Snowbird, located twenty miles southeast of Salt Lake City and approximately two miles west of Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon, is one of the major ski areas in Utah and the United States. Its establishment was the fulfillment of George Theodore Johnson's dream. Johnson, a California native, bought fourteen undeveloped acres in Little Cottonwood Canyon in the mid-1960s. He then began acquiring options on 800 acres surrounding the property, consisting mostly of abandoned mining claims which included the well-known Snowbird mine. He established a limited partnership, Snowbird Corporation, to finance the project; obtained land-use permits from the Forest Service; and began devising development plans. While preliminary plans were modest, looking to serve 3,000 day skiers with three or four chairlifts, park 800 vehicles, and house 250 vacation skiers, the project quickly grew in scope, and Johnson's dream of Snowbird was on its way to becoming reality.

In 1969 a crucial event in Snowbird's development took place: Ted Johnson met Richard Bass, a partner in Colorado's Vail Associates. Johnson told Bass of his plans for the resort and Bass, a wealthy businessman, became the major financial backer of the endeavor and eventually bought out Ted Johnson in 1974. By March 1971, a 160-room residential condominium inn (Iron Blosam Lodge) was under construction.