SKI Magazine Top 10 Eastern Resorts 2011-2012

[WWF-VT]

In keeping with the ongoing slimming of the magazine and it's editorial content, SKI Magazine only has 10 Eastern resorts listed in it's annual "Best Resorts" issue.

http://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/top-ten-east-coast-resorts-2011-2012

Here's the list:

1. Tremblant
2. Stowe
3. Smugglers Notch
4. Okemo
5. Whiteface
6. Stratton
7. Killington
8. Sunday River
9. Sugarbush
10. Bretton Woods

 

[Smellytele]

In keeping with the ongoing slimming of the magazine and it's editorial content, SKI Magazine only has 10 Eastern resorts listed in it's annual "Best Resorts" issue.

http://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/top-ten-east-coast-resorts-2011-2012

Here's the list:

1. Tremblant
2. Stowe
3. Smugglers Notch
4. Okemo
5. Whiteface
6. Stratton
7. Killington
8. Sunday River
9. Sugarbush
10. Bretton Woods

It all comes down to the word Resort not Ski Area

 

[deadheadskier]

My only gripe is that they limited it to Top 10 this year, when it's always been top 20.

Yes, the western resorts are better, more popular and deserving of more attention; but the Northeast is the most populous area of the country. You would think the magazine could do a better job of covering this region.

As for the list itself? Not bad. It wouldn't be my top 10, but I could see how everyone of those areas might be on someone else's top 10 list.

 

[WWF-VT]

In the printed magazine there is a pic and blurb on Mad River Glen as "the best skiers mountain"

 

[Smellytele]

In the printed magazine there is a pic and blurb on Mad River Glen as "the best skiers mountain"

Yes and a thing on Cannon as well.

 

[Cannonball]

How do they know what the top ten of 2011-2012 WILL be? There's plenty of question remaining on how damage to infrastructure from Irene will impact VT resorts. Early openings, late closings, special offerings, etc are the things that WILL make places the best this year.

 

[lmgrnjeep]

i think the top ten list is aweful it doesnt include the 2 best mountains in the east: Jay and Sugarloaf. and it includes basically all vermont mountains which i bet are great but come on if you have stratton, bretton woods and even sunday river in the list and not jay and sugarloaf then it if obviously an opinion of one person and not the majority....

 

[from_the_NEK]

It all comes down to the word Resort not Ski Area

Actually, I bet if you look at the actual magazine, the ones in the list are also the ones that you will find advertisements for elsewhere in the mag. Content about MRG and Cannon is there just to make the typical reader feel like they actually have some sort of connection to a "hardcore" mountain. :lol:

 

[skiersleft]

Looking forward to seeing how the results of our poll will compare to these. I think 4 of those resorts will also make it to our top 10.

 

[Ski the Moguls]

i think the top ten list is aweful it doesnt include the 2 best mountains in the east: Jay and Sugarloaf. and it includes basically all vermont mountains which i bet are great but come on if you have stratton, bretton woods and even sunday river in the list and not jay and sugarloaf then it if obviously an opinion of one person and not the majority....

I think that can be explained by there distance from New York and Boston. Was this a reader survey? Not many SKI readers are willing to drive all the way to those great places. btw . . . 2 "best" mountains? Ever take an intermediate to Jay? I do not think you can be the best when you only cater to a portion of the skiing public (experts).

 

[deadheadskier]

i think the top ten list is aweful it doesnt include the 2 best mountains in the east: Jay and Sugarloaf. and it includes basically all vermont mountains which i bet are great but come on if you have stratton, bretton woods and even sunday river in the list and not jay and sugarloaf then it if obviously an opinion of one person and not the majority....

It's a poll, not the opinion of one person.

You say Jay and Sugarloaf are the best mountains in the East. I'll take Stowe over either of them any day of the week. Is your opinion right or is mine?

There are some folks who think the best ski vacation for them is staying at the Mount Washington Hotel and skiing Bretton Woods. Nearly twice as many people ski Sunday River than those who ski Sugarloaf. I bet twice as many people ski Stratton as opposed to Jay. The more popular areas are going to rate higher except in the instances of places like Smuggs who have hardcore and very vocal followings in these types of polls.

 

[Cannonball]

9 of the resorts get a picture of the mountain.....Smuggs gets a pic of Blueberry Cobbler. WTF? Is that will of the "hardcore and very vocal following"?

 

[lmgrnjeep]

ya twice as many people ski sunday river because they are to lazy to drive another hour and a half to ski a mountain not a range of hills..... if you are a true hardcore skier/boarder and want to ski great challenging terrain then jay and sugarloaf are interchangeable at 1 and 2. you would honestly take stowe over sugarloaf? thats a bold statement.... granted stowe has better lifts sugarloaf has better terrain and a longer season.

 

[drjeff]

ya twice as many people ski sunday river because they are to lazy to drive another hour and a half to ski a mountain not a range of hills..... if you are a true hardcore skier/boarder and want to ski great challenging terrain then jay and sugarloaf are interchangeable at 1 and 2. you would honestly take stowe over sugarloaf? thats a bold statement.... granted stowe has better lifts sugarloaf has better terrain and a longer season.

If you're a true hardcore skier/boarder, you frankly could give a rat's a$$ about ski area polls

 

[lmgrnjeep]

If you're a true hardcore skier/boarder, you frankly could give a rat's a$$ about ski area polls

have to do something while waiting for the snow to fly

 

[WWF-VT]

Actually, I bet if you look at the actual magazine, the ones in the list are also the ones that you will find advertisements for elsewhere in the mag

Not true - whether it's western or eastern resorts there is no correlation to advertising and placement on these lists.

 

[thetrailboss]

I think that can be explained by there distance from New York and Boston. Was this a reader survey? Not many SKI readers are willing to drive all the way to those great places. btw . . . 2 "best" mountains? Ever take an intermediate to Jay? I do not think you can be the best when you only cater to a portion of the skiing public (experts).

I agree. IIRC this was a reader poll. So, simply stated, the more folks who ski at an area and vote, the better it ranks. This sometimes has nothing to do with the quality of the resort. In the past, Holiday Valley has ranked well because they are a high volume ski area and encourage their skiers and riders to vote.

So I read this as more of a popularity contest than anything else. Especially when Stratton polls higher than Sugarbush.

 

[snowmonster]

In the printed magazine there is a pic and blurb on Mad River Glen as "the best skiers mountain"

Yes and a thing on Cannon as well.

Aside from MRG and Cannon, they also had a photo and a blurb about Saddleback and Jay. I don't have the magazine in front of me but I was happy to see the call-outs for those places. Since it's a SKI Magazine reader driven poll, I am not surprised to see the entries in the Top 10.

Where's Holiday Valley on the list? How did it fall out of the Top 10 after all these years?

 

[deadheadskier]

ya twice as many people ski sunday river because they are to lazy to drive another hour and a half to ski a mountain not a range of hills..... if you are a true hardcore skier/boarder and want to ski great challenging terrain then jay and sugarloaf are interchangeable at 1 and 2. you would honestly take stowe over sugarloaf? thats a bold statement.... granted stowe has better lifts sugarloaf has better terrain and a longer season.

Stowe vs Sugarloaf = better snow, better lifts, better side country. Yes, the little I skied of Brackett Basin was very good, but it doesn't compare to what is in the Notch accessible from both Mansfield and Spruce Peak. It especially doesn't compare when Stowe gets 100 inches more snow each year than Sugarloaf and some years considerably more than that. The 3 week longer season doesn't make up for those deficiencies IMO. Outside of the longer season, the only place Sugarloaf bests Stowe is with on map trails when the woods are out of play.

Stowe vs Jay Peak = better lifts, superior snowmaking, superior trails when the woods are out of play, superior side country. Big Jay is great, but it's still not the Notch.

Question. How much skiing have you done on Mt. Mansfield? To emphatically state that Jay and Sugarloaf are superior mountains for 'hard core skiers' over Mt. Mansfield, I'm guessing you haven't spent much time on the mountain. This winter, when Stowe gets a decent dump, head on over, hike the Chin, ski Hourglass and report back.

 

[snoseek]

All I know is I would be thrilled not to see my local mtn on there. Do you really want everyone that picks up that mag in a dentist office to see what you already know?

There are lots of great areas everywhere that have lots of good stuff to offer. Every one is different and comparing is completely pointless IMO.