Ranking Ski Resorts

[Triggermv]

I started a thread on this last year after my trip to Utah, and since I've taken a new ski trip to Lake Tahoe this year (skied Heavenly and Kirkwood), I figured it would be worth updating and resurfacing this topic for some fun discussion for all you avid skiers out there. With that said, the following is my updated rankings of all the ski resorts I've been to in my lifetime and a bit of why I chose them that way. Feel free to post your own lists as well or simply just critique mine.

1. Alta (Utah) - Best snow, Best Terrain (especially extreme terrain), Best for Expert Skiers (everything is harder at Alta... greens, blues, blacks, double-blacks), No boarders allowed
2. Keystone (Colorado) - Best Tree Runs, Best Lifts, Best Night Skiing, Fun Snowcat Skiing
3. Vail (Colorado) - Biggest Resort by Far, Nicest Resort, Great Runs, Best Back Bowls, One of the Best Ski Towns, Too Many Catwalks
4. Brighton (Utah) - Very Simple and Laid Back (I like), 2nd Best Snow, Great Tree Runs, Smallest Lines, 2nd Best Value (I call Brighton Alta-Light)
5. Kirkwood - new (California) - Almost an exact blend of Alta and Brighton, only with not as good and consistent of snow and too many slow lifts, 2nd Smallest Lines, 3rd Best Value, Very Laid-Back, Fairly Challenging Terrain, Worst Lifts
6. Heavenly - new (California) - Best Views by Far, 2nd Nicest Resort, One of Best Ski Towns, 2nd Largest Resort, Great Runs, Great Lifts, Good Tree Runs, Best for Skiing in T-Shirt, Worst Consistent Snow
7. Copper Mountain (Colorado) - Best Value, Nice Runs Overall, Smaller Lift Lines, Free Snowcat Skiing, More Laid-Back
8. Park City Mountain Resort (Utah) - Coolest Town Setting, Big Resort, Good Lifts, So-So Views, Decent Snow
9. Breckenridge (Colorado) - Decent Overall, Very Busy, Too Many Boarders, Good Lifts, Cool Ski Town
10. Sunrise Park (Arizona) - Fun Place, Not Colorado or Utah, Still Lots Better Than Iowa
11. Chestnut Mountain (Illinois) - I Like the Runs, Resort Area, and Views Better than Sundown, Little further drive than Sundown, Underrated for being in Midwest
12. Sundown (Iowa) - Closest Ski Resort, Best in Iowa

 

[mj4cy]

Only done Colorado, but I'd put Vail above Keystone.


Vail wins simply because the scenery is spectacular. I do give Keystone an edge in the fact that you can get more runs in. With Vail, always seems like you gotta take a catwalk to get anywhere.

Breck got a shot in the arm with the new peak 6 and more bowl skiing.

 

[Triggermv]

mj4cy, you, like many other people in Iowa need to broaden your scope from just Colorado my friend. I make no bones about my love for Utah over Colorado in nearly all ways, shapes and forms. I recommend giving it a shot with your next ski trip. While Utah is a flight rather than a long car ride, Frontier flies there cheap out of Des Moines, and whatever extra you spend on flying rather than driving, you'll easily make up for in cheaper lift tickets, lodging, food, and headaches. With all that said, I haven't even mentioned how much better snow they get there too and how much greater chance you'll have of getting a fresh powder day.

 

[Walt76]

Have you tried Steamboat Springs? Great powder, nice downtown and many restaurant choices.

 

[Triggermv]

Have you tried Steamboat Springs? Great powder, nice downtown and many restaurant choices.

I'd love to sometime and will most likely. The only downfall about Steamboat which I've heard that doesn't get me too excited about it is that it isn't too challenging. I've obviously never been there so I don't know that for a fact.

 

[mj4cy]

mj4cy, you, like many other people in Iowa need to broaden your scope from just Colorado my friend. I make no bones about my love for Utah over Colorado in nearly all ways, shapes and forms. I recommend giving it a shot with your next ski trip. While Utah is a flight rather than a long car ride, Frontier flies there cheap out of Des Moines, and whatever extra you spend on flying rather than driving, you'll easily make up for in cheaper lift tickets, lodging, food, and headaches. With all that said, I haven't even mentioned how much better snow they get there too and how much greater chance you'll have of getting a fresh powder day.

It's on our list to get to Utah some year, we just have the logistics of Colorado down to a tee and can keep it pretty cheap. With having a 1 and 3 year old, it was just easiest this year to quickly fly to Denver, get 3 days in and come back. Definitely can't wait for Utah.

 

[BikeSkiClone]

If the drought ever ends in CA, get yourself to Squaw Valley.

Crested Butte
Alta/Snowbird
Squaw Valley & Kirkwood
Big Sky/Bridger Bowl
Wolf Creek
Taos

 

[Triggermv]

It's on our list to get to Utah some year, we just have the logistics of Colorado down to a tee and can keep it pretty cheap. With having a 1 and 3 year old, it was just easiest this year to quickly fly to Denver, get 3 days in and come back. Definitely can't wait for Utah.

I understand. I do find it interesting that you choose Colorado because you've got the logistics down when logistics is the reason why I love Utah so much . The way I do Utah is fly to Salt Lake City (yes, you've got to change planes once), drive 5 minutes from the airport to a hotel in Salt Lake City (where we stay), then wake up each day and drive 25 -30 minutes to any ski resort we are wanting to ski (we like skiing multiple resorts). Where you ski will be a solid skiing temp of 20-30 degrees, while your overnights in Salt Lake will be a tee-shirt comfortable temp of 60 degrees. Yes, like I mentioned above, you've got two flights instead of one to Utah, but not having to take that drive from Denver airport to the resorts easily makes up for it.

 

[thatguy]

any ski resort list that has keystone second overall is null and void. That place is terrible. It isn't in the top five places to ski in Colorado. Your list doesn't even have Jackson Hole or Steamboat which might be 1 and 2 in the country.

 

[thatguy]

I'd love to sometime and will most likely. The only downfall about Steamboat which I've heard that doesn't get me too excited about it is that it isn't too challenging. I've obviously never been there so I don't know that for a fact.

Sigh....Steamboat is as challenging as anything in Summit County. You have to hike to allot of the terrain but that is true of every ski resort everywhere.

 

[thatguy]

Only done Colorado, but I'd put Vail above Keystone.


Vail wins simply because the scenery is spectacular. I do give Keystone an edge in the fact that you can get more runs in. With Vail, always seems like you gotta take a catwalk to get anywhere.


Beaver Creek and Copper are the only acceptable on the I-70 corridor.

Breck got a shot in the arm with the new peak 6 and more bowl skiing.

 

[mj4cy]

any ski resort list that has keystone second overall is null and void. That place is terrible. It isn't in the top five places to ski in Colorado. Your list doesn't even have Jackson Hole or Steamboat which might be 1 and 2 in the country.

I've been to Keystone many times and loved it each and every time. Each to their own I guess.

 

[Triggermv]

any ski resort list that has keystone second overall is null and void. That place is terrible. It isn't in the top five places to ski in Colorado. Your list doesn't even have Jackson Hole or Steamboat which might be 1 and 2 in the country.

Haha, my ranking of Keystone so high is what many people have problems with in my list, which is understandable. In my mind though, I consider the resort vastly underrated. As for not including Jackson Hole or Steamboat, I simply don't include them because I've never been to them. Trust me, nearly every ski resort is on my to-do list, including both of those (Jackson Hole higher than Steamboat), even though I'll likely never make it to all the resorts in my lifetime.

 

[Triggermv]

Sigh....Steamboat is as challenging as anything in Summit County. You have to hike to allot of the terrain but that is true of every ski resort everywhere.

Good to know, I'll take your word for it.

 

[Triggermv]

If the drought ever ends in CA, get yourself to Squaw Valley.

Crested Butte
Alta/Snowbird
Squaw Valley & Kirkwood
Big Sky/Bridger Bowl
Wolf Creek
Taos

I like this list a lot. Like you said, I would love to do Squaw Valley, but if I learned anything from my Tahoe trip, it is that I'm never coming to that place again until they start getting snow consistently again. That drought is absolutely killing that place.

 

[cyclonedave25]

any ski resort list that has keystone second overall is null and void. That place is terrible. It isn't in the top five places to ski in Colorado. Your list doesn't even have Jackson Hole or Steamboat which might be 1 and 2 in the country.

I actually really enjoy Keystone. I wouldn't rank it in my top 3, but its definitely a great place.
The lift tix are nearly half the price as Vail and it's not busy on the back side. Lot of great tree skiing/riding and some great runs on the back 2 Mtns.

Ranking resorts is kind of tough because I prefer different resorts on different days.
On a powder day, give me Vail in the back bowls and blue sky. If it hasn't snowed in a few days or a week, you won't find me anywhere near the mogeled out bowls of Vail. And as a snowboarder, the catwalks at Vail are painful.

For easily accessible extreme riding, Breck is about as easy as it gets with the Imperial Express and T-bar.

I love each resort for different reasons. The town of Breckenridge is probably my favorite ski town.

I would love to go to Whistler Blackcomb sometime.

 

[thatguy]

In Colorado I would say do whatever you can do to not go to Summit County but if you must just go to Copper or Beaver Creek. Vail is OK on powder days, but Keystone and Breck are so full of idiots and gappers it ruins it. Breck is actually very cool in the summer when all the Nebraskans and Texans don't come in.

 

[SCarolinaCy]

I started a thread on this last year after my trip to Utah, and since I've taken a new ski trip to Lake Tahoe this year (skied Heavenly and Kirkwood), I figured it would be worth updating and resurfacing this topic for some fun discussion for all you avid skiers out there. With that said, the following is my updated rankings of all the ski resorts I've been to in my lifetime and a bit of why I chose them that way. Feel free to post your own lists as well or simply just critique mine.

1. Alta (Utah) - Best snow, Best Terrain (especially extreme terrain), Best for Expert Skiers (everything is harder at Alta... greens, blues, blacks, double-blacks), No boarders allowed
2. Keystone (Colorado) - Best Tree Runs, Best Lifts, Best Night Skiing, Fun Snowcat Skiing
3. Vail (Colorado) - Biggest Resort by Far, Nicest Resort, Great Runs, Best Back Bowls, One of the Best Ski Towns, Too Many Catwalks
4. Brighton (Utah) - Very Simple and Laid Back (I like), 2nd Best Snow, Great Tree Runs, Smallest Lines, 2nd Best Value (I call Brighton Alta-Light)
5. Kirkwood - new (California) - Almost an exact blend of Alta and Brighton, only with not as good and consistent of snow and too many slow lifts, 2nd Smallest Lines, 3rd Best Value, Very Laid-Back, Fairly Challenging Terrain, Worst Lifts
6. Heavenly - new (California) - Best Views by Far, 2nd Nicest Resort, One of Best Ski Towns, 2nd Largest Resort, Great Runs, Great Lifts, Good Tree Runs, Best for Skiing in T-Shirt, Worst Consistent Snow
7. Copper Mountain (Colorado) - Best Value, Nice Runs Overall, Smaller Lift Lines, Free Snowcat Skiing, More Laid-Back
8. Park City Mountain Resort (Utah) - Coolest Town Setting, Big Resort, Good Lifts, So-So Views, Decent Snow
9. Breckenridge (Colorado) - Decent Overall, Very Busy, Too Many Boarders, Good Lifts, Cool Ski Town
10. Sunrise Park (Arizona) - Fun Place, Not Colorado or Utah, Still Lots Better Than Iowa
11. Chestnut Mountain (Illinois) - I Like the Runs, Resort Area, and Views Better than Sundown, Little further drive than Sundown, Underrated for being in Midwest
12. Sundown (Iowa) - Closest Ski Resort, Best in Iowa

Been to most all in western North America. Memory fades. Most recent-Aspen/Snowmass, Big Sky, Jackson Hole. In Jan/Feb, it's ALL good.

 

[Triggermv]

By the way, the following are a few National/North American rankings lists I like to take a look at for some guidance. The first one in particular is my favorite:

http://zrankings.com/resort/index
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christo...top-10-ski-resorts-in-north-america-for-2015/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christo...10-ski-resorts-in-the-united-states-for-2014/
http://www.powderhounds.com/USA/Best-Ski-Resorts.aspx

 

[cowboycurtis]

Driving through Nebraska now on my way home from winter park. Not a big winter park fan but friends had a time share that needed to get used up so we stayed for free and I had pass that works for steamboat, copper and winter park.

Steamboat and snowmass are my favorite in Colorado with beaver creek not far behind. Vail is great too.