods, which specializes in small-batch home items, and Maude’s Coffee and Clothes, where you can enjoy a latte while browsing for some new denim.If you’re after fancier threads, Ketchum’s resale shops feature many of the same designer brands represented on St. Moritz’s cobblestone streets for a fraction of the retail price. Consign Design traffics in luxury labels like Brunello, Prada, Gucci and Hermès, along with top-drawer skiwear, while Capelet Consign brims with AG, Theory, Veronica Beard and Ulla Johnson. Aptly named, the Gold Mine, a second-hand consignment store that funds the community library, might turn up a YSL coat or a Moncler sweater for peanuts.

A Hotel With History

Think of Sun Valley Lodge as Idaho’s Badrutt’s Palace. Built in 1936 to house guests visiting the country’s first destination ski resort, it’s an expansive grand dame. Like its Swiss counterpart, it has hosted luminaries including Clark Gable, Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra. Hemingway wrote most of “For Whom the Bell Tolls” on site. However, with rates starting at around $500, you could spend five nights there for less than one at Badrutt’s.