The 2025-2026 SKI Magazine Rankings are In

[4aprice]

Yep Camelback had a horrible year last season with lots of problems from lifts to snow making piping amongst other things. Probably the main reason for their ranking is the Camelback Lodge and Aquatopia. Those facilities are very nice. But. They just hired a new vice president/GM whom I happen to know. Great guy who knows the mountain and I believe will be a good leader. He was decent friends with my daughter when she worked there and has sat around our kitchen table and discussed Csmelback and skiing. Ullr Fest is this weekend ( a good excuse to go hang in the Thirsty Camel for a night) and I am thinking of going up there and trying to see Jason. Having lost some faith in the place I now have some hope

 

[jimk]

When I was a young person I used to read these rankings and the mini-reviews of resorts with great interest. Now that I've visited virtually all possible mtns that recur in the polls I have my own preferences and assessments. I find some of the choices in the annual rankings to be absurd. I love places like MRG, Saddleback, and Wildcat, but to rank them over Stowe, Killington or Sugarloaf is nuts. Whatever system they use to develop the rankings is obviously very flawed, but I guess I understand that it would make for very boring reading to keep the same rankings year after year.

 

[Smellytele]

When I was a young person I used to read these rankings and the mini-reviews of resorts with great interest. Now that I've visited virtually all possible mtns that recur in the polls I have my own preferences and assessments. I find some of the choices in the annual rankings to be absurd. I love places like MRG, Saddleback, and Wildcat, but to rank them over Stowe, Killington or Sugarloaf is nuts. Whatever system they use to develop the rankings is obviously very flawed, but I guess I understand that it would make for very boring reading to keep the same rankings year after year.

Everyone has different preferences. I would rank saddleback and MRG over Killington and would have rated Wildcat higher as well pre vail. Sometimes I like them more than sugarloaf as well.

 

[BenedictGomez]

lets not forget, someone keeps ranking camelback very high in the Country for ski joints. And they struggled last year to make snow in like the coldest December in YEARS.
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Camelback is extremely marketing savvy and marketing duplicitous. I'm sure they know exactly how each of these rankings gets scored and has a way to spam the surveys with positive reviews, even if it took Chinese or Turkish result farming (I'm not even entirely kidding). Camelback also takes my award for most ridiculous snow reporting, 1" is a "powder day", etc....

 

[Internet Ski Pro]

Camelback is extremely marketing savvy and marketing duplicitous. I'm sure they know exactly how each of these rankings gets scored and has a way to spam the surveys with positive reviews, even if it took Chinese or Turkish result farming (I'm not even entirely kidding). Camelback also takes my award for most ridiculous snow reporting, 1" is a "powder day", etc....

no doubt. they totally know how to get on peoples surveys, and probably spend some $$ doing it. They lose points with me for anything that resembles a "mountain vib" as you are taking a lift that goes directly over a huge portion of the water park, reminding you exactly that you are pretty mush skiing at Sesame Place. And to stay with the Sesame Place theme, they charge for parking, and dont allow much in the way of tailgating.

i skied there last year on Christmas day. the first few runs on the extremely limited terrain with one lift, was good for like 3-4 runs, and then it went to shit, in both conditions and crowds. What ever lift it was that was open, the newest one i think, was very fast, and incredibly short. It has to be the shortest high speed in the country.

 

[BenedictGomez]

they charge for parking,

Wow, I had no idea Camelback was charging for parking, I havent skied there in I'm guessing 6 years.

Even when I lived an hour from the Poconos we almost never skied there, as the little bit longer drive to the Catskills or the (much) extra effort to n.VT was such superior skiing in every way. But it was nice to hit Shawnee (my favorite in the Poconos) and Blue or Camelback for maybe 2 or 3 days a season. But honestly, paying for parking would be the Poconos death knell for me. I just wouldn't bother.

 

[x10003q]

Seven Springs and Holiday Valley should be in the Midwest rankings.