2013 SKI Magazine Resort Rankings (Northeast)

[thetrailboss]

I don't see any other comments on this, but I just got the latest edition of SKI Magazine and the usual annual rankings. Here are the Northeast Resorts.....note who are missing:

1. Mont Tremblant
2. Sunday River
3. Smuggler's Notch
4. Sugarloaf, Maine
5. Stowe
6. Holiday Valley
7. Killington
8. Whiteface
9. Loon
10. Jay Peak

Those are the top ten that made the magazine. I think it reflects who had snow/good snowmaking last year. Note that Sugarbush and Saddleback are not on the list. Nor is Bretton Woods. And Stowe has dropped to fifth.

And in Ski Magazine's new tradition, the link for rankings 11-20 does not work. :smash:

Comments?

 

[fbrissette]

Tremblant got quite a few 'overrated' comments in the other thread. Nuff said.

 

[thetrailboss]

Tremblant got quite a few 'overrated' comments in the other thread. Nuff said.

For whatever reason it seems to be in the top of this ranking many times. So is Whistler for the main rankings. I just think it is a popularity contest/shows which resorts SKI readers go to most. Very surprising to see Sunday River jump up to No. 2...

 

[xlr8r]

Sugarbush not being in the top 10 is a joke!

 

[BenedictGomez]

I love Smuggler's Notch, but it being ranked above Stowe and Jay Peak is cray-cray.

Only thing I can logically conclude is that they awarded ridiculous points for children's programs.

 

[BenedictGomez]

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.

 

[deadheadskier]

I can't recall Saddleback ever being on the list. Given their popularity the biggest surprise for me is that neither Okemo or Stratton is listed in the top ten. Usually one of them is. This might be the first time Jay made the top 10, which is ironic as it probably has more to do with waterslides than skiing.

 

[Smellytele]

Mount Snow - not that I would put it in the top 10 but...

 

[fbrissette]

This survey looks like it was filled out by people that never hit the slopes before 10AM.

 

[Downhill Threads]

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.

 

[bvibert]

This survey looks like it was filled out by people that never hit the slopes before 10AM.

Isn't that the target demographic for SKI magazine?

 

[Smellytele]

Isn't that the target demographic for SKI magazine?

Bingo

 

[Edd]

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.

I think they usually do well on this list.

 

[Downhill Threads]

true... but didn't make the top 10 the last 2 years... so good to be back.

 

[4aprice]

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.

Their definition of Northeast is much broader then most of this boards members. Holiday Valley is rated because places like Buffalo and Cleveland use it and therefore vote for it. Don't know if they count Michigan as east or central.

Alex

Lake Hopatcong, NJ

 

[Nick]

Mine came in yesterday as well but I didn't have a chance to check it out yet. Will try to skim through tonight.... I can't seem to find the time to sit and read a magazine anymore

 

[snowmonster]

Other than to read what SKI has to say about the individual resorts in their write-ups, I don't pay much attention to these lists. Having said that, I'm glad to see Sunday River rise up in the rankings. It's a great reward for all the effort of mountain ops and the staff.

As for Saddleback, the only time I saw that resort near this list is last year when SKI called it a resort to watch out for or something like that. As for Jay, the waterpark and the new hotels definitely had something to do with that.

 

[x10003q]

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.

Ski magazine actually had some sarcastic comments about HV the led you to believe that Ski would not rank HV #6. An example was that HV ranked #1 for lifts and it only has 3 HSQ (no lift does the 750 ft vert) 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. It was also ranked #5 for access while being 6 hours or more from the population that stetches from Wash DC are to Boston.

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.

 

[drjeff]

I don't think that these rankings would change anyone on AZ's opinion about whether they would or wouldn't ski/ride at an area that is or isn't on the list.

Hands down where it does have merit is when that issue of SKI is say sitting on an end table in say the waiting room of a doctors office, or car service shop (as 2 copies of it currently are in my waiting room ) and a few times a year skier/rider starts flipping through the pages and decides to give a place they read about a try. As most of us know, it's all a marketing thing for the masses, since the masses tend to pay far more of a ski area's bills over the course of a season than the ski/riding addicts do

 

[AdironRider]

Sugarbush not being in the top 10 is a joke!

For a place that has only cared about real estate for the past decade, you shouldnt be that suprised.

Whiteface seems to have dropped a bit, seems odd as LP always carrys them.

Otherwise seems par for the course. Never have beef with Tremblant, for the once a year crowd they are pretty good.