The Top 30 Ski Resorts in North America… | The Most “Bang For Your Buck”

[manhattanskier]

Very cool! I have been saying this about Hunter, especially since they got that awesome 6 pack!

http://unofficialnetworks.com/vertical-drop-time-spent-lift-ratios-north-america-97291/

The concept here is: “Which ski resort you’ll get the most skiing/riding at for the least amount of time spent waiting for and sitting upon chairlifts.” (aka the most ‘bang for your buck’)

“Revelstoke is the clear winner here. And names you’d expect in the top five make the list like Jackson Hole and Sun Valley. This means that lift lines are short, chairlifts are fast, trails are steep, and there’s plenty available vertical for you to hit on your way down. In short, you get the most bang for your buck (if vertical and serious skiing is what you care about).” – Alpine Replay

This info comes from the ski/board App called Alpine Replay. We’d like to say thanks to these guys to putting this together as this is key information for skiers and riders.



Here’s how they compiled this data:

“We took a look at the average times spent waiting and sitting on a lift vs. average vertical in a day for every resort in North America. We took the top 30 from more than 300 resorts (so this represents the cream of the crop).” – Alpine Replay

(No Squaw Valley USA on this list…guess that place sucks for vertical, huh?)



“The relative difference in percentage is significant. Put another way, if you’re going to ski for a week or more, these differences will add up quickly. From #2 to #25 (the list has 30) it’s a 30% difference! You may want to keep this in mind.” – Alpine Replay

This is a very important data set. We all just wanna ski & ride. No one wants to spend time in lift lines or on lifts. This gives us a straight up answer to the question: where can I get in the most vertical in one day?

Do you guys agree with this list?

TOP 30 VERTICAL DROP TO LIFT TIME RATIOS:
1. Revelstoke, B.C.

2. Snowbird, UT

3. Jackson Hole, WY

4. Beaver Creek, CO

5. Sun Valley, ID

6. Mt. Rose, NV

7. Whistler, B.C.

8. Stowe, VT

9. Keystone, CO

10. Steamboat, CO

11. Snowmass, CO

12. Hunter Mountain, NY

13. Loon Mountain, NH

14. Vail, CO

15. Copper Mountain, CO

16. Schweitzer, ID

17. Snowbasin, UT

18. Crystal Mountain, WA

19. Whiteface, NY

20. Okemo, VT

21. Lake Louise, Canada

22. Telluride, CO

23. Stratton, VT

24. Northstar, CA

25. Marmot Basin, Canada

26. The Canyons, UT

27. Durango Mountain, CO

28. Brighton, UT

29. Mammoth, CA

30. Mt. Hood Meadows, OR

 

[Tin]

Since Okemo and Stratton are on this list I'm guessing they went off midweek-non holiday data.

 

[Domeskier]

I think this list is biased against ski areas whose clientele cannot afford your fancy intelligent phones and their movement tracking applications.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I think there was some thread similar to this a few years ago comparing lift served vert to ride time on the lift. Wildcat won that contest easily.
When taking lift lines into consideration, Burke should be near the top of that list too. You can rip off at least 6 1600' vert runs an hour there with the HSQ. Of course that is if you stick to the high speed groomer and never venture into the woods or head out toward East Bowl. Additionally, the only time you may encounter a line of more than a minute is around 11:00. Most of the time it is ski on and go.

 

[RISkier]

Since Okemo and Stratton are on this list I'm guessing they went off midweek-non holiday data.

I would think very dependent on when data were collected. Stowe, for example, can offer up lots of vertical on days when the resort isn't busy. OTOH, lines for the 4-runner and gondi can get pretty nasty on busy days. Someone mentioned Wildcat. I've only managed to ski there 1 time on a day when you could ski right onto the lift. I was mostly worn out by noon; those 6 minute lift rides just don't give you time to recover from the 2k of vertical.

 

[snoseek]

Wildcat chair is as good as stacking vert gets IMO

 

[Cannonball]

Loon? Really? It's true that the lifts offer some vert, but the lines are notoriously long. In NH Wildcat and Cannon both blow Loon out of the water for this stat, yet Loon is the only NH that gets a mention.

 

[Savemeasammy]

It seems like this list of resorts is a bit of a reflection of Alpine Replay users and their habits more than anything else. A busy, rather flat mountain like Stratton doesn't really seem to fit this mold. The same goes for Northstar. It's the Stratton of Tahoe.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[deadheadskier]

Wildcat chair is as good as stacking vert gets IMO

I was going to say, how could Wildcat not be included on this list. I would rank Wildcat and Stowe (when there are no lines) as the two best mountains in the east for racking up vertical.

 

[Smellytele]

Loon? Really? It's true that the lifts offer some vert, but the lines are notoriously long. In NH Wildcat and Cannon both blow Loon out of the water for this stat, yet Loon is the only NH that gets a mention.

Thinking the same thing. Loon has some of the worst lift lines i have ever been in.

 

[BenedictGomez]

I think there was some thread similar to this a few years ago

The article he posted is almost 2 years old, so, probably.

 

[powderdaypatriot]

Where is Jay Peak on the list?

 

[ScottySkis]

I kind of getting tired of these lists.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Where is Jay Peak on the list?

Nowhere. Nor would I expect it to be.

I'm not saying they're poor at this metric, but I sure wouldnt expect them to be on a "best" list for this either.