Best Ski Area by Category

[riverc0il]

skibum1321 is dead on with the assessment regarding MRG vs. stowe. i didn't get to ski goat or starr when i was at stowe, but i was severely underwhelmed by the challenge of lifeline and national. chin clip and nosedive were interesting but hardly a challenge. trail for trail, MRG is way tougher of an expert mountain than stowe on the map. no mountain wears me out like MRG and no mountain has such a high percentage of expert trails. even half of the blue squares are legit expert terrain, as the ratings are all relative to MRG only. overall, it is hard to imagine any mountain in the east being any where close to MRG in terms of expert terrain on the map.

 

[deadheadskier]

I disagree with that assesment. I think if Stowe followed an all natural very little grooming policy such as MRG, that people would be singing a different tune. While the bumps and natural conditions can make the terrain downright nasty at MRG, I still find trails like Goat, Starr, Look Out, Upper Bypass far steeper and more difficult to negotiate than anything I've skied at MRG and I've probably skied there a good 20 times in my life covering all their marked stuff.

 

[riverc0il]

deadhead, we are evelauting what the ski areas acutally offer, not what they could offer only if. if we start throwing around ifs, that will open up a whole nuther can of worms. that said, stowe's trails are generally pretty wide and more or less down the fall line (compared to mrg). i think narrower and windier trails are generally more difficult to navigate. as far as steepness, maybe goat or starr could compare, but i don't think i saw anything at stowe comparable in steepness to something like the top of paradise. guess we just see the two areas through different colored glasses. which is cool.