One of my personal pre-season traditions is reading through Ski Magazine’s top fifty ski resort rankings. Over the weekend, their latest resort guide came out, and there were plenty of shockers.
The top spots were notably different from the prior season, with Powder Mountain being ranked as the top ski resort in the West, and Mad River Glen being the best in the East. This is pretty significant, as mountains like Sun Valley, Deer Valley, Smugglers’ Notch, and Tremblant are usually at the top.
This change is due to Ski Magazine receiving feedback from longtime readers on what categories they care most about. This resulted in Ski Magazine more heavily weighing “the results of the core ski-related categories of Snow, Challenge, Terrain Variety, Grooming, and Lifts this year.” In my opinion, this is a good move. They’re weighing the aspects of the experience that ski bums value most.
Here are the top ten ski resorts in Western North America.
- 10. Big Sky
- 9. Deer Valley
- 8. Jackson Hole
- 7. Alta
- 6. Mammoth
- 5. Taos
- 4. Aspen Snowmass
- 3. Sun Valley
- 2. Snowbasin
- 1. Powder Mountain
In terms of the East Coast, here’s the top ten:
- 10. Sugarbush
- 9. Jay Peak
- 8. Gore
- 7. Cannon
- 6. Sunday River
- 5. Killington
- 4. Bretton Woods
- 3. Sugarloaf
- 2. Smugglers’ Notch
- 1. Mad River Glen
Click here to check out the full top fifty North American ski resorts list.
Image Credits: Ian Matteson-Powder Mountain (Featured Image), Mad River Glen (Header Image), Ski Magazine
