SKI magazine 2013/14 Best Ski Areas in West

snoseek · Sep 18, 2013

Sorta surprised that Kirkwood isn't even on that list but also kinda happy in the end

Smellytele · Sep 18, 2013

They need a ski area poll not a resort poll

skiNEwhere · Sep 18, 2013

Smellytele said:
They need a ski area poll not a resort poll

Yes, but where is the line in the sand drawn between area and resort? Gray area right there.

I think there was a thread about this not too long ago, I can't remember what it is called though.

deadheadskier · Sep 18, 2013

thetrailboss said:
When I took it this summer, they focus a lot of things such as (1) off-slope amentities, (2) lodging, (3) restaurants and night-life, etc. The PC resorts definitely have a leg-up in these areas. But also a lot more of the "resort types" are going to go to PC and rank those areas higher than the LCC and BCC areas where skiing is the focus.

Out of curiosity, how were you selected to participate in the poll? Is it something people sign up for? Random selection of Ski Magazine subscribers?

I've never contributed to the poll, nor known anyone else who has in the past until now.

WWF-VT · Sep 18, 2013

I have been a subscriber to SKI for a long time and have gotten an email invite to participate in the poll for many years

thetrailboss · Sep 18, 2013

deadheadskier said:
Out of curiosity, how were you selected to participate in the poll? Is it something people sign up for? Random selection of Ski Magazine subscribers?

I've never contributed to the poll, nor known anyone else who has in the past until now.

WWF-VT said:
I have been a subscriber to SKI for a long time and have gotten an email invite to participate in the poll for many years

Like WWF, I got an Email from SKI.

Cornhead · Sep 19, 2013

Scotty said:
thetrailboss said:

I wonder why Alta was ranked so low here...although we had another low snow year here.

As to crowds, my experience at both Snowbird and Alta is that there are no crowds per se, but the terrain does get skied out like any other place. I think folks need to set their expectations accordingly since both are so close to SLC and the masses of skiers and riders who can be up there pretty easily. I would not expect virgin powder unless (1) I was at the right place, right time, for the ropes dropping, (2) I was earning turns way out in the middle of the Wasatch, or (3) I was paying big bucks for cat skiing at Snowbird, Alta, or Pow Mow.

Well what I did was went to a really good website for forecast of snow in the West, and 3 weeks before I went they predicted lots of snow for the the snowy 4 and it snowed 110 inches in one week Some days over 3 feet in 24 hour period. It was amazing best skiing ever, that was the snow record for that year I was told, yes like trailblazer said it will not be their all day but you can easily learn were to go for powder most of day. And by 1 or 2 pm your legs will give out.

I just have such found memories of skiing Gad chair( I think that was the name) and eveytime up the chair in the storm it be untracted powder oh the memory.

Click to expand...

I think Scotty's account has been hacked! I nominate this as Scotty's most coherent post of all time! per se? OK who is this? :wink:

St. Bear · Sep 19, 2013

Cornhead said:
Scotty said:

I think Scotty's account has been hacked! I nominate this as Scotty's most coherent post of all time! per se? OK who is this? :wink:

Click to expand...

Well, in all fairness, Scotty only wrote the last paragraph. Probably still his best grammatical post (if you don't count the ones that are only emoticons).

fbrissette · Sep 19, 2013

Smellytele said:
They need a ski area poll not a resort poll

Agreed.

fbrissette · Sep 19, 2013

Seriously... only one Canadian mountain in there ??? Kicking horse and especially Revelstoke are undoubtedly top 10 ski mountains (not resorts) in North America, and Revelstoke is a legitimate contender for no 1. There is nothing to do there outside of skiing, and I understand this is a critical component of this poll. Still, not in the top 30 ?????? This is even more mind-boggling than Holiday Valley in the top 5 in the east.

deadheadskier · Sep 19, 2013

All that really says is not too many Ski Subscribers have been to Revelstoke or Kicking Horse and many Ski Subscribers have been to Holiday Valley.

In the end, it's pretty much a popularity contest.

Smellytele · Sep 19, 2013

deadheadskier said:
All that really says is not too many Ski Subscribers have been to Revelstoke or Kicking Horse and many Ski Subscribers have been to Holiday Valley.

In the end, it's pretty much a popularity contest.

And most of us on here do not like SKI magazine anyway. Although I do get it for free (actually we get 2 for some reason at our house). I rarely more than browse through it.

MadMadWorld · Sep 19, 2013

deadheadskier said:
All that really says is not too many Ski Subscribers have been to Revelstoke or Kicking Horse and many Ski Subscribers have been to Holiday Valley.

In the end, it's pretty much a popularity contest.

People that ski Stoke and Kicking Horse do not read SKI! Well except me and maybe a few of us here. I do think it's ridiculous that they didn't make the top 30 for terrain alone. Let's face it, when you ski either of those mountains you don't really need any ammenities other than a hot tub because all you want to do is sleep.

thetrailboss · Sep 19, 2013

deadheadskier said:
All that really says is not too many Ski Subscribers have been to Revelstoke or Kicking Horse and many Ski Subscribers have been to Holiday Valley.

In the end, it's pretty much a popularity contest.

Exactly.

jaytrem · Sep 19, 2013

MadMadWorld said:
People that ski Stoke and Kicking Horse do not read SKI! Well except me and maybe a few of us here. I do think it's ridiculous that they didn't make the top 30 for terrain alone. Let's face it, when you ski either of those mountains you don't really need any ammenities other than a hot tub because all you want to do is sleep.

Even the more resorty Canadian places don't seem to be getting on the list much these days. Examples...

Sunshine Village
Lake Louise
Sun Peaks
Big White
Silver Star
Fernie
Panorama

Do Canadians read Ski magazine even less than Americans these days?

thetrailboss · Sep 19, 2013

jaytrem said:
Even the more resorty Canadian places don't seem to be getting on the list much these days. Examples...

Sunshine Village
Lake Louise
Sun Peaks
Big White
Silver Star
Fernie
Panorama

Do Canadians read Ski magazine even less than Americans these days?

They probably just don't read SKI.

4aprice · Sep 19, 2013

thetrailboss said:
They probably just don't read SKI.

What is attendance at these places? No matter how wonderful they are, they are remote. I used to get Ski and thought they did a pretty good job of exposing places from local to afar. I have taken the survey and its all subjective. IIRC you're only supposed to vote on areas you have actually skied. I would love to get to each and everyone but it ain't happening.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

jaytrem · Sep 19, 2013

4aprice said:
What is attendance at these places? No matter how wonderful they are, they are remote.

Attendance is probably higher than you'd think. Just not many Americans except for Lake Louise, Sunshine and Fernie to a lesser extent. Those are an easy ride from Calgary. Then you look at a place like Big White, they have 6 high speed lifts, so you know somebody skis there.

HowieT2 · Sep 19, 2013

jaytrem said:
27 sounds about right to me, and the only thing I care about is the skiing experience. Lots of negative points for crowds, even on weekdays. There's just people hiking everywhere to get to every possible inch of powder. The mountain itself is pretty nice and the snow is great, but it gets tracked out a lot faster than many other places. Especially when you take Canada into consideration.

I havent been there in 4 years, so maybe things have gotten more crowded, but even so, I go out west for snow. sure the mountains are bigger and the terrain more expansive, but what a skier really needs is good fresh snow. and for that, it doesnt get much better than alta/snowbird. there may be a handful of places that get almost as much and as consistently as they do, but there arent 17.

MadMadWorld · Sep 19, 2013

4aprice said:
What is attendance at these places? No matter how wonderful they are, they are remote. I used to get Ski and thought they did a pretty good job of exposing places from local to afar. I have taken the survey and its all subjective. IIRC you're only supposed to vote on areas you have actually skied. I would love to get to each and everyone but it ain't happening.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

Not as remote as you think. Sunshine is 1.5 hrs from Calgary. Lake Louise is probably 2 hrs. Kicking Horse is probably 2.5 but only an hour from Banff. Revelstoke is the furthest of those resorts at 4.5 hrs from Calgary. You have cat only skiing at Fortress and some amazing BC terrain at Rogers Pass all within reasonable distance.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AlpineZone mobile app

SKI magazine 2013/14 Best Ski Areas in West

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Moderator

Well-known member

Moderator

Well-known member

New member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Moderator

Well-known member

Active member

Moderator

Well-known member

Moderator

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Similar threads