PeakRankings recently dropped a deep dive into the most unforgettable terrain zones across North America, ranking 25 must-ski destinations from mellow beginner bowls to truly extreme lines. The list has something for every ability level, proving you do not need to be an expert to start checking these off.
The beginner-friendly picks include Whistler’s stunning high alpine bowls, Beaver Creek’s quirky McCoy Park, and the breathtaking backdrop of Lake Louise. Intermediates get Vail’s seemingly endless Back Bowls, the legendary 5-mile Loge Trail at Snowmass, and even summer skiing on the Palmer Glacier at Timberline Lodge in Oregon.
For advanced and expert skiers and riders, the list gets serious fast. Highlights include Alta’s High Traverse, Big Sky’s iconic Lone Peak tram, Mammoth’s relentless Chair 23, and Palisades Tahoe’s mythical KT22. On the east coast, Sugarbush’s Castle Rock Zone and Sugarloaf’s rare alpine snowfields earn well-deserved spots.
Rounding out the top five are Revelstoke’s Sub Peak hike, Arapahoe Basin’s East Wall, the entirety of Kicking Horse, Telluride’s grueling Palmyra Peak, and the top spot going to the Palisades at Palisades Tahoe, the terrain zone so legendary the resort was renamed after it. Of course no list of must-hit-ski-runs would be complete without Jackson Hole’s Corbett’s Couloir, perhaps the most famous and watched extreme run in the world
