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- Thread starter skiNEwhere
- Start date
skiNEwhere
Active member
And the west. #1 will be announced tomorrow, 99% sure it's Whistler
http://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/2015s-top-ranked-western-ski-resorts
http://www.skinet.com/ski/galleries/2015s-top-ranked-western-ski-resorts
Smellytele
Well-known member
Northstar in front of Squaw...
ss20
Well-known member
THEN WHY IS IT 18TH?!?! :blink:
Highway Star, got anything for a triple facepalm?!
skiNEwhere
Active member
It's ranked by the readers, which apparently prefer groomers over gnar, so I guess that's why Northstar is ahead of Squaw. But with that logic, Jackson Hole should be right there along with them.
Edd
Well-known member
Surprised to see Mt Snow get #2 for terrain parks. Would've thought #1. Stratton got 5th. I wonder who first is.
Waterville makes the list and BW doesn't. That surprises me.
Did I miss Killington?
Waterville makes the list and BW doesn't. That surprises me.
Did I miss Killington?
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Edd
Well-known member
Never mind. Something weird happened with my browser that breezed over both of those.
dlague
Active member
Ouch BW and Okemo are ranked better than Jay Peak!
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dlague
Active member
Has to be the case Cannon ranked lower than Waterville and BW Loon also lower than WV. Magic also too far down.
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jimk
Well-known member
The write-ups are better than the rankings. I read the Eastern write-ups and they were all smart and on target. The rankings by voters are pretty much the same old popularity contest.
It struck as pretty amazing that Smuggs has been coming out near the top of this type of thing quite a bit in recent years and still has the ancient lift system. Makes me wonder how profitable they really are?
It struck as pretty amazing that Smuggs has been coming out near the top of this type of thing quite a bit in recent years and still has the ancient lift system. Makes me wonder how profitable they really are?
Smellytele
Well-known member
# of condos directly effects ranking for a lot of these places...
billski
Active member
seriously. I guess I sometimes forget that people come not just to ski and board....
xwhaler
Active member
It would be interesting to see the individual category rankings somewhere (grooming, terrain, nightlife) instead of just the aggregate
skiNEwhere
Active member
Since MRG made the cut, it's no longer allowed to be mentioned in the "most underrated" thread. Same with alta
Holiday valley? I've never even heard of this place. Anyone who's skied there care to comment?
Holiday valley? I've never even heard of this place. Anyone who's skied there care to comment?
billski
Active member
I'd like a poll of the worst-groomed ski areas. I'd be skiing those!
billski
Active member
Been there done that. If you saw it on a map, you'd realize it's pretty much the last and only bastion of skiing/boarding in the area. In the very west of NYstate, where PA and OH meet. It's a family area. If you lived there, it'd be a good 4-6 hours to get to anything that you're used to skiing.
It's popular because there is a big cold-loving/tolerating group without many winter activity choices if you don't count poker and bars. Well, maybe Kissing Bridge,but that is a bump of 100 vertical. If you don't like ice fishing, ice skating or snowmobiling, you could go insane there in the winter. Sadly, the biggest thing it's got going for it is the copious amounts of snow they get. Like 12" overnight. Regularly. And not enough pitch to do anything but groom it if you want to get downhill.
Jamestown Monthly snowfall record was 69 inches in December, 2010. But still, nobody, nobody has it over on Tug Hill!
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WWF-VT
Well-known member
SKI Magazine list - 2015's Top-Ranked Eastern Ski Resorts
1. Tremblant
2. Smugglers’ Notch
3 . Stowe
4. Killington
5. Holiday Valley
6. Whiteface
7. Sugarloaf
8. Bretton Woods
9. Sunday River
10. Okemo
11. Sugarbush
12. Jay Peak
13. Stratton
14. Waterville Valley
15. Loon
16. Mount Snow
17. Cannon
18. Mad River Glen
19. Bromley
20. Saddleback
It has literally been a high ranked ski area in every single Ski Magazine resort guide that I've ever read. So, basically, for the last 30 years. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it, unless this is the first time you've read a resort guide. All I know is that it's the largest and most popular ski area in Western, NY and has a really cool town at it's base. Never been myself.
skiersleft
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This is a bad assessment of the hill. I've skied there several times and can provide an objective assessment. The hill is vertically challenged with only 750' vertical. HOwever, it's horizontally big and skis relatively big for what it is. If you go by skiable acres, it's actually the second biggest ski area in NY after Gore. It has slightly more skiable acres than Whiteface. You can spend a day there exploring the different areas in spite of its crappy vertical because of the layout. They get a lot of snow and lake effect makes for great skiing in DEcember when many ski resorts are still trying to get their act together. There is ample tree skiing. Fun, though not overly challenging. The lodges are some of the best in the East, if not the best in the East. The quality of the food is above average for a ski resort. They have two nice slopeside hotels. They also offer night skiing.
MOre importantly, Ellicottville is one of the top 3 ski villages in the East, after Lake Placid and Stowe, IMHO. Many nice bars for apres, quality dining options and a quant walkable village. It really is a beautiful place. The combination of all of these reasons - and the fact that it's far from better skiing - is why readers rank it so highly.
Of course, the skiing itself is NOT in the top 20 in the East. They do the best they can with the limited vertical that they have. But skiing in the true top Eastern resorts is considerably better. HOwever, the product they deliver is top notch. From the mountain layout to the lifts to the lodging, to the village, to the lodges, everything is top notch. Readers put all of this together and rank it very highly. It's the most visited ski resort in NY, so it also gets a lot of people to fill out the surveys. I'll try to post some pictures of the place later.
In sum, it is what it is. And what it is is not a hill with a lot of vertical, but its a well managed, decently big in terms of skiable acres hill with great apres and a beautiful village. People who ski there love it and therefore rank it highly. The Ski Mag rankings are not solely about skiing. They are about a bunch of other things and that's why it ranks highly. If it were solely about skiing, the rankings would look quite different and HV would not crack the top 20.
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