What's your favorite ski town(s)?

[marzNC]

Came across an unusual list of ski towns. It was put together in late 2020. The primary criterion was that the ski town had to have a population under 10,000. The list includes many towns with populations under 3000.

Is your favorite ski town(s) on the list? If not, why is it your favorite?

Nov 2020

45 Most Charming Ski Towns in the U.S.

Some small towns embrace winter so well that we wanted to highlight them in a handy travel guide for future ski trips.

www.farandwide.com

Since I live in North Carolina, I was happy to see Beech Mountain and Blowing Rock included. Of the towns related to destination resorts out west, my favorites Alta and Taos are included. The official population of the town of Alta is 383.

 

[liquidfeet]

This list included all my favorite ski towns in New England. Some of them are tiny villages. I was surprised.

 

[RachelV]

I do love Alta but not sure I've ever considered it a town. Do you hang out in Alta (off resort) when you ski up there?

My criteria for good ski towns are flexible but definitely involve the town having something going on besides just the resort. Like -- if the resort went away, would there be anything left of the town? My list includes Steamboat, Stowe, Frisco, Lake Placid, Crested Butte...

 

[Pequenita]

I do love Alta but not sure I've ever considered it a town.

The last time I was there, the shuttle driver told me a hilarious story about a couple of non-skiing women who had gone expecting it to be like Aspen. Hah. Doh.

 

[Christy]

The author probably just did internet "research" to cobble together the article. Glacier WA, Leavenworth WA, Valdez AK, are also not ski towns. Glacier isn't even a town.

 

[marzNC]

I do love Alta but not sure I've ever considered it a town. Do you hang out in Alta (off resort) when you ski up there?

The locals hang out at the Goldminer's Daughter bar. Alta is a town in the sense that there is a Mayor, a community center, and a church. Plus all the lodges are independently owned. Meaning they are not just a collection of resort buildings, as is the case at neighboring Snowbird.

The last time I was there, the shuttle driver told me a hilarious story about a couple of non-skiing women who had gone expecting it to be like Aspen. Hah. Doh.

LOL!

Alta is definitely not a "ski town" like Stowe, Park City, or Aspen.

 

[MissySki]

Yay Bethel!

 

[Bookworm]

International Falls is not a ski town, it's a hockey town.
What a wonderful list, though. I've never been to Maine, but that state, the Adirondacks and the Poconos are on my bucket list - not to ski, necessarily, but I'd love to go hiking there.
And I'm lucky to be writing this from beautiful Petoskey (down the road from Boyne City).

 

[marzNC]

What a wonderful list, though. I've never been to Maine, but that state, the Adirondacks and the Poconos are on my bucket list - not to ski, necessarily, but I'd love to go hiking there.

Lately, my favorite region for easy hiking is western MA. The Berkshires includes Mt. Greylock State Park. Like the Adirondack Park, it was created before the National Parks system. Maine is definitely a must see place. Especially if you like lobster.

What I want to check out is the skiing in the midwest. Probably starting with locations on the Indy Pass. Winterfest in Lake Geneva sounds like fun. I've been to the Winter Festival in Saranac Lake. Volunteers cut the ice blocks from the lake. The design is different every year.

 

[Soujan]

I passed through Saranac Lake last week thinking it would be similar to Lake Placid. Sadly, it was not. Town was empty. Almost no one around and many of the shops were shuttered.

I went to Sugarloaf in 2019. Carrabassett Valley is not charming at all. It's a tiny depressed place with very few shops. I attempted to find place to purchases groceries and there was only one small place in the town. Everything was past due. I looked a at steak and it was gray. Looked like it should have been thrown away in the trash 2 weeks prior. There was no place for us to go eat in town and had could only eat on the mountain. Loved the skiing.

I love North Conway, NH. Everyone is super friendly. Quaint town but just a little south are the outlets if you need a little bit more. It's on my short list of places to retire to.

 

[MissySki]

I passed through Saranac Lake last week thinking it would be similar to Lake Placid. Sadly, it was not. Town was empty. Almost no one around and many of the shops were shuttered.

I went to Sugarloaf in 2019. Carrabassett Valley is not charming at all. It's a tiny depressed place with very few shops. I attempted to find place to purchases groceries and there was only one small place in the town. Everything was past due. I looked a at steak and it was gray. Looked like it should have been thrown away in the trash 2 weeks prior. There was no place for us to go eat in town and had could only eat on the mountain. Loved the skiing.

I love North Conway, NH. Everyone is super friendly. Quaint town but just a little south are the outlets if you need a little bit more. It's on my short list of places to retire to.

North Conway is such a great town!

 

[marzNC]

I passed through Saranac Lake last week thinking it would be similar to Lake Placid. Sadly, it was not. Town was empty. Almost no one around and many of the shops were shuttered.

Saranac Lake is much more of a summer-only place in terms of tourist trade. It was that way pre-pandemic. Some people stop in there on the way to the Wild Center nature museum. Pisgah is a community ski hill that's just outside Saranac Lake.



I've come to like Saranac Lake more than Lake Placid simply because it's less busy. In August, there were tourists walking around downtown and there weren't too many empty storefronts. I stopped in my favorite shops, including the little independent bookstore. The toy shop is one of the best. Bought Christmas presents there when my friends' kids were 8 and under since that's when my daughter was at North Country School.

Lake Placid was a summer destination for people from New York City a hundred years ago. They would take the train. The first Winter Olympics held in Lake Placid happened in 1932. Since NY created The Adirondack Park in 1892, LP was already a well established tourist destination by the 1920s.

I've been reading about the Lost Ski Areas of the Adirondacks. Marble Mountain existed in the decade before the Whiteface Ski Center opened in 1958. It was the largest ski area to be abandoned in the region. It was between the current Whiteface terrain and the highway that goes up to the top of Whiteface Mountain. That's the windy side of the mountain.

 

[knolan12]

I'm a sucker for Stowe haha We usually only ski one day when we go up there because it's so expensive, but I love the little town. We usually hit up The Alchemist, Von Trapp, and the Cabot store (closer to the highway) and the little local shops. We stay at The Stowehof, which is this older, Austrian-style hotel. Its "living room" has beautiful views of the area and its pub has a delicious cheese fondue. Also, the restaurants in Stowe are SO GOOD. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there.

Camden and Bethel have been on my list (somehow have never gotten to Sunday River). There's a few in the Northeast on this list I haven't heard of and will definitely be added to the road trip list.

 

[Ski Sine Fine]

Not surprised that Breckenridge is on there.

Maine is definitely a must see place. Especially if you like lobster.

Did someone say Maine & lobster?

 

[MissySki]

I'm a sucker for Stowe haha We usually only ski one day when we go up there because it's so expensive, but I love the little town. We usually hit up The Alchemist, Von Trapp, and the Cabot store (closer to the highway) and the little local shops. We stay at The Stowehof, which is this older, Austrian-style hotel. Its "living room" has beautiful views of the area and its pub has a delicious cheese fondue. Also, the restaurants in Stowe are SO GOOD. I don't think I've ever had a bad meal there.

Camden and Bethel have been on my list (somehow have never gotten to Sunday River). There's a few in the Northeast on this list I haven't heard of and will definitely be added to the road trip list.

If you ever make it to Sunday River, there are a few divas who are always there to ski with!

 

[Little Lightning]

The author probably just did internet "research" to cobble together the article. Glacier WA, Leavenworth WA, Valdez AK, are also not ski towns. Glacier isn't even a town.

Agreed, Mad River Mountain in Ohio is 108 miles from Zanesville, Ohio. However, the mailing address for the mountain is Zanesville. I'm thinking that's why the author listed Zanesville not Bellefontaine, which is near the ski area.

 

[kmb5662]

International Falls is not a ski town, it's a hockey town.
What a wonderful list, though. I've never been to Maine, but that state, the Adirondacks and the Poconos are on my bucket list - not to ski, necessarily, but I'd love to go hiking there.
And I'm lucky to be writing this from beautiful Petoskey (down the road from Boyne City).

Not to discourage you from visiting the Poconos but the best PA hiking is in the north central part of the state! If you ever consider PA hiking I would look into that area as well.

Some recommendations are Falls Trail at Ricketts Glenn State Park (can get very busy so I would avoid weekends), section hikes of the Loyalsock Trail (or backpacking if you're into it), many trails at World's End State Park, etc.

There is even a tiny little family ski hill in that area called Ski Sawmill, although I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to ski there (although they do sometimes have a ladies ski free day!!). For anyone interested in XC skiing there is a place near Williamsport called Crystal Lake that is open when weather permits. Many of the state parks and PA Rails to Trails are also great for XC skiing (also when weather permits of course).