The New Trail Maps Of The 2023-24 Season

It was another busy offseason full of improvements for ski resorts in the United States, meaning that many decided to redesign their trail maps. Just like last year, we’ve created a list of the U.S. ski resorts that have created new trail maps. By a new trail map, we mean ski resorts that completely redesigned theirs compared to prior drawings. In addition, we’re including the designer of the maps where the information is publically available.

Without further ado, here are some of the United States ski resorts that have redesigned trail maps for this winter.

Aspen Mountain

For the 2023-24 season, Ajax is adding 153 skiable acres with the Hero’s expansion. To draw this terrain expansion, Aspen Skiing Co. called in Rad Smith to create a new design, and he did a nice job fitting it into the tight space required in sculpting such a map.

Belleayre

The New York ski resort decided to update its trail map to reflect the changes brought forth by the addition of the Overlook Quad and the new skier bridge.

The Highlands at Harbor Springs

Previous trail maps had all the trails cramped in, making the names hard to read. This new trail map by Rad Smith is well-spaced and looks beautiful. This is probably my favorite new map of the bunch.

Hoedown Hill

Colorado’s newest ski area is set to make its debut in the coming weeks. The upside-down ski area recently revealed its first official trail map, which nicely blends the trails and snow tubing area with the nearby surroundings.

Holiday Mountain

Since being sold this spring to Michael Taylor, Holiday Mountain in New York has been reinvigorated with various capital improvements. This has included a new trail map, which shows the reopened terrain (Turkey Trot), the terrain pod that will eventually see a new lift (to the left), and a new, very steep trail that will open during the 2024-25 season (far right).

Keystone

With the Bergman Bowl becoming lift-serviced this winter, Keystone decided it was time to change from a K.M. Mastin-designed map to one from Rad Smith. As part of this process, James Niehues, who designed his own Keystone map back in the day, helped mentor Rad Smith in the sculpting of this new map. Click here to watch a video series from Keystone that documents that process.

Mt. Hood Meadows

VistaMap made this latest trail map, which puts more focus on the Hood River Express terrain pod and the surrounding rounds. To be honest, this one feels too spaced out, so it’s hard to see the different trails and lifts.

Mt. Spokane

In prior years, Mt. Spokane had a trail map that made figuring out how to reach the various terrain pods difficult. This year, VistaMap made navigating the ski area more manageable with this new trail map.

Sierra-at-Tahoe

Over the past two seasons, Sierra-At-Tahoe has had to alter its trail map due to the damage caused by the Caldor Fire. This winter’s drawing, which was created by North Pole Design, shows most of the trees being removed, except in Huckleberry Canyon.

Snowriver

A lot has changed recently at Snowriver Mountain Resort. After being bought by Charles Skinner in 2022, both peaks and the ski resort in general were renamed. Now, with a monumental six-pack chairlift opening at the Jackson Peak Summit side, Snowriver decided it was time to get a redesigned trail map from VistaMap.

Steamboat

Steamboat’s first trail map redesign since 2007 came at a critical juncture. The Greenhorn Ranch beginner expansion opened last winter, the two phases of the Wild Blue Gondola are now open, and the Mahogany Ridge expansion is set to debut this winter. Steamboat hired Stefan Bast, who’s a local graphic designer, to draw a new trail map. Steamboat wrote a blog post about this creative process, which is worth reading in full.