Here is our take on the five ski areas you should visit this season in North America. To compile our list we started out with our favorite ski areas. We then looked at which resorts are offering something new for the upcoming season. Others we added to the list because they are simply resorts we would like to hit up when the snow starts flying.
Image by, Paul Sableman
Taos, New Mexico
Why: For the 2014 – 2015 winter ski season Taos Ski Valley will be opening a new chairlift to Kachina Peak for the first time ever. The new lift will expand the ski area’s expert lift-serviced terrain by 50 percent. Topping out at 12,450 feet the new lift will be one of the highest chairlifts in North America.
Taos Ski Valley will also be adding some new terrain for the upcoming ski season that can only be accessed by hiking. The new gladed run, Wild West Glade, will begin where a rope line formerly forced skiers and snowboarders to drop into the ski area’s Wonder Bowl and will add roughly 75 acres of new hike-to terrain to the mountain.
Image by: Clark Weber
Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Why: Why not? Jackson Hole seems to always deliver the goods with a mix of outstanding terrain and ample snowfall. Even when runs get tracked out you can still access the backcountry gates and find fresh lines for days. If you have never skied JHole make the 2014-2015 winter ski season the season you do!
Image by Phil Tomlinson
Revelstoke, Canada
Why: Revelstoke Mountain, located in British Columbia, Canada offers up the most vertical in North America at 5620 feet. This coupled with seemingly endless powder, truely epic terrain and tons of backcountry access has made Revelstoke the new it place in the minds of ski bums from coast to coast. Get there now before it turns into the next Whistler.
Image by, Dan Zelazo
Crystal Mountain, Washington
Why: For the 2014-2015 ski season Crystal Mountain, Washington will be opening two new chairlifts. The first chair will be a replacement for the old High Campbell chair that was destroyed by an avalanche on March 10, 2014. The new lifts will be at least two times heavier than the old ones, and will be able to run more in windy weather. The other new chairlift will be the new Quicksilver that will be replacing the double fixed-grip chairlift with a fixed-grip CTEC quad. This will increase the current capacity from 1,070 people per hour (pph) to 1,800 pph.
Image by, Trey Ratcliff
Big Sky/Moonlight Basin, Montana
Why: With the merger of Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin in the summer of 2013 the new mega-resort gives you access to more skiing than anywhere else in the United States. From the Top of Lone Peak you can access 4,350 feet of vertical over 5,800 skiable acres. Runs at Big Sky seem to go on for ever, some up to six miles long. All of this plus 400+ inches of annual snowfall.