North America's 16 Best Ski Resorts

[Lola]

Per Outside magazine: Best Ski Resorts

1) Alta/Snowbird, UT - skied it
2) Jackson Hole, WY - skied it and going back in January 2010
3) Alyeska, AK - skied it
4) Silverton, CO - never been there
5) Breckenridge, CO - skied it
6) Whistler/Blackcomb, BC - never been there but want to go
7) Park City, UT - skied it
8) Aspen/Snowmass, CO - never been there
9) Powder Mountain, UT - never been there
10) Jay Peak, VT - skied it
11) Bridger Bowl, MT - never been there
12) Crested Butte, CO - never been there
13) Revelstoke, BC - never been there
14) Steamboat, CO - skied it
15) Taos, NM - never been there
16) Mammoth, CA - never been there

I have 7 out of 16, so that's 44%. I must say that I loved Alta, and Jackson Hole, and Steamboat. Jay Peak can be very cold but has excellent terrain.

What do you think? Agree with their rankings? Have you skied more than 44% of them?

Discuss . . .

 

[abc]

Agree with their rankings?

NO!

I've only skied exactly half of the list. So perhaps I'm not the best judge to the merit of the list.

But of the 8 that I skied, I'm not impressed with about 1/4 of it. I don't think much of Breck and Park City. There're much better resorts (in my view) that weren't on the list.

So I'd say I don't agree with the list.

 

[skibum4ever]

I've skied 75% of those areas.

Although I have an Epic Pass and I do ski Breck, it is not one of my favorites. I would never ski Park City or Taos again, or Jay Peak because it is in the east, but I would be happy to return to any of the others and to ski any of those I have missed.

Sadly, with a Mammoth Pass and an Epic Pass, it's unlikely I will ski many other areas in the next few years. It's hard to spend the money when you have already paid for 2 season passes!

 

[vernabee]

so sad that not even one of the tahoe resorts made it on that list...

 

[vickie]

Being new to, well, everywhere, I'd appreciate hearing some of the why's ... why you like or don't like a resort.

For instance, I had read that Bretton Woods was pretty flat and boring. Ended up going there anyway (based on advice of some NH teens at McDonald's) one day toward the end of last year. It was during a bad icy time. BW did such an amazing job of grooming. The snow looked like granulated sugar. We had a great time, unlike the previous day at Waterville (which same teens had recommended we NOT do). In that case, it was Waterville, 0 ... Bretton Woods, 1.

 

[ski diva]

To be honest, I think these lists are pretty worthless. What's great for one person might be awful for another. For example, you might love Bretton Woods. But someone who only wants to ski the chutes at Jackson Hole might think it's a bit too tame. It really depends on where you are with your skiing and what you're looking for. Get the best match, and you'll be a happy skier.

 

[Severine]

To be honest, I think these lists are pretty worthless. What's great for one person might be awful for another. For example, you might love Bretton Woods. But someone who only wants to ski the chutes at Jackson Hole might think it's a bit too tame. It really depends on where you are with your skiing and what you're looking for. Get the best match, and you'll be a happy skier.

I completely agree with this. Each of our criteria for what makes a mountain a top ski resort will vary, sometimes dramatically. A random list without backing up what makes that mountain a "Top 16" is meaningless. And if it doesn't have what *I* am looking for, then it's pointless, too.

 

[sibhusky]

Per Outside magazine: Best Ski Resorts

1) Alta/Snowbird, UT - skied it
2) Jackson Hole, WY -never been there
3) Alyeska, AK - never been there
4) Silverton, CO - never been there
5) Breckenridge, CO - skied it
6) Whistler/Blackcomb, BC - skied it in summer
7) Park City, UT - skied it
8) Aspen/Snowmass, CO - skied it
9) Powder Mountain, UT - never been there
10) Jay Peak, VT - never been there
11) Bridger Bowl, MT - skied it
12) Crested Butte, CO - never been there
13) Revelstoke, BC - never been there
14) Steamboat, CO - skied it
15) Taos, NM - never been there
16) Mammoth, CA - never been there

44%

I just can't agree with Bridger. I don't see what the fuss is about. The lifts are slow and there are lines for most of them on weekends or when there is powder. The area's legendary "cold smoke" gets pounded away by the locals almost immediately. The lower part of the mountain is flat as a pancake. I admit the lift ticket is a steal, but that is all I will admit. When Big Sky's huge acreage is in the vicinity I just don't know how you can compare, and I don't even LIKE Big Sky. I think my own mountain tops both of them for value and snow quality. I will concede that for those who want hair raising steeps we lose out. But in truth how many are looking for that? We've got great backcountry, powder stashes that last for a long long time and no lines. Reasonable prices. Great scenery.

 

[SkiBam]

Gosh, I've done a meagre 25% of this list: Whistler/Blackcomb (2 days there a few years ago - not fabulous conditions after a thaw/freeze); Jackson Hole (loved loved loved it and agree it should be among the top resorts); Revelstoke (2 days last season and loved loved loved it - hope to go back this year), and Jay (skied there lots as it's relatively close to Montreal - was even under Canadian ownership for a number of years - can be good, but I've had some not-so-great days there). It depends so much on conditions, doesn't it.

Don't you think the resort you ski at most is usually among your faves? For example, I can ski at Tremblant whenever it's good, so I probably would rate higher than someone who has just a few days there and hits iffy conditions.

 

[abc]

so sad that not even one of the tahoe resorts made it on that list...

That's part of my beef with the list! There're some seriously good places in Tahoe that blow away some on the list.

But to be honest, these "best of" anything (not just ski resorts, but skis) are just marketing ploys. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Vail is conspicuously missing.
Wonder what their criteria for "best" were?
At least in the regulation mag resort ratings, there are tons of criteria listed: best _____(fill in the blank), best that, etc. Snow, weather, most challenging terrain, apres-ski.

 

[abc]

Vail is conspicuously missing.
Wonder what their criteria for "best" were?

I noticed that too.

Perhaps the "cool" factor? But then Park City is equally "un-cool"...

 

[ski4fun]

For us it is all about the conditions, we went to Colorado for the first time last year and skied Beaver Crk, Vail, A-Basin, Keystone, Breck, Copper. (Not bad for a week!) My favorites are linked to where we had the best snow/conditions. But I am from Minnesota so when we are in the mountains it's hard to have a bad day.

 

[belle]

That's part of my beef with the list! There're some seriously good places in Tahoe that blow away some on the list.

But to be honest, these "best of" anything (not just ski resorts, but skis) are just marketing ploys. Nothing more, nothing less.

x 3

 

[KarenD]

I've skiied half of the list (Alta, Jackson Hole, Breckenridge, Whistler, Park City, Powder Mountain, Steamboat, Taos) but only three of those are on my personal top 10 list. Still, this list seems to be a better match with my preferences than a lot of the ones I've seen, so maybe I should put some of the ones I haven't been to on my to do list (Aspen is already on that list but I keep putting it off because I think it'll be like Vail and I do not like Vail all that much).

Edited to say it's making more sense to me now that I clicked on the link. There are categories:

Ideal for powder: Alta/Snowbird, Jackson Hole, Alyeska, Silverton
Ideal for partying: Breckenridge, Whistler/Blackcomb, Park City, Aspen/Snowmass
Ideal for off-piste: Powder Mountain, Jay Peak, Bridger Bowl, Crested Butte
Editor's choice for sidecountry: Revelstoke
Editor's choice for trees: Steamboat
Editor's choice for steeps: Taos
Editor's choice for park riding: Mammoth

I like powder, off-piste, and trees more than partying, sidecountry, steeps, and park riding. (Though I admit have not tried park riding.)