Contrary to popular belief you can chase lift-served skiing and snowboarding all year round in the United States. In this guide you’ll find 12 locations to keep you shredding all year long.
January: Jackson Hole
In the prime of ski season few places can compare to Jackson Hole. Between the amazing terrain and consistent snowfall it’s hard to imagine a bad ski day in the Tetons come January. Aside from the holiday weekends January is a time to enjoy uncrowded pow laps until your legs are shot and the apres beckons.
February: Alta
While Little Cottonwood Canyon is a fairly safe bet for snow throughout the season. Paying a visit to Alta in February is a rite of passage for any serious skier. Don’t ski? Snowbird right down the canyon is also a great bet for February turns.
March: Grand Targhee
Grand Targhee is known for amazing powder skiing and who wouldn’t wanna miss a storm at one of the best powderhound resorts around. Don’t get injured or tired at this point in the season there is still 6 months of skiing to go.
April: Mt. Bachelor
Hawaiian shirts, sunscreen and lots of beer are pillars of Spring skiing. Mt. Bachelor serves up fresh corn throughout April as others turn to summer mode. Spring events make Bachelor the perfect place to enjoy warm weather skiing.
May: Squaw Valley
Take the month of May to harvest the California super corn at Squaw Valley. Few things in skiing are better than 10am corn laps off Smoothies @ Squaw. When the snow is cooked (around noon) head down for beers on the sundeck.
June: Arapahoe Basin
With one of the highest elevations found in skiing it’s no surprise that even in June, Arapahoe Basin delivers an opportunity to ski powder when other areas are long closed. Even if you don’t score a spring snowstorm, the Basin is equally known for its tailgate parking lot scene. Take a chance pond-skimming across Lake Reveal if you don’t make it across well it’s practically Summer.
July: Beartooth Basin
By July even the most hard-core skiers and riders have shed their gear for bikes, kayaks and climbing gear. However high up on the Wyoming-Montana border June is the prime season to ski Beartooth pass. Beartooth Basin is a summer only ski area dubbed ‘the spirit of skiing’ and with only two poma tows, gnarly terrain and no real infrastructure it’s easy to see why.
August: Timberline
Visitors to the Timberline Lodge are often surprised to hear the famous historical building is also grounds to the biggest summer snow scene in the Northern Hemisphere. With race, freestyle and mogul camps on the Palmer Glacier, August is a great time to ski Oregon. Rip turns all morning and be swimming in the lakes/rivers all afternoon it’s a true dirtbag dream.
September: Woodward Copper
As summer comes to an end luckily there is still snow to chase in North America. While Woodward Copper does cater to freestyle skiers and boarders they still have real snow to slide even in September. A strong effort to farm snow keeps the season going all the way past Labor Day giving you a couple weeks to rest before the season starts again.
October: Loveland
The ski season starts in October as fall gives way to colder temperatures and snowmaking crews begin to fire up across the country. Start your season riding the new Chair 1 at Loveland where even in October they’ll be guaranteed to have at least 1000’ vertical feet of terrain for you to start the season on.
November: Killington
Come November ski areas are blasting snow and getting their first dumps of the season. Killington, Vermont is consistently one of the first mountain to get the lift spinning.
December: Mt. Baker
As Winter starts to show it’s face again powderhounds head up SR 542 to ride Mt. Baker’s legendary terrain. With an average snowfall of 633” Mt. Baker is a safe bet when other resorts have off-beat starts. December is prime season to score deep days as other locations are barely open.