2013 SKI Magazine Resort Rankings (Northeast)

[marcski]

....and Stratton was ranked #4 for lifts with 4 HS6 and a gondola in addition to about 5 or 6 more FG quads and triples.

I guess its me...but, I think the Stratton lift system stinks. Granted they have a lot of HS lifts, but ever since they moved the North American Chair and took out the old Grizzly....I feel you spend a lot of time traversing and generally on weekends they have really long liftlines. They need to make the snowbowl a HS lift....that would help.

 

[jrmagic]

As a western New Yorker this is a huge win for Holiday Valley (deserving or not). It IS a fun mountain, despite the lack of vertical. And gets good lake effect snow.

Definiitely a fun mountain. I Used to ski there a lot when I was at school in Buffalo. I suppose its goof for them to make the list but personally coudl care less about any of their rankings. They seem to be more and more out of touch with regular skiers each year. Years ago I couldn't wait for each issue to show up. These days I don't subscribe and don't feel inclined to pick it up in Doctor's waiting rooms either.

 

[MadMadWorld]

Definiitely a fun mountain. I Used to ski there a lot when I was at school in Buffalo. I suppose its goof for them to make the list but personally coudl care less about any of their rankings. They seem to be more and more out of touch with regular skiers each year. Years ago I couldn't wait for each issue to show up. These days I don't subscribe and don't feel inclined to pick it up in Doctor's waiting rooms either.

Does anyone know if that picture in the magazine was actually taken at Holiday Valley? (the one with the skier and the rock bands in the background) That looked pretty gnarly but it could have just been setup to look that way for the shot.

 

[thetrailboss]

Also, just noticing Holiday Valley? Place only has a 750 foot vertical. Places like Camelback and Blue Mountain have more, lol.

These lists are, as always, silliness.

Holiday Valley has appeared in this poll quite often.

 

[MadMadWorld]

I can't believe that the only two mountains from Canada to make the list were Whistler and Tremblant. That just seems silly to me. Especially considering how many mountain were evaluated out west. If you are going to make it a list about North America then you have to at least consider mountains like Revelstoke and Kicking Horse in the top 25 for terrain alone.

 

[thetrailboss]

As observed, the folks who filled out the surveys are not the same as AZer's, so that explains some of the rankings. I think it is interesting that some hold in there (Tremblant) while others come and go. I also thought that Sunday River's jump was impressive. I will post the national (well, North America) results later which are also interesting. I think that those results, like these, reflect to some extent which places had the snow and which didn't. For example, folks ranked Park City much higher than Squaw Valley, and anyone who has been to both knows that the expert stuff at Squaw is insane compared to PCMR. That said, Squaw had a terrible snow year.

 

[thetrailboss]

I can't believe that the only two mountains from Canada to make the list were Whistler and Tremblant. That just seems silly to me. Especially considering how many mountain were evaluated out west. If you are going to make it a list about North America then you have to at least consider mountains like Revelstoke and Kicking Horse in the top 25 for terrain alone.

FWIW Powder did their own ranking too and used their own equation which yielded some interesting results...such as Ogden, Utah being second in the Rockies for skiing. Interesting find because Pow Mow and Snowbasin do have great snow and no crowds.....but are lesser known. And Powder did pay homage to Canada from what I saw with Revelstoke and others in their list.

 

[Edd]

If you are going to make it a list about North America then you have to at least consider mountains like Revelstoke and Kicking Horse in the top 25 for terrain alone.

This is a Ski Magazine readers poll. Terrain won't necessarily be a high priority.

 

[snowmonster]

FWIW Powder did their own ranking too and used their own equation which yielded some interesting results...such as Ogden, Utah being second in the Rockies for skiing. Interesting find because Pow Mow and Snowbasin do have great snow and no crowds.....but are lesser known. And Powder did pay homage to Canada from what I saw with Revelstoke and others in their list.

I have one minor quibble with the Powder rankings: the price of a cheeseburger at MRG/Sugarbush is not what they say it is! It is not the most expensive in the country.:beer:

 

[thetrailboss]

I have one minor quibble with the Powder rankings: the price of a cheeseburger at MRG/Sugarbush is not what they say it is! It is not the most expensive in the country.:beer:

Yeah, I laughed at that, as well as the guy to girl ratio. In all seriousness though Powder appeared to do their own internal poll with their own criteria whereas Ski just asked their readers to rank, and those results can be skewed.

 

[Breakout12]

Actual skiing must not rate very high in these rankings. No offense to anyone, but how can Holiday Valley rank over Bristol? In fact, why would you choose HV over Bristol? 680 vs 1200 feet, and Bristol is only about an extra hour.

I have friends who like HV, but they are clear that they are really drawn by the apres in Ellicottville, so I suspect that has a lot to do with it. I investigated HV on their recommendation, but decided we'd be much better served by Bristol. My GF and I are more interested in the skiing than the apres, but that's us.

 

[4aprice]

If you live in Western NY and Ohio the place is an important part of your skiing, but comparing it to the rest of the Northeast is nonsense. Ski should create a new catagory for the Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West.

For me, if I feel like driving 6+ hours, there are some better choices including Jay, Stowe, Smuggs, Burke, Sugarbush,
most of NH and Sunday River.

Kind of like the Time Magazine (might be The New Yorker Magazine) famous cover of a New Yorker's view of the world. Holiday Valley is in fly over country to us but looking at a map of the states most would consider it the northeast. We here in the Phi-NY-Bos corridor have it (skiing wise) pretty good.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[snowmonster]

Yeah, I laughed at that, as well as the guy to girl ratio. In all seriousness though Powder appeared to do their own internal poll with their own criteria whereas Ski just asked their readers to rank, and those results can be skewed.

What was wrong with the guy-to-girl ratio? Seemed pretty fair. We seem to do well, right?

My GF and I are more interested in the skiing than the apres, but that's us.

If you're more interested in the skiing, you will fit right in here.

 

[gmcunni]

1. Mont Tremblant - Never been
2. Sunday River - Never been
3. Smuggler's Notch - Never been
4. Sugarloaf, Maine - been once, liked it a lot
5. Stowe - Never been
6. Holiday Valley - Never been
7. Killington - been, like it don't love it, get lost cuz i don't know my way around or insider secrets.
8. Whiteface - Never been
9. Loon - Never been
10. Jay Peak - Never been

 

[fbrissette]

I can't believe that the only two mountains from Canada to make the list were Whistler and Tremblant. That just seems silly to me. Especially considering how many mountain were evaluated out west. If you are going to make it a list about North America then you have to at least consider mountains like Revelstoke and Kicking Horse in the top 25 for terrain alone.

Clearly, the ranking seems strongly skewed toward the villages and activities outside of skiing. Smuggs has a good village and accommodations for families. Jay Peak's appearance, as noted before, is likely due to the water park, new restaurants and bars. Tremblant cannot be beat using that criteria. This likely explains Revelstoke and Kicking Horse absence in the top 25. There is nothing to do there but skiing. From a pure skiing perspective, they both belong in the top 10, and I would put Revelstoke strongly in the top 3.

 

[4aprice]

1. Mont Tremblant - Never been
2. Sunday River - Never been
3. Smuggler's Notch - Never been
4. Sugarloaf, Maine - been once, liked it a lot
5. Stowe - Never been
6. Holiday Valley - Never been
7. Killington - been, like it don't love it, get lost cuz i don't know my way around or insider secrets.
8. Whiteface - Never been
9. Loon - Never been
10. Jay Peak - Never been

Fire up that Jeep gmcunni. You've got alot of exploring to do. Alot to like about most of those areas and others too. ( Not suggesting you travel to HV or Tremblant but the others are definately hitable from CT)

Alex


Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[gmcunni]

Fire up that Jeep gmcunni. You've got alot of exploring to do. Alot to like about most of those areas and others too. ( Not suggesting you travel to HV or Tremblant but the others are definately hitable from CT)

Alex


Lake Hopatcong, NJ

something to think about. unfortunately i'm relegated more and more to day trips, but with a little planning and luck i might be able to hit a few. i do like to try a couple new places each season.

 

[Glenn]

Odd that Smuggs is over K.

 

[Edd]

Odd that Smuggs is over K.

Probably enjoying the advantage of an unusually strong family vote.

I've day tripped Smuggs but haven't stayed in their village. Is there any nightlife happening at all?

 

[AdironRider]

Pat needs to get over the Canada thing. 99% of us are not going to get passports, deal with customs, annoying french wannabes or BC hippies to ski in Canada when we can get just as good, if not better skiing, here in the US. End of story.