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Lofcaudio

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Posts
344
Location
Columbia, Missouri
Do you have a Top 10 favorite? What are they? Here is a list of the top 10 resorts I'd most like to visit again based upon my past skiing experiences there. The criteria I consider important are (1) great terrain, (2) uncrowded, (3) lift efficiency (layout), (4) weather/snow conditions, and (5) natural scenery.

My Top 10
  1. Whistler/Blackcomb
  2. Snowbasin
  3. Telluride
  4. Snowbird
  5. Alta
  6. Aspen Highlands
  7. Grand Targhee
  8. Jackson Hole
  9. Snowmass
  10. Aspen Mountain
It should be fairly obvious why I like the Mountain Collective pass so much.
 

surfsnowgirl

Instructor
Skier
Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
5,768
Location
Magic Mountain, Vermont
I haven't been snowboarding/skiing for a crazy long time and only have 23 mountains on my list total so I'll just list 5 I wouldn't mind visiting again

1. Mammoth - was my once a month mountain for the better part of 8 years. I love this place.
2. Lake Louise - just 1 visit here but hope to go back this coming season
3. Sunshine Village - just 1 visit here but hope to go back this coming season
4. Arizona Snowbowl - only been here once but loved it
5. Sugarbush, Vermont - just 1 visit here when I took my level 1 but hope to go back this coming season
 

Beartown

Chasing the dragon
Skier
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Posts
292
Location
Minnesota
Hard to say. Depends on what you're looking for (snow, terrain, après, value, family-friendly, etc). I really value snow, terrain, and low crowds.

My top three (in no particular order) would be Jackson, Mammoth, Alta.

After that, it's probably Snowbird, Aspen (can I count all four resorts as one?), Big Sky, Kirkwood, Steamboat, Sunshine, A-Basin.

There are very few places I've skied that I don't have anything good to say about, so I'm pretty easy to please, but this list makes me pretty happy.

Also, it's mid summer, and I'd currently be thrilled just to slide down a a slush-covered molehill.
 

Jilly

Lead Cougar
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,412
Location
Belleville, Ontario,/ Mont Tremblant, Quebec
Had to think about that as there as so many I've been to, but so long ago

1. Mt Tremblant Quebec....home mountain.
2. Whistler Blackcomb...although it's wearing on me.
3. Mt Ste Anne, Quebec
4. Sugarloaf
5. Jay Peak
6. A Basin

After that it's been so long, not sure about them. Loved France, 3 vallee and Espace Killy, but it was the 80's. Same for Panaroma - 1994...long time, 2 ownerships since then. Sun Peaks - wasn't even SP, Todd Mountain back then. Tahoe area again early 80's. All were great that's for sure.

We started renting a seasonal rental at Tremblant in the 2004. So haven't been too far away from there.
 

Fishbowl

A Parallel Universe
Skier
Joined
Apr 29, 2017
Posts
514
Location
Lost
Of the hills I've been to enough to make a top ten list, I clearly have a preference for "old school" over "commercial". I have skied Alta/Bird, Squaw, PCMR/Canyons, Deer Valley and Northstar, but just don't enjoy the experience. Snowbasin only made it because of the relative remoteness of the John Paul Express lift.

  1. Powder Mountain
  2. Solitude
  3. Arizona Snowbowl (home)
  4. Brighton
  5. Snowbasin
  6. Sugar Bowl
  7. Sierra
  8. Beaver Mountain
  9. Brian head
  10. Alpine Meadows
 

crgildart

Gravity Slave
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
16,325
Location
The Bull City
I'm more of a mind that it's not the resort or terrain I'd rank as much as the time/days that are best to avoid. All skiing pretty much everywhere is great on weekday mornings outside of holiday weeks as long as they have enough snow to be mostly open.
 

Jim McDonald

愛スキー
Skier
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Posts
2,101
Location
Tokyo
1. The one that just got 50cm of light powder last night
2. The one that's getting 50cm of light powder tonight
3. The rest
 

New2

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
May 3, 2017
Posts
728
Location
Spokane
Agree that it's tough to rank! But here goes...

1. Telluride
2. Brighton
3. Snowbasin
4. Mountain High
5. Snowbird
6. China Peak
7. Deer Valley
8. Arizona Snowbowl
9. White Pass
10. Mt. Bachelor

Couple observations... all my past "home mountains" prior to this season make the list, which seems to be a good argument in favor of picking a spot and exploring it deeply.

Also, so far the front-runners (showing up on 3 lists) seem to be Snowbird, Snowbasin, and Arizona Snowbowl (wow!).
 

Sibhusky

Whitefish, MT
Skier
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
Posts
4,804
Location
Whitefish, MT
I realized that as I thought of my top areas that I hadn't skied any of them, other than my home mountain, in so long that I really can't comment any more. They have probably changed a lot, I know I have.
 

noncrazycanuck

Out on the slopes
Skier
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Posts
1,463
for what its worth my top 4 hills for most days
1: Kicking Horse
2: Whistler
3: Lake Louise
4: Blackcomb - treated as separate hills - combined the amount of terrain is hard to top

mid pack probably
Revy Silver Star Sunshine

then pretty its hard to choose from at least a dozen others in the PNW, all of them could make a top ten list .
 

DanoT

RVer-Skier
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
4,788
Location
Sun Peaks B.C. in winter, Victoria B.C. in summer
Do you have a Top 10 favorite? What are they? Here is a list of the top 10 resorts I'd most like to visit again based upon my past skiing experiences there. The criteria I consider important are (1) great terrain, (2) uncrowded, (3) lift efficiency (layout), (4) weather/snow conditions, and (5) natural scenery.

My Top 10
  1. Whistler/Blackcomb
  2. Snowbasin
  3. Telluride
  4. Snowbird
  5. Alta
  6. Aspen Highlands
  7. Grand Targhee
  8. Jackson Hole
  9. Snowmass
  10. Aspen Mountain
It should be fairly obvious why I like the Mountain Collective pass so much.


So how does Whistler make the top of your list when it fails 2 of your 5 criteria items?

With 2.2 million annual skier visits the place is NOT uncrowded.

The only way Whistler gets a pass on weather is if you just count snow volume and overlook fog, rain, and heavy wet snow and wind.
 

at_nyc

Getting off the lift
Pass Pulled
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Posts
646
Do you have a Top 10 favorite?
No.

I can give you a list of mountains I like and why I like them. But I'll have a hard time "ranking" them which I like more than others.

And it's way longer than 10:

Aspen/Snowmass/Highland -- Terrain, no crowd, favorable snow
Jackson Hole -- scenery & terrain, luck? of good snow on multiple visits
Whistler/Blackcomb -- size & variety
Snowbird/Alta -- snow & terrain,
Big Sky/Moonlight basin -- terrain, no crowd
3-Valleys (France) -- SIZE! Variety
Sunshine/Lake Louise -- Scenery
Mammoth -- variety & late season
Vail -- size & condition
Dolomites (Italy) -- scenery, size
St Moritz (Switzerland) -- variety & condition
Copper -- Excellent layout: always able to find quiet corners even during busy holiday period
Taos -- Terrain & scenery
Mt Rose -- Terrain, lack of crowd, cheap!
A-basin -- Late season favorite, great terrain too.
 

Crank

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Posts
2,626
My top 10 in no particular order other than what came to mind.

Jackson Hole. Why - Jackson's combination of challenging terrain, great snow and really cool town with lots of live music and reasonable food and drink prices.

Chamonix. Why - Terrain, Mont Blanc, charming and historic mountaineering town, huge freaking mountains.

Big Sky. Why - Great terrain and lots of fresh snow both weeks I have been.

Whitefish. Why - Tree skier's paradise, love the town and the Flathead Valley, plus the closeness to Glacier National Park.

Powder Mountain, UT. Why - Just a great vibe and I have found good, untracked snow there every visit.

Alta. Why - Love the terrain, the snow and the old school, serious skier vibe.

Telluride. Why - Great mix of terrain from challenging to steep groomers, great on mountain food, really cool little town.

Aspen Highlands. Why - Terrain (again, seems to be a theme here) Love the challenge and variety and hiking options, not a fan of the town of Aspen though.

Jay Peak. Why - I have so many fond memories of powder days in the woods there. Have been going less lately as it has become overbuilt and over crowded.

Stowe. Why - Mt Mansfield offers the biggest skiing in the east. (Sugarloaf may be comparable but I have only been a few times due to it being a really long-ass drive.)
 
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Thread Starter
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Lofcaudio

Lofcaudio

Getting off the lift
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Posts
344
Location
Columbia, Missouri
So how does Whistler make the top of your list when it fails 2 of your 5 criteria items?

Whistler simply buries every other place I have been in regards to amount and variety of terrain available and is very underrated in regards to natural scenery. I agree that it's not a great place to escape crowds (but it's also not horrible in this regard). Unfortunately, weather/snow conditions are a significant issue. Having said that, my trip there last year had less than ideal weather conditions the whole week (with wind closures on a number of lifts and on one day, the whole upper mountain was closed on both mountains), yet I was still amazed by the variety of terrain available and was even able to easily figure out how to stay ahead (and mostly avoid) the crowds. I even went into the week figuring I would not like it. I was very pleasantly surprised. So much fun stuff to ski there!
 

Jim Kenney

Travel Correspondent
Team Gathermeister
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3,587
Location
VA
This is hard and obviously a function of what places you've skied, number of days and inches of snow when visited, and what's freshest in your memory. My list could change if I tried to generate it again next week.


Aspen Highlands: terrain, I still have not climbed all the way up Highland Bowl:-o

Taos: terrain and Indian/Bohemian/Bavarian vibe

Kirkwood: terrain and remote feel

Breckenridge: love the upper mtn on a quiet day, like the town too

Jackson Hole: respect for all the terrain beyond my ability level

Snowbird: have quite a few days here in recent years, familiarity breeds fondness, very challenging

Alta: not so many days here, still discovering the good stuff. Beautiful place.


Got to give some love to the East

Wildcat: scenic, snowy, still fairly pristine

MRG: special terrain/people/vibe

Killington: first big place I skied outside the mid-Atlantic back in the '70s and '80s, last visited 2001. If you can boogie Outer Limits, you can boogie anything:)

Stowe: ski capital terrain and vibe


Although I've skied in Austria, I haven't experienced the really Big Name ski mountains in the Alps. I know some time over there would revamp above list.

EDIT: Oops, that's 11 and I didn't even mention my original home mtn that I still love: Blue Knob, PA.
 
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Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
Industry Insider
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Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
7,483
Location
Breckenridge, CO
1. Portillo - I was there for a 3 week race camp. If I knew what I know now about the backcountry there...
(I wish I had pictures of my own)
2. Jackson Hole - I only skied there a few days, but wow
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort - CCI10182016.jpg
3. Breckenridge - My home mountain. The only bad day there was sub zero with high winds.
20170405_085855.jpg
4. A-Basin - with spring conditions or a 3 foot powder day
20170518 - 18485867_10210489277322159_4572173609933451629_n.jpg
5. Wildcat - For the memories and 2K vertical drop
Telegroup.jpg paul%26doug.jpg
6. Cooper - A throw back to the good old days, the views and a fun DH. It is a great place for a relaxed, low key powder day, too.
20161224_091810.jpg
7. Mt Washington - ya, not a resort but a great area to ski
Lobster Claw - Tuckerman Ravine - Tele.jpg
8. Mt. Cranmore - my original home mountain and the adopted home of Hannes Schneider (photo is from the Schneider Cup)
Hannes S. Cup 98.JPG
9. Cervinia - a great mountain with so much skiing in and out of bounds
Cervinia 13.jpg
10. Courmayeur - Like Cervinia it has access to great in bounds and out of bounds terrain.
0130 tracks back to town.jpg
 

KevinF

Gathermeister-New England
Team Gathermeister
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
3,345
Location
New England
In no particular order:
  1. Stowe
  2. Big Sky
  3. Aspen Mountain (aka, Ajax)
  4. Aspen Highlands
  5. Mt. Rose
  6. Snowbird
  7. Alta
  8. Copper Mountain
  9. Honorary mention to Jackson Hole. Only been there once, the snow was god-awful, wouldn't mind going back. Looked like some nice potential. ogsmile
  10. Sunday River. Ha! Just kidding. Stowe.
 

Dave Petersen

Graphic Designer/Social Media Manager
Admin
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I am seeing Arizona Snowbowl repeatedly. This has me curious -- I've never been there but now I want to go.
 

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