Ski resorts in United States

A traditional Pacific Northwest mountain above Chewelah in Washington, with wide groomed runs, mogul fields and hundreds of acres of tree skiing that regulars talk about more than the pistes themselves. The snow falls dry here, and the resort calls it desert dried powder because humidity on this side of the range stays low. It is part of the Indy Pass, which makes it a natural stop on a tour of independent mountains in the northwest corner.

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Twenty lifts on a hill with 97 metres of vertical. That figure tells you what Afton Alps is, an area built for throughput, where you fit more runs into an afternoon than on a mountain five times the height. It sits in the St. Croix river valley just outside Saint Paul, surrounded by Afton State Park, which makes it one of the nearest ski areas for a couple of million people. Floodlit evening skiing and one of the larger ski schools in the Midwest follow from that. It is on the Epic Pass.

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Alta takes skis only. Snowboards are not allowed on the lifts or on the mountain, and it is a decision the area has held to for decades. Snow is why people come. The average is around 1380 centimetres in a winter, and the record season of 2022 and 2023 brought over 2290. The mountain is known worldwide for steep and deep powder, but 45 per cent of the terrain is laid out for beginners and intermediates, which surprises most people on a first visit. The place began as a silver mining town that emptied out. The slopes were hand picked by the Norwegian skier Alf Engen, who had been hired by the Forest Service to judge what the area could become. They saw deep snow and inviting terrain as a way to create work and bring the vegetation back to a range that mining had stripped bare. Salt Lake City lies just below, at the foot of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

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The only major ski resort in Alaska, at Girdwood forty minutes south of Anchorage, rising from close to sea level at the head of an inlet. The base is at 76 metres, which is the lowest of any serious resort in North America, and the snowfall is measured in metres rather than centimetres. The terrain is steep, with bowls and chutes off the upper mountain and long groomed runs below. The vertical is substantial and the aerial tram runs from the hotel to the top. The light is what people remember. In midwinter the days are short and the sun stays low, and the northern lights are visible on clear nights. Spring skiing here runs into April with daylight until late evening, which is the best time to come.

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High in New Mexico with a summit at 3255 metres. This is the family resort of the southern Rockies, and the range of things to do stretches well past the skiing. There is a golf course at 2620 metres, over ninety kilometres of bike trail, and a summer chairlift the resort lists as the longest and fastest in North America. The altitude gives dry snow and a long season. The air is thin enough that the first day is worth taking gently. Lift tickets bought 72 hours ahead cost less.

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Colorado has no longer season. A Basin often opens in October and runs into June, and it is one of the highest ski areas in North America with the base at 3289 metres and the summit at 3814. The terrain ranks among the most demanding on the continent, but the tone of the place is relaxed and without any stiffness. They cap crowds on purpose to keep the mountain from filling up. They are also carbon neutral, a target reached two years ahead of plan, running on fully renewable electricity since late 2023.

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Skiing in Arizona surprises most people. Snowbowl sits in the San Francisco Peaks above Flagstaff with around 660 centimetres of snow in an average year and 700 metres of vertical. The gondola climbs to 3505 metres, the highest lift served point in the state. From there you look out over old cinder cones and pine covered ridges to the red rocks of Sedona, and on a clear day as far as the Grand Canyon. The resort claims the largest beginner terrain in the southwest, and children of twelve and under ski free on the Power Kids Pass. Basecamp at the foot has both hotel rooms and cabins.

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Highland Bowl is the whole reason. It is 110 hectares of hike to terrain reached along the ridge, and it is held in a regard among American skiers that few places in the country match. Highlands stays out of the spotlight and feels like the locals' mountain. Somewhere you ski because you want to and not because anyone is watching. Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro halfway up serves fondue and wine with the Maroon Bells behind it and has become an institution in its own right. In the evening a snowcat runs up for dinner there after hours. One lift ticket covers all four Aspen Snowmass mountains with a free bus between them, so Highlands becomes the steep day in a week that also holds Snowmass and Buttermilk.

Aspen Mountain rises straight out of town and has told much of the story of North American skiing for over seventy five years. The Silver Queen gondola runs from the main street to the summit at 3419 metres, which means the distance between coffee and the top of the mountain is about fifteen minutes. The skiing is steep and sustained, with quad burning groomers and gladed runs that all funnel back into the middle of Aspen. There is no beginner terrain here at all. Families and first timers use Buttermilk and Snowmass nearby, which are covered by the same ticket with a free bus between them. The town below is a former silver mining settlement that became one of the most fashionable addresses in America without losing its brick main streets and Victorian storefronts. Galleries, restaurants and serious shopping sit at the bottom of the gondola. Bonnie's halfway up is known for its pancakes, and the Sundeck at the summit serves lunch at 3417 metres. Aspen also runs a real cultural calendar of music, film and ideas festivals, which is unusual for a ski town and worth checking before you pick your week.

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In the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and one of the New England names that comes up whenever people talk about snowmaking and grooming. Those two things decide an eastern season and they are taken seriously here. The resort is on the Epic Pass. Oktoberfest at the base in the second week of October has become the fixed marker that the season is coming, with live music, food trucks and a beer garden. Buy lift tickets in advance, because the daily number is limited.

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Vail's quieter and more polished neighbour, built up a side valley behind a gated entrance and reached by escalators from the car park. It was made deliberately smaller and calmer, with a small pedestrian village and free cookies handed out at the base at the end of the day. It is unusually good for families and mixed groups. A large share of the terrain is genuinely gentle blue, there are three separate learning areas, and the tree skiing is excellent. The ski school is one of the best in Colorado and worth using. Stronger skiers get the Birds of Prey World Cup downhill, which is open to the public and seriously steep, along with the Grouse Mountain runs beside it. Hotels and condos are manicured and expensive. Evenings are quiet, with ice skating and sleigh ride dinners, and Vail is fifteen minutes away for anything more.

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The oldest continuously family owned ski resort in the United States. The same family has run this mountain in Logan Canyon in northern Utah for generations, and it shows in the tone of the place, because there is no marketing department here. The snow is Utah snow, dry and plentiful, and the mountain sits between 2180 and 2670 metres with six lifts and short queues. The Bear 100, one of the well known American ultra races, passes through this terrain in autumn, and the area hosts several races through the summer.

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A state owned mountain in the Catskills, around two and a half hours from New York City, in a forest preserve protected by the state constitution. That protection is why there is no development around the base and why the surrounding woods look the way they do. The mountain is arranged with the gentler terrain low down and the steeper runs off the summit, which makes it easy for a mixed group to split up and meet again. A gondola runs to the top. Ticket prices are noticeably lower than the private resorts in Vermont, and the Catskill villages nearby have become good places to eat over the last decade. It is one of the more relaxed options within reach of the city for a weekend.

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A vast, remote mountain in southwest Montana with a tram to the summit of Lone Peak that would be a serious mountaineering objective anywhere else. It is now reached by gondola and tram together, and it stays open through the summer as well. Expert terrain defines the place. Dozens of steep chutes, bowls and ridge lines sit above a great deal of long uncrowded groomed skiing lower down, and the mountain is cold, dry and reliable from November through April. There is more skiable ground per person here than at almost any resort in North America. There is very little village, and the nearest real town is Bozeman an hour away. Hotels and condos at the base improve every year without being charming, and evenings are quiet. The entrance to Yellowstone is close enough for a snowcoach day, and Bozeman is worth a dinner on the way in or out.

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Ninety years of history, and one of the last places many people consider the heartbeat of American skiing. Black Mountain in New Hampshire has stayed independent the whole way, with the Fichera family at the helm since 1995 and a stated aim of keeping it open, accessible and affordable. When the operation came under threat, Indy Pass stepped in with financial and operational support and has since taken over stewardship, as part of a wider effort behind independent mountains. It is not the biggest hill in New England. It is one of the ones people care most about.

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A busy Pennsylvania mountain in the Lehigh valley with the highest vertical in the state, which is not saying a great deal but does make it more interesting than its neighbours. There is a genuine steep section on the front face alongside a large amount of gentle terrain, extensive snowmaking and floodlighting on most of the hill. The terrain parks are well built. Philadelphia is around ninety minutes away and New York about two hours, so weekends fill and midweek stays calm. There is lodging nearby rather than at the base, and the surrounding Lehigh valley has plenty of options at moderate prices.

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A non profit community mountain twenty five kilometres from downtown Boise, run for the benefit of the area rather than for shareholders, which shows in the ticket prices and in the atmosphere. It has one of the largest night skiing operations in the United States, with a substantial share of the terrain floodlit, and that is how much of Boise uses it after work. The terrain covers both sides of a ridge, so there is usually one aspect holding better snow than the other, with a good spread from learning slopes to steeper tree runs. There is very little lodging on the mountain. Boise is close enough that almost everyone drives up, and the road is a long series of switchbacks that takes about half an hour.

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A mountain in northern Vermont between Burlington and Stowe, higher than most of its neighbours, which gives it a better natural snow record than the vertical suggests. The terrain is a good spread with excellent glade skiing, and Bolton has a strong following among backcountry skiers because of an extensive uphill and touring network from the same base. Night skiing runs several evenings a week, which is unusual in Vermont and heavily used by the Burlington crowd. The resort is small and unpolished with lodging at the base. Burlington is around half an hour away.

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A compact area right on the Donner Pass at Lake Tahoe, and the first thing you reach coming up from Sacramento, which makes it the traditional first stop of the California season. It usually opens before its neighbours. Boreal has always been a park mountain. The terrain parks are extensive and well built and the place has a young following because of it. Woodward Tahoe next door is an indoor training centre with foam pits and trampolines that runs year round. Night skiing runs several evenings a week. There is no village and very little lodging, so most people drive up for the day or stay in Truckee twenty minutes away. Prices are among the lowest at Tahoe.

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A resort in northern Michigan near Harbor Springs, part of the Boyne group, and one of the two main ski destinations in the Midwest alongside its sister mountain. The vertical is modest and the terrain is mostly gentle with thorough snowmaking and grooming, and the operation is built around families and learning. There is a substantial hotel at the base with a spa and indoor pools, which makes it work as a full winter destination rather than a day hill. Lake Michigan is close by and the surrounding area has a strong summer resort tradition. Detroit is around four and a half hours away.

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A resort in northern Michigan near Boyne Falls, the original mountain of the Boyne group, which went on to own resorts across North America. The vertical is modest and the terrain is gentle and heavily groomed, aimed at families and beginners, with extensive snowmaking that does nearly all the work. There is a large lodge at the base with an indoor water park, and the resort operates year round. It has a place in American ski history as the site of one of the first chairlifts in the Midwest, bought second hand from Sun Valley. Detroit is around four hours away.

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Five peaks above a preserved Victorian mining town, with a Main Street of nineteenth century storefronts full of bars, restaurants and shops. It feels lived in rather than staged, and it is one of the busiest resorts in North America partly because of that. The terrain spreads by character across the peaks, with gentle learning slopes low down, a great deal of intermediate cruising in the middle, and high alpine bowls above the treeline that take a hike to reach. Beginners are better served here than at almost any other large Colorado resort. One thing to plan around. The town sits very high and altitude sickness in the first two days is common, so arrive gently, drink water and leave the hikes until day three. Hotels, condos and rentals with a free bus between them, and Denver ninety minutes away.

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The largest area in New Hampshire, sitting beneath Mount Washington in a broad valley with the grand Omni Mount Washington Hotel in front of it. The hotel is a landmark in its own right, built in 1902, and the international monetary conference of 1944 that gave the place its name was held inside it. The skiing is gentle, wide and beautifully groomed, which makes this one of the best learning mountains in New England. There is glade skiing for people who want it, but the mountain is not trying to be steep. The view across to the Presidential Range is the finest from any lift in the eastern United States. There is also a large cross country network and a canopy tour, and the whole place is set up for families rather than for hard chargers.

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The highest ski area in Utah by base elevation, at nearly 3000 metres in the southern part of the state, which is what allows skiing this far south. The terrain is spread across two mountains with a good deal of gentle ground and a well protected learning area, and the snowfall is substantial for the latitude. It is a long way from the Wasatch resorts and has a completely different feel, quieter and cheaper and used mostly by people from Las Vegas and southern Utah. Cedar Breaks and Bryce Canyon are both close by, and Zion is around two hours away, which makes for an unusual combination of skiing and desert canyon country.

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A non profit community mountain outside Bozeman in Montana, run for the benefit of local skiers, with a ridge above the lifts that requires an avalanche transceiver to access and gives some of the most serious inbounds terrain in the country. Below the ridge the mountain is a good deal friendlier, with a spread of groomed runs and excellent tree skiing, and the ticket prices are a fraction of what the destination resorts charge. When a storm arrives a blue light goes on in Bozeman to tell the town the powder has come, which says most of what you need to know about the place. Bozeman is twenty minutes away and Big Sky an hour, so the two combine well.

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A mountain at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, less than an hour from Salt Lake City, and the place where a great many locals learned to ski. Every lift reaches terrain of all levels, which is unusual and useful, and there is a great deal of tree skiing and open bowl terrain accessible directly from the chairs. The snow is the light dry Utah kind. Brighton runs one of the largest night skiing operations in the region, with a substantial part of the mountain floodlit several evenings a week. It is unpretentious with very little development at the base, and it has always welcomed snowboarders, unlike its neighbours in the next canyon.

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A mountain in southern Vermont that faces south, which is unusual in New England and gives it noticeably more sunshine and warmth than its neighbours. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with thorough grooming, and it has long been a family mountain with a relaxed atmosphere and a loyal following. There is an alpine slide and an adventure park that run in summer, which makes it a year round operation. Manchester nearby is an attractive Vermont town with outlet shopping and good restaurants. Boston is around three hours away and New York four.

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A mountain in west central Idaho above McCall with a reputation for the best snow in the state, helped by a position that catches storms coming in off the Pacific. The terrain is broad with long groomed descents and excellent tree skiing, and there is a large snowcat operation on the back side that opens terrain well beyond the lifts. The view across Payette Lake from the runs is the thing people remember. There is very little at the base. McCall down the hill is a lake town with restaurants and hot springs nearby, and it makes a comfortable base. Boise is around two hours away. Crowds are light and prices are moderate.

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A mountain in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, remote by the standards of that state, and home to Burke Mountain Academy which has produced a long line of American ski racers. The terrain is genuine with a good vertical, narrow classic New England runs and excellent glades, and the mountain is quiet because it is a long way from anywhere. There is lodging at the base and East Burke village nearby is small. The Kingdom Trails network here is one of the best known mountain biking areas in the eastern United States, which brings a different crowd in summer. Boston is around three and a half hours away.

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The gentlest of the four Aspen Snowmass mountains and the one families and beginners are pointed towards, with a long consistent pitch that never surprises anyone. It is also the home of the Winter X Games, which have been held here for decades, and the superpipe and slopestyle course built for them are among the best in the world. That combination of the easiest mountain and the most extreme competition in the same place is unusual. One lift ticket covers all four Aspen mountains with a free bus between them, so Buttermilk works as part of a week rather than on its own. Aspen town is ten minutes away with everything that brings.

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One of the busiest ski areas in Pennsylvania, in the Poconos within easy reach of both New York and Philadelphia, and built for volume. The vertical is modest and the terrain is mostly gentle, with a large learning operation and one of the biggest snow tubing parks in the country. Floodlit evening skiing runs most nights. Snowmaking does all the work here. There is a large hotel and an indoor waterpark at the base, which makes it a full family destination rather than purely a ski hill, and that is how most people use it. Weekends are very busy and midweek is far calmer. Prices are lower midweek too.

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A state park resort in the highlands of West Virginia, in a broad valley at over a thousand metres that holds cold and snow better than anywhere else in the mid Atlantic. The terrain is gentle and mainly intermediate with a good learning area, and snowmaking covers nearly all of it. There is night skiing and a substantial cross country network in the surrounding state park. Because it is state owned there is no real estate around the base and prices are low, with a lodge on site. The valley is a protected wetland of national importance and the wildlife is a genuine part of the appeal. Washington is around four hours away.

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A state owned mountain in Franconia Notch in New Hampshire, with a granite face rising above a narrow pass and a reputation among New England skiers for being genuinely hard. The terrain is steep and often icy, and the mountain does not apologise for it. Skiing well here is a mark of something in the region. There is gentler ground lower down and a separate learning area. An aerial tramway runs to the summit and has done since the 1930s. The New England Ski Museum is at the base, and Franconia Notch state park around it is protected land with no development. Prices are lower than at the private Vermont resorts.

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A resort in the Sierra Nevada above Huntington Lake in central California, and the closest skiing to Fresno and the central valley. The terrain is a good spread across a compact mountain with gentle learning ground and steeper runs off the summit, and there is night skiing at weekends. The snowpack in this part of the Sierra is heavy and variable, so conditions swing between excellent and thin depending on the year. Yosemite is around two hours away by road in summer, though the direct routes close in winter. Prices are low and the crowds are largely regional.

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A mountain that divides itself by ability from one side to the other. Beginners at one end, intermediates in the middle, experts at the far side, with almost no chance of ending up somewhere you did not intend. For a mixed group that is worth more than it sounds. It is high, cold and varied, with serious steep bowls above the treeline and good tree skiing between, though the upper terrain holds in wind and that happens often. The base villages are collections of accommodation rather than a destination, with limited dining and quiet evenings, and an ice rink for something to do. Denver is ninety minutes down the interstate, so weekends fill up. Come midweek, and buy lift tickets in advance, because they are cheaper than Vail and they go quickly.

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A mountain right on the edge of North Conway in New Hampshire, one of the oldest ski areas in the country, and unusually convenient because the town is at the bottom of the hill. The terrain is modest and mostly gentle with a good learning operation and night skiing, and it is aimed squarely at families. North Conway is the main town of the Mount Washington valley with outlet shopping, restaurants and plenty of accommodation, and the bigger mountains in the area are all within half an hour. There is a tubing park and an indoor adventure centre for bad weather. Boston is around three hours away.

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A preserved Victorian mining town at the end of a valley in Colorado, with brightly painted clapboard buildings along Elk Avenue and no through road beyond it. That dead end position is why it has stayed the way it has. The mountain is known for extreme terrain. The Extremes above the lifts are steep, exposed and genuinely serious, and they have been used for competitions for decades. Below them there is a good spread of intermediate cruising and excellent beginner ground. The town is one of the most likeable in American skiing, with a strong local community and a food scene well beyond what the population suggests. Gunnison airport is thirty minutes away. Getting here takes effort, which is much of why the slopes stay quiet.

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The biggest area in Washington State, sitting directly beneath Mount Rainier about two hours from Seattle. On a clear day the view of the mountain from the summit gondola is one of the most striking in North America. The terrain is genuinely serious, with steep bowls, chutes and long ridge lines above the treeline, alongside plenty of groomed runs lower down. Snowfall is heavy and the season is long. It is coastal snow, so it comes in quantity rather than lightness, and cloud sits on the mountain more often than not. When it clears, it is spectacular. Weekends fill up with Seattle traffic, so midweek and early starts are worth planning for. There is limited lodging at the base and more in Enumclaw down the valley.

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A resort built on service rather than terrain. The grooming is done to a standard nobody else attempts, a daily cap on lift tickets keeps the mountain from ever feeling full, and the food on the hill is good enough that people plan the day around it. The skiing is beautifully prepared intermediate and advanced terrain across several peaks, with an excellent ski school and strong beginner areas. Nobody comes here for anything extreme, and snowboards are not permitted, which is a decision the resort has held for its whole history. It is expensive and unashamedly so, aimed at families and older skiers who value comfort over adventure. Lodges sit at the base, rentals are available in town, and Park City's Main Street is minutes away and supplies the evenings. Buy tickets early, because the cap means they sell out, and reserve the mountain restaurants, which take bookings and deserve them.

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A family run mountain in the central Sierra Nevada of California, near Pinecrest Lake, and the closest ski area to the Sonora and Modesto region. The terrain is a good spread across a compact mountain with gentle learning ground and steeper runs higher up, and the snowpack in this part of the Sierra can be substantial. Pinecrest below is a lake and camping area that is busy in summer and quiet in winter, and there is limited lodging nearby. Prices are lower than at the Tahoe resorts and the crowds are largely local. Yosemite is close by, though the direct high routes close in winter.

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The closest ski area to Boulder and Denver, less than an hour away, and reachable by public bus from Boulder, which almost no other Colorado resort can claim. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground and steeper tree skiing, and there is a substantial Nordic network alongside the downhill. The mountain sits high and exposed, so wind is a regular feature and it can hold the upper lifts. Prices are lower than at the resorts on the interstate and the crowds are local rather than destination. Nederland at the bottom of the road is a small mountain town with its own character.

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A mountain in the Endless Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, north of the Poconos, and consistently rated the best skiing in the mid Atlantic by people who ski the region regularly. It is steeper and more serious than the Pocono hills to the south, with 27 trails across 180 acres and a genuine fall line. The crowds are noticeably thinner too, because it takes more effort to reach. The operation is old fashioned in the good sense, family run with a lodge and a restaurant rather than a resort complex. Scranton is around forty minutes away and New York about three hours. It rewards the extra driving if you want to ski rather than queue.

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The largest area in New York State, in the Adirondack Park at North Creek, and owned by the state rather than by a resort company. That shows in the prices and in the absence of any real estate around the base. The mountain spreads across four peaks with a fair amount of terrain, including some genuinely steep eastern runs and a long gondola from the base. Snowmaking is extensive, which matters here. There is no village. North Creek in the valley is an ordinary Adirondack town with a few places to eat and stay, and the surrounding forest preserve is protected wilderness, so the setting is quiet in a way that resort valleys rarely are. Whiteface at Lake Placid is on the same state ticket.

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On the western slope of the Tetons in Wyoming, reached through Idaho, and famous for getting more snow than almost anywhere in the American Rockies. Locals call it Grand Foghee for the same reason, because the storms that bring the snow bring the cloud with them. The terrain is mostly open bowls and glades, gentle to moderate in pitch, which makes it one of the best places in the country to ski deep snow if you are not an expert. There is a snowcat operation on a second peak for people who want more. It is small, remote and unpolished, with a handful of lodges at the base and Driggs in the valley below. The view of the back of the Tetons on a clear day is the one people photograph.

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The largest ski area in Wisconsin, on Rib Mountain above Wausau, with the biggest vertical in the state and a well developed lift system for a Midwestern hill. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground, comfortable intermediate cruising and genuinely steep runs off the summit, plus glade skiing that is unusual for the region. Snowmaking covers essentially everything and the grooming is thorough. Rib Mountain State Park surrounds the area. Milwaukee is around two and a half hours away and Minneapolis about three and a half.

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A local mountain outside Helena in Montana, family run and deliberately affordable, and the sort of place that exists for the community around it rather than for visitors. The terrain spreads across several faces with a good deal of variety for its size, including steeper pitches and tree skiing, and there is a terrain park and night skiing. Prices are among the lowest in the northern Rockies and the mountain is rarely busy. Helena is around forty minutes away. This is a place to ski if you are passing through Montana and want a day without paying resort prices, rather than a destination in itself.

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A county owned mountain in the New Hampshire lakes region, above Lake Winnipesaukee, and one of the oldest ski areas in the United States, built by federal work programmes in the 1930s. The view down onto the lake from the upper runs is the thing people remember. The terrain is modest and mostly intermediate, well suited to families, with a good learning area and night skiing several evenings a week. Because it is publicly owned there is no real estate around the base and the prices reflect that. There is a substantial tubing park and a network of cross country and snowshoe trails. Boston is around two hours away, which makes it a common weekend option.

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The view is unlike anywhere else in skiing. The runs face straight down onto Lake Tahoe, and on a clear morning you are looking at two thousand metres of blue water while you ski. The resort straddles the California and Nevada state line, which means the casinos of Stateline are at the bottom of the gondola on one side. That gives it a nightlife no other American ski resort has, for better or worse. The terrain is broad and mostly intermediate with steep tree skiing on the Nevada side and long groomed runs on the California side. Getting between the two ends takes time, so plan the day rather than drifting. Reno airport is an hour away. Sierra snow is heavy and plentiful, and storms can close the passes, so keep the plans loose.

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A family mountain in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, around an hour from Pittsburgh, with 26 slopes and trails on a modest hill. It is built around learning, with a large ski school and gentle terrain, and it is on the Epic Pass, which is unusual for a hill of this size. Snowmaking does nearly all the work at this latitude, so check conditions before setting out. There is lodging at the base and the surrounding Laurel Highlands have plenty of options. Seven Springs is nearby under the same ownership and gives a bigger day.

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A resort in Ellicottville in western New York, an hour from Buffalo, and the main destination in the lake effect snow belt south of Lake Erie. That lake effect is the whole story. Storms pick up moisture crossing the lake and drop it here in quantity, which gives this modest hill far more snow than its position suggests. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with extensive snowmaking as insurance, and floodlit evening skiing runs most of the season. Ellicottville village is a genuine small town with restaurants and bars and a lively weekend scene, which makes it more pleasant than most resorts of this size.

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A small mountain on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, directly above the water, with a view down onto the lake from almost every run that is among the best in California. The terrain is a good spread with gentle groomed ground and steeper tree skiing, and the mountain is sheltered enough to keep running when wind holds the lifts elsewhere at Tahoe. It has always been the quiet alternative to the big resorts on the north shore, with a local following and thin crowds. Tahoe City is ten minutes away and Reno around an hour and a half. Check current operating status before planning a trip, as the resort has been through changes in recent years.

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The best known ski area in the Catskills, around two and a half hours from New York City, and the mountain a great many New Yorkers learned on. The terrain is a good spread with genuinely steep runs on the west side alongside gentle learning ground, and snowmaking here has a long history and covers essentially everything. Weekends are very busy and midweek is far calmer, which is the pattern for any mountain this close to the city. Hunter and Tannersville villages below have places to eat and stay, and the Catskill forest preserve keeps the surroundings undeveloped.

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The mountain with the biggest reputation in the United States, and it is earned. Rendezvous Mountain gives 1260 metres of continuous vertical, and the tram to the top serves terrain that is steep from the moment you step off. Corbet's Couloir is the run everyone photographs, but the mountain around it is what keeps people coming back, with open bowls, chutes and gladed terrain that reward local knowledge. There is good intermediate skiing on the Apres Vous side, though the grading is honest and a blue here is a red elsewhere. Teton Village at the base has hotels and restaurants. Jackson town, twenty minutes away, is a genuine western town with galleries, bars and elk antler arches in the square. The Tetons rise straight out of the valley floor with no foothills, which is why the view from the valley is one of the most photographed in America.

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The most snow in the eastern United States, by a considerable margin, on a peak in northern Vermont that catches storms coming down from Quebec. Locals call it the Jay cloud. The terrain is steep and heavily gladed, and the tree skiing here has a following that treats it as the best in the east. Beginners have a decent area but the mountain is really built for people who can ski. An aerial tram runs to the summit. The Canadian border is a few kilometres away and a large share of the visitors are from Quebec. There is an indoor water park and an ice rink at the base, which makes it more of a family destination than the terrain alone would suggest.

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A small local hill in eastern Idaho, about forty minutes from Idaho Falls, in the foothills below the Big Hole mountains. It has been the place people from that part of the state learn to ski for generations. The terrain is modest and mostly intermediate, with a good beginner area and floodlit evening skiing several nights a week, which is when most of the local traffic arrives. Prices are low and the queues are short. Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole are both within a couple of hours if you want a bigger mountain for a day, and the Yellowstone and Teton country north of here is the real reason many people are in the area.

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A family first Colorado resort with the largest floodlit ski operation in the state, which effectively lengthens the day and lets children stay out until dark. The mountain is three peaks deep. A broad, gentle, heavily groomed front side, steeper tree skiing behind it, and hike to or snowcat served bowls at the back for serious snow. Beginners are very well provided for. The base villages are purpose built, pleasant and quiet in the evening, with condos and hotels cheaper than Vail or Beaver Creek and kids ski free arrangements worth planning the trip around. Night skiing, a snow tubing hill and one of the largest outdoor ice rinks in the country, out on the lake, fill the evenings.

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The biggest area in the eastern United States, and the one that opens first and closes last, often from late October into May, kept alive by snowmaking on a scale that is hard to appreciate until you see it working. The terrain spreads across six peaks and is more varied than eastern skiing usually gets credit for, including a serious bump run and plenty of steep narrow New England pitches. Eastern steep usually means firm rather than deep, which is a different skill rather than a lesser one. The nightlife is the liveliest in the East by a distance. Condos, inns and motels line the access road, with hotels in Rutland. Boston and New York are around three hours away, so weekends are busy. Midweek is calmer, and March beats January, because the base built through winter finally softens.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

A mountain south of Lake Tahoe with the biggest snowfall in the region and the most serious terrain, sitting in a natural bowl surrounded by cliff bands. The skiing is steep and technical with cornices, chutes and open bowls, and it has a devoted following among people who ski hard. There is gentler ground lower down and a good learning area. It is remote for Tahoe, around forty minutes further than the northern resorts, and the road can close in storms. That isolation is why the snow lasts. There is a small village at the base with limited lodging and dining. Most visitors stay at South Lake Tahoe and drive out.

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A ski area on the Idaho and Montana border on the interstate, with a base right at the highway and a snowfall record helped by its position on the divide. The mountain recently expanded onto a second peak, which roughly doubled the terrain, and there is a good spread of gentle and intermediate runs with tree skiing between. It is one of the more affordable operations in the northern Rockies, and it runs a free ski school for children that has been going since the 1930s. Wallace in Idaho below is a preserved mining town worth a look. Spokane is around ninety minutes away.

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A mountain in the White Mountains of New Hampshire beside the Pemigewasset river, and one of the more polished operations in the state. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with thorough grooming and extensive snowmaking, which makes it a strong choice for families and improvers. There is steeper terrain on the south peak for people who want it. A gondola runs from the base and there is a good deal at the bottom of the hill in the way of lodging and food. Lincoln in the valley is a working town on the Kancamagus highway, and Boston is around two hours away, which makes weekends busy and midweek calm.

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A mountain on the Continental Divide where Montana meets Idaho, with over 300 inches of snow a year and a following that treats it as one of the last genuinely undiscovered places in the northern Rockies. There are 69 runs served by five double chairs and three rope tows, with 550 metres of vertical and a longest run of two kilometres. Nothing about the lift system is modern and that is part of the appeal. Powder Thursday is a local institution, because the mountain is closed Monday to Wednesday and the snow accumulates. The nearest towns are small. Missoula is around two hours away and Salmon in Idaho about an hour.

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One of the highest lift served ski areas in North America, sitting right at the Eisenhower Tunnel on the Continental Divide an hour from Denver. The base is at 3243 metres and the top lift reaches 3937. That altitude gives it one of the longest seasons in Colorado, often opening in October and running into May, and the snow stays cold and dry. A free snowcat takes skiers along the ridge to terrain that would otherwise need a hike. There is no village and no real estate, which keeps prices well below the resorts further west and keeps the atmosphere unpretentious. Most people drive up for the day. Take the first day gently, because this is serious altitude.

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The biggest area in the American Midwest, on the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota, with terrain spread across four separate peaks linked by a gondola across a river valley. The vertical is the biggest in the region and the runs are longer than anywhere else in the Midwest, with lake effect snow off Superior supplementing the snowmaking. The view out over the lake, which looks like the sea, is the memorable part. The north shore around it is forest and rock country with the Boundary Waters inland. Duluth is around two hours away and Minneapolis about four and a half.

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Ski it if you can. That has been the slogan for decades and it is not marketing, because this Vermont mountain is deliberately steep, narrow and mostly ungroomed, and it is one of the few places in North America where snowboarding is not permitted. It is owned by a cooperative of its own skiers, who bought it in 1995 to keep it as it is. The single chair from 1948 was rebuilt rather than replaced, and it is still the only single chairlift running at any ski area in the country. The terrain is natural, tight and wooded, and it rewards people who like reading a mountain rather than being handed one. There is a beginner area and a ski school, but nobody should pretend this is a gentle hill. There is no lodging at the base and no development. Waitsfield and the Mad River valley below have inns and places to eat.

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A volcano on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada that gets more snow than almost anywhere in the United States and holds it later than anywhere, regularly into June. Spring is when the skiing here is genuinely excellent rather than a consolation. Wide sunny groomed terrain low down rises to a summit ridge of steep chutes reached by gondola, and the terrain parks are among the best in the world. Wind closes the summit often, and Pacific storms can shut the mountain for days at a time, so build slack into the plan. Mammoth Lakes below is a spread out town rather than a resort village, with hotels, condos, rentals and a shuttle linking the base lodges. Los Angeles is around five hours by road and that is where most visitors come from, so midweek is calmer. The Owens valley has hot springs worth an afternoon.

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A mountain above Wenatchee in central Washington, on the dry side of the Cascade crest, which gives it lighter and drier snow than the resorts nearer the coast. The terrain is a good spread across a broad face with long groomed runs, open bowls and tree skiing, and the sunshine record here is far better than western Washington manages. Wenatchee below is an orchard town in apple country with a proper main street, and it sits low enough to stay clear of the mountain weather. Seattle is around three hours away over the pass. Prices are moderate and the crowds are largely regional.

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A mountain on Monarch Pass in central Colorado at over 3200 metres, with entirely natural snow and no snowmaking at all, which is unusual for the state and possible because of how much falls here. The terrain is a good spread with gentle groomed runs, tree skiing and a snowcat operation that opens serious terrain beyond the boundary. The mountain is small in lift count but the snow quality is consistently high. There is no lodging on the mountain. Salida twenty minutes away is a likeable town on the Arkansas river with hot springs and a good main street. Prices are well below the resorts on the interstate and the crowds are thin.

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A local mountain above Missoula in Montana with a big vertical for a small operation, and a long standing reputation for steep terrain that suits people who already know how to ski. Six lifts serve a mountain with genuine pitch, tree skiing and open ground higher up, and the crowds are thin. There is a learning area but the mountain is not built around beginners. Missoula, around twenty minutes away, is a university town with a good food and music scene and more going on than most Montana ski towns. Prices are low and the atmosphere is unpolished, which is much of the appeal.

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The largest alpine area in interior Alaska, outside Fairbanks, with 750 acres and 1300 feet of vertical spread over a hill more than a mile wide. The mountain faces south, which means you ski above the winter inversion in sunshine while the valley below sits in cold fog. That is a genuinely unusual selling point and the reason locals value it. The terrain runs from long gentle cruisers to steep narrow black runs, and there is enough of it to keep good skiers occupied. Fairbanks is close by, and the aurora here is as good as anywhere in the world. The season depends on snowfall, which in interior Alaska is drier and thinner than on the coast.

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The closest ski area to Reno, around half an hour away, and the one with the highest base elevation at Lake Tahoe, which means the snow stays cold when the lower resorts turn wet. The terrain is a good spread with gentle groomed runs and a section called the Chutes that gives genuinely steep skiing directly off the ridge. The mountain sits on a pass with the runs on both sides, and the view down onto Lake Tahoe from the upper lifts is excellent. There is no lodging on the mountain. Reno and Incline Village are the bases, and the highway can close in heavy weather.

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The closest major mountain to New York City, around four hours away in southern Vermont, which shapes everything about it. Weekends are busy, midweek is calm, and the whole operation is built to move a lot of people efficiently. The main face is broad and gentle with excellent grooming, and the Carinthia side is given over entirely to terrain parks, which is unusual and makes it one of the best park mountains in the east. Snowmaking is extensive and reliable. The North Face gives steeper terrain for people who want it. Wilmington and West Dover nearby have inns and places to eat, and the whole Deerfield valley has a settled New England feel.

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A state owned mountain in southwestern New Hampshire, leased to a resort operator, in a state park on the shore of Lake Sunapee. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground, comfortable intermediate cruising and a steeper section on the north face, and grooming and snowmaking are thorough. The view across the lake from the upper runs is the memorable part, and the state park below has a beach that is busy in summer. Boston is around two hours away, which makes it a straightforward weekend, and prices sit below the larger Vermont resorts.

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The closest ski area to New York City, around an hour away in northern New Jersey, which is the single fact that defines it. A great many people from the city learn to ski here. The vertical is modest and the terrain is spread across four peaks, with a strong terrain park programme that has a following of its own. Snowmaking is extensive and the operation runs on volume. Floodlit evening skiing is heavily used, and midweek evenings are far calmer than weekends. There is a hotel at the base and a waterpark that runs year round. It is not a destination for a week, but as a place to get days on snow without a long drive it does its job well.

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A dormant volcano in central Oregon that you can ski on every side of. From the summit lift you drop off in whichever direction the weather and the light suggest, which is unusual and takes a day to make the most of. Open terrain sits above the treeline with glades below, and there is a great deal of comfortable intermediate skiing on the lower flanks. The season runs into late May. The summit lift is exposed and holds in wind, sometimes for days, so have a plan for those mornings. There is no village at all. Bend, thirty minutes down the mountain, is a substantial town with a serious brewing and restaurant scene, and it does the job better than a purpose built base would. The Nordic centre on the mountain is one of the best in the country.

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Terrain park

The largest ski area on Mount Hood in Oregon, on the south east flank of a volcano that stays snow covered all year. It sits about ninety minutes from Portland, which makes it the main mountain for that city. The terrain is more varied than most people expect, with open bowls above the treeline, gladed runs lower down and long groomed pistes in between. The season is long and the snowfall is heavy, since Pacific storms hit this mountain first. Cloud and flat light are part of the deal on a volcano, so keep a spare day in the plan. There is no lodging at the ski area itself, and most people stay in Government Camp or Hood River, or simply drive up for the day.

The largest floodlit ski area in the United States, on the south side of Mount Hood in Oregon, less than an hour from Portland. Night skiing is what defines the place, and a substantial share of its terrain is lit. The mountain is steeper than its neighbours on Hood, with a genuine upper bowl and tree skiing that rewards people who know the mountain. The lower area is gentler and takes most of the learning traffic. There is no lodging at the ski area. Government Camp is at the bottom of the access road and Portland is close enough that most people drive up for an evening rather than a week. Pacific weather means rain at the base is a real possibility, so check the freezing level before you set out.

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Terrain parkNight skiing

A state park ski area outside Spokane in eastern Washington, run as a non profit, and the closest mountain to that city at around an hour. The terrain covers two faces with a fair amount of gentle and intermediate runs and a north side that holds better snow, and there is night skiing several evenings a week. Prices are among the lowest in the region because the operation exists for local skiers rather than for visitors. Spokane itself is a substantial city with plenty of accommodation, and Schweitzer and the Idaho panhandle resorts are within easy reach for a bigger day.

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The most sheltered of the Tahoe resorts, with runs cut through dense pine forest that keep working when wind and flat light have closed the exposed mountains nearby. That alone makes it worth knowing about. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with excellent grooming, a strong terrain park programme and a well regarded ski school, which makes it the Tahoe choice for families. There is steeper terrain on the back side for people who want it. The base village is purpose built, pedestrian and comfortable, with an ice rink, fire pits and restaurants, and it is livelier in the evening than most North American bases. Reno airport lies about an hour off, and Truckee down the hill is a real town with its own life.

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A Vermont mountain with a long standing reputation for grooming and for family service, and one of the better organised operations in the east. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate with a big spread of well maintained runs, which makes it a strong choice for families and for people building confidence. There are terrain parks across several difficulty levels and a separate learning area away from through traffic. Ludlow at the base is a small Vermont town with places to eat and stay, and the whole area is easy to reach from Boston or New York for a weekend. Snowmaking covers nearly all of the mountain, which is why it opens early and stays reliable through an inconsistent eastern winter.

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A small mountain above Los Alamos in northern New Mexico, run for many years by a ski club and still with that character, on a volcanic ridge at over 3000 metres. The terrain is steeper than the size suggests with a good vertical and genuine advanced runs, and the snow is dry because of the altitude. It operates on a limited schedule that depends on conditions, so check before making the drive. Los Alamos is the town built for the Manhattan Project and there is a museum about it. Santa Fe sits an hour away and has a larger ski area of its own.

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The Alpine Meadows side of Palisades Tahoe, linked to the main mountain by a gondola since 2022 after sixty years of running separately. It is quieter than the Palisades side and better suited to intermediates, with wide open bowls, long groomed runs and a good deal of terrain that opens up as the season builds. The Sierra snowpack here is heavy and abundant, and the upper mountain holds it well into spring. One ticket covers both mountains, so Alpine works as the calmer half of a week that also includes KT-22. Truckee is fifteen minutes away and Reno about an hour.

KT-22 is why expert skiers come. It is a lift served face of chutes and steep open terrain that has produced much of American freeskiing, and it has a reputation that carries well beyond California. Alpine Meadows over the ridge is quieter and better for intermediates, and since 2022 a gondola has linked the two mountains that ran separately for sixty years. Sierra snow is heavy and abundant. The 1960 Winter Olympics were held here, and what is left is a compact village with hotels, bars and restaurants, plus rentals around Lake Tahoe fifteen minutes away and the real town of Truckee up the road. Reno is an hour. A Pacific storm can shut the interstate, so keep the plan flexible and keep a lake day in reserve for when wind holds the upper lifts.

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The largest ski resort in the United States, sitting directly above a preserved silver mining town whose Main Street is a genuine nineteenth century high street with bars, restaurants, galleries and a film festival every January. This is a place with a life independent of skiing, and the Main Street tables go well ahead. The mountain is wide, varied and mostly intermediate, spread over ridges and bowls with excellent tree skiing between them, and beginners are well provided for. The old Park City and Canyons areas were joined by gondola into one system, so the ground you can cover in a day is considerable. Salt Lake City airport is forty minutes away with no mountain pass to cross, which makes this the easiest transfer of any major North American resort. Hotels sit at the base, rentals in town, and a free bus runs between them. Buy lift tickets in advance, because the daily number is capped.

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A small mountain on the flank of Bonneville Peak in southeastern Idaho, near Pocatello, with a big vertical for an area with only three lifts. The terrain is steep and largely ungroomed above the lower runs, with open bowls and tree skiing, and it has a following among people who value the snow over the facilities. There is very little at the base and no lodging. Pocatello is around half an hour away. Prices are low and the mountain is almost never busy. Jackson Hole and the Tetons are within a few hours to the east.

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A mountain in Vermont adjacent to Killington and under the same ownership, but run as a separate and much quieter operation. It has a genuine top to bottom fall line with a good vertical, and the terrain is more classic New England than its larger neighbour, with narrower runs and a more old fashioned feel. Because it takes the overflow rather than the crowds, Pico is often close to empty on days when Killington is busy, and the ticket prices are lower. It is open on a limited schedule in parts of the season, so check before planning. Rutland is fifteen minutes away.

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One of the largest skiable areas in the United States, served by an unusually small number of lifts. Much of the terrain is reached by traversing, by snowcat, or by a bus that collects you from the bottom of runs with no lift at all. That structure produces the emptiest big mountain in Utah. Powder days last well beyond the first morning here, because so few people are on the hill. The skiing is open bowls, ridges and widely spaced trees rather than groomed pistes, and it suits confident skiers who are comfortable reading terrain for themselves. There is essentially no village. Eden and Ogden below are the bases and Salt Lake City is an hour and a quarter away. Access arrangements have been changing as the resort moves towards membership, so check what is actually on sale before you book flights.

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Terrain parkNight skiing

A mountain on the Grand Mesa in western Colorado, said to be the largest flat topped mountain in the world, with the runs dropping off the northern edge towards the Grand Valley. The terrain is a good spread with gentle groomed runs and tree skiing, and the view out over the valley towards the Book Cliffs is the memorable part. It is small in lift count and quiet in a way the resorts on the interstate are not, and prices reflect that. Grand Junction is around forty five minutes away, with the Colorado National Monument and the wine country of Palisade nearby, which makes for an unusual pairing.

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A mountain in the San Juan range of southwest Colorado, high enough that the base sits at 2680 metres, with a snow record helped by storms that come in from the southwest and dump on this corner of the state. The layout is a series of benches and pitches rather than one continuous fall line, which makes for a rolling and playful mountain rather than a relentless one. There is a good spread across all levels and the tree skiing is excellent. Durango, forty minutes away, is the reason many people come. It is a genuine Old West town with a narrow gauge steam railway that still runs, brick streets and a good food scene, and it is far more interesting than a purpose built base. Prices and crowds are both well below the resorts along the I-70 corridor.

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A mountain in south central Montana at the northern end of the Beartooth range, with a good vertical and terrain that suits confident intermediates well. The snow is dry and the mountain is quiet, with none of the traffic that the resorts nearer Bozeman attract. Red Lodge town below is a former coal mining settlement with a preserved main street and a genuine local life, and it makes a pleasant base. The Beartooth Highway starts here and climbs to nearly 3300 metres on its way to Yellowstone, though it closes for the winter. Billings is an hour or so away.

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A small mountain in northern New Mexico with the runs dropping straight into the main street of the town, which is unusual and means you can walk from your room to the lift. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground and steeper runs off the top, and the base sits at 2600 metres so the snow stays dry. Red River is a former mining town with a western main street and a strong Texan following, since it is one of the closest mountains to that state. Taos is roughly an hour away over a pass and gives a much bigger day when you want one.

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A ski area in south central Pennsylvania near Dillsburg, within easy reach of Harrisburg, Baltimore and Washington. The vertical is modest and the terrain is mostly gentle with a large learning operation, extensive snowmaking and floodlit evening skiing, which is how most of the traffic uses it. There is a substantial tubing park alongside the skiing. It is not a destination for a week, but for people in the mid Atlantic who want days on snow without a long drive it does its job. Weekends are busy and midweek is far calmer.

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A mountain in western Maine near Rangeley, closed for several years and reopened in 2020 after a community backed purchase, which is a large part of its story. The terrain has one of the bigger verticals in the east with a good deal of levels and some genuinely steep runs off the summit ridge, plus extensive glades. It is remote, which keeps the crowds down, and the Rangeley lakes region around it is quiet forest and water country. Portland is around three hours away and Boston about five. Prices are lower than at the better known New England resorts.

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A small ski area on the eastern side of the Sandia mountains above Albuquerque in New Mexico, at over 3000 metres, with the city spread out below. The terrain is modest and mostly gentle with a good learning area, and the season depends heavily on what the winter brings at this latitude. The Sandia Peak Tramway on the western side is one of the longest aerial tramways in the world and climbs from the edge of the city to the crest, which is the outing most visitors come for. Albuquerque is twenty minutes away and Santa Fe an hour, with a much larger ski area of its own.

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A small Vermont mountain near Woodstock, formerly known as Suicide Six and renamed after the Abenaki name for the hill, with a place in American ski history as the site of the first rope tow in the United States in 1934. The terrain is modest with three lifts and a genuine steep face that gave the old name its meaning, and the mountain is used mostly by families and by the Woodstock community. A million dollar snowmaking upgrade was carried out recently, which matters on a hill this low. Woodstock village is one of the most attractive in New England, with a covered bridge and a grand inn, and it is worth the visit on its own.

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The biggest ski area in Idaho, above Lake Pend Oreille in the northern panhandle, with two bowls of open terrain and a view down onto the lake that is among the best in the northwest. The terrain suits confident intermediates and experts, with long groomed runs, open bowl skiing and gladed terrain between. The snow is dry interior snow and the mountain is rarely busy. There is a small village at the base with hotels and condos, and Sandpoint down the hill is a likeable lake town with a proper main street. Spokane airport is around two hours away. Night skiing runs at weekends, and prices sit below the better known resorts in Montana and British Columbia.

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The largest ski area in Pennsylvania, in the Laurel Highlands about an hour from Pittsburgh, and the main winter destination for that part of the state. The vertical is modest and the terrain is mostly gentle, which suits its purpose, and the operation is built around learning, families and a large snow tubing park. Floodlit evening skiing runs most of the season. Snowmaking does nearly all the work here, so check conditions before setting out. The resort hotel at the base is substantial and there is a spa, a bowling alley and enough indoors to fill a bad weather day. Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's house over the waterfall, is twenty minutes away and worth the detour.

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A family mountain in the Pocono hills of Pennsylvania, within easy reach of both New York and Philadelphia, and one of the places a great many people from those cities first learned to ski. The vertical is modest and the terrain is gentle, and the mountain leans into that rather than pretending otherwise. The learning area, the ski school and the snow tubing park are the heart of the operation, and floodlit evening skiing extends the day. Snowmaking does all the work here, so check conditions before you set out. The Delaware Water Gap national recreation area is next door, and the Poconos have plenty of accommodation at prices well below anywhere in New England.

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A mountain above Kellogg in the Idaho panhandle, reached by the longest single stage gondola in the world, which climbs over five kilometres from the town to the ski area. That gondola is the practical answer to a mountain whose base sits well above the valley. The terrain is steep and heavily wooded with a good vertical and a reliable inland snowpack. Kellogg is a former mining town on the interstate, which makes the resort easy to reach, and there is an indoor water park at the base. Spokane is around ninety minutes away. Prices are low and the mountain is rarely busy.

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A small ski area in the Black Hills of South Dakota near Lead, with a modest vertical and a spread of runs suited to families and improvers. It is one of only a handful of ski areas in the northern plains, which makes it valuable to the region even though it would be unremarkable anywhere with mountains. Night skiing runs on certain evenings and there is a good learning operation. The Black Hills around it hold Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park and Deadwood, and that combination makes for an unusual winter trip. Rapid City is around an hour away.

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A mountain above Santa Fe in New Mexico with a base at 3150 metres and a summit approaching 3700, which is high enough to give dry snow at a latitude that should not have any. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground, comfortable intermediate cruising and steeper runs off the summit ridge, and the mountain is rarely crowded. Santa Fe itself is the draw. It is a four hundred year old adobe city with galleries, a strong food culture and a distinct Spanish and Pueblo heritage, and it is twenty five minutes below. That combination of a serious high mountain and a city with real cultural depth is unusual in American skiing.

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Three mountains in northern Vermont, connected on the hill, and consistently rated one of the best family resorts in North America. The children's programmes here are the reason people come back for years, with age specific camps and a large amount of gentle terrain. At the same time the mountain holds the only triple black diamond run in the east, so a mixed group is genuinely catered for. The village is a self contained collection of condos with a pool complex and organised activities, and there is no need for a car once you arrive. The notch road behind closes in winter. Burlington is roughly an hour away.

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A mountain that is routinely close to empty, served by base lodges of improbable extravagance built for the 2002 Olympics, with chandeliers, stone fireplaces and marble bathrooms. The contrast is the first thing everyone notices, and the lodges are worth stopping in for lunch just to see the rooms. The skiing is excellent and underrated. Long groomed descents including the Olympic downhill courses, open bowls above the treeline, steep gladed terrain off two gondolas, and substantial vertical. There is no lodging at the resort at all. Most people stay in Ogden forty five minutes away or Salt Lake City an hour off, and that absence is exactly why the mountain stays quiet. Fresh snow lasts here, particularly midweek. Beginners have limited terrain, so this is not the Utah resort for a first week.

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A tram climbs from Little Cottonwood Canyon to the ridge in eight minutes, and what it serves is steep. Over half the marked terrain is black or double black, which makes this the most demanding major resort in the United States, and it does not pretend otherwise. Take a guide or a lesson if the terrain is new to you. The snow is the lightest and most abundant in North America and the season runs into May. The canyon road closes during avalanche control and guests are sometimes kept indoors while it happens, so plan around that rather than being surprised by it. Staying up in the canyon is how you get first tracks after a storm. The base is a small cluster of concrete lodges with limited dining and no real village. Salt Lake City airport is forty minutes away when the canyon is open.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

A resort in the West Virginia mountains built upside down. The village sits at the summit and the runs descend away from it, so you finish every run at the bottom and ride back up to where you are staying. It is an odd arrangement that works surprisingly well. Most of the terrain is gentle and groomed, with a steeper section dropping off the western side that strong skiers will have covered by lunchtime on the first day. Snowmaking does nearly all the work, so check recent weather rather than trusting the calendar. Condos and hotels fill the summit village, with restaurants and bars that are lively at weekends. Around four hours from Washington and five from Charlotte, with no useful airport nearby, which makes it right for a proper ski weekend if you live in the region.

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A quiet mountain at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah, half an hour from Salt Lake City, and true to its name in a way that most resorts with that sort of branding are not. The terrain is varied with a fair amount of gentle ground, excellent tree skiing and the Honeycomb Canyon on the back side, which is a long natural bowl that holds powder for days. The snow is the dry Utah kind and the mountain caps ticket sales, which keeps the crowds thin. There is a small village at the base with lodging and restaurants. The canyon road closes during avalanche control, so build slack into travel plans.

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The aspen glades are the reason to come. They are widely spaced, consistently pitched, skiable in poor light, and they hold powder for days after a storm. The word champagne powder was trademarked here, which tells you what the marketing has always leaned on, and the snow does live up to it. The groomed runs are long and comfortable and the mountain is bigger than it looks from the base. A gondola has been added to reach the upper terrain more quickly. Three kilometres from the base is a working ranching town with hot springs, brick streets, bars and a western character that has not been manufactured. It is the most convincingly ordinary town of any major Colorado resort. Hotels at the base, rentals in town, a free bus between them, and Hayden airport twenty five minutes away. Strawberry Park hot springs in the evening is the outing to keep for a clear night.

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Terrain parkNight skiingSki-in / ski-out

A mountain on the Cascade crest in Washington, around two hours from Seattle, with terrain on both sides of the pass and a back bowl that faces away from the road. The snowfall is heavy coastal snow in quantity, and the mountain sits high enough to keep it cold more often than the lower passes manage. Night skiing runs on the front side. There is no lodging at the pass. Leavenworth on the eastern side is a Bavarian themed town that is busier than it sounds, and Skykomish on the western side is small. The pass road can close in storms, so check conditions before setting out.

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The most famous ski town in the eastern United States and one of the oldest, with a village of white clapboard buildings and a church spire a few kilometres from the mountain. Mount Mansfield is the highest peak in Vermont and the terrain on it includes the Front Four, a set of steep narrow runs that have tested eastern skiers for generations. Spruce Peak across the road is gentler and holds the modern base village. The two are joined by a gondola. Stowe is expensive by eastern standards and the service level shows it. The village has the best restaurant scene of any ski town in the region, and there is a recreation path along the valley floor for walking or cross country. Boston is around three and a half hours away.

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A Vermont mountain with a compact European style village at its base and a reputation for exceptionally good grooming. It is where snowboarding was invented as a commercial sport, since Jake Burton Carpenter worked out much of the early equipment on this hill, and the terrain parks have been taken seriously ever since. The summit is the highest in southern Vermont and the runs down from it are long by eastern standards. A gondola runs from the village to the top, which shelters you on the cold mornings that define a New England winter. It sits around four hours from New York and two and a half from Boston, so weekends are busy and midweek is calm. March skiing here is often better than January, because the base built through winter finally softens.

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One of the oldest resorts at Lake Tahoe, on Donner Pass, founded in the 1930s with Walt Disney among the original investors and the first chairlift in California. The mountain gets more snow than almost anywhere at Tahoe because of its position on the pass, and the terrain spreads across four peaks with a good spread of levels and excellent tree skiing. The village at the base is reached by gondola in winter because there is no road to it, which keeps the place quiet and self contained. Sacramento is around two hours away and Reno an hour. Storms can close the interstate, so keep plans flexible.

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The biggest area in North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge mountains near Banner Elk, and the main winter destination for the southeastern United States. The vertical is respectable for the region and the terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground and steeper runs off the top, though snowmaking does almost all the work at this latitude. There is night skiing, an ice rink and a tubing park, and the resort operates as a full winter destination for people who would otherwise have a very long drive. Boone and Banner Elk nearby have accommodation and restaurants, and the Blue Ridge Parkway runs close by.

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Two linked mountains in the Mad River valley in Vermont, joined by a long chairlift across the ridge, with a spread of terrain that runs from gentle learning slopes to some of the steeper skiing in the east. Castlerock on the Lincoln Peak side is deliberately left narrow and ungroomed and has a following of its own. The rest of the mountain is more conventional and very well maintained. The Mad River valley below is one of the more attractive parts of Vermont, with inns, farms and a food scene that has grown steadily. Warren and Waitsfield are both worth an evening. Boston is around three hours away and New York five, so weekends fill and midweek stays quiet.

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The second highest mountain in Maine and the only lift served above treeline skiing in the eastern United States. The snowfields at the top are open bowl terrain of a kind that simply does not exist elsewhere in the east. Below them the mountain gives long sustained runs with more vertical than almost any eastern hill, and the grooming and snowmaking are taken seriously. It is remote. There is a village at the base with condos and hotels, and Kingfield down the road, but the nearest cities are a long way off, and that isolation keeps the crowds down. It is cold here in midwinter in a way that needs respecting. March and April are often the best weeks, with the snowfields at their most reliable.

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Summer Area Boundary Winter Park is a ski area in United States, with 69 km of marked pistes served by 22 lifts. The slopes run from 2,771 m up to a summit of 3,420 m, a vertical drop of 649 m. Graded runs are 1% green, 38% blue, 31% red and 30% black.

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Bald Mountain is one of the best shaped ski mountains anywhere. It has a steady uninterrupted pitch from summit to base with no flats and no traverses, which is why strong intermediates and experts both love it for the same reason. Lift queues barely exist. Beginners ski at Dollar Mountain nearby, which works better than splitting a group usually does. This was the first purpose built destination ski resort in North America, opened in 1936, and the place where the chairlift was invented. Ketchum at its foot is a genuine western town with good restaurants, galleries and a literary history, and Hemingway is buried there. Lodges and hotels in Ketchum and at the resort are expensive but understated, with a spa at the Sun Valley Lodge and an ice rink for the evening. Friedman airport is twenty minutes away but weather dependent, and Boise is two and a half hours by road.

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Terrain park

A mountain on the flank of Mount Timpanogos in Utah, less than an hour from Salt Lake City, bought by Robert Redford in 1969 and developed deliberately slowly with an emphasis on keeping the canyon as it was. The terrain is a good spread across two faces, with gentle groomed ground on the front and steeper tree skiing on the back, and the mountain is quiet compared with the Cottonwood canyons. The resort has an arts programme, a theatre and workshops alongside the skiing, which is unlike anywhere else in American skiing. The lodging is cabins and cottages spread through the trees. Provo is twenty minutes away.

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Eight linked peaks in western Maine, and one of the most reliable snowmaking operations in North America. That reliability is the reason it has a following, because eastern winters are unpredictable and this mountain is not. The terrain spreads widely across the ridge line, with something sheltered available whatever the wind is doing, and a good spread from gentle learning slopes to steep glades. Beginners are particularly well served. There is a base village with hotels and condos, and Bethel a few kilometres away is a New England town with places to eat. Boston is around three hours away and Portland ninety minutes. March here is usually better than January, because the base built through the winter finally softens and the days lengthen.

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A small mountain above Glenwood Springs in Colorado with only three lifts, one of the lowest ticket prices in the state and a steep pitch called the Heathen that locals are proud of. The terrain is a good spread with gentle learning ground, comfortable intermediate cruising and a genuinely steep section, and the mountain is almost never busy. Glenwood Springs below is the real attraction. It has the largest hot springs pool in the world, a historic hotel and a proper main street, and the combination of a cheap day on the hill and an evening in the pool is hard to beat. Aspen is forty minutes away for a day if you want the contrast. Denver is around three hours.

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The biggest ski area in Arizona, owned and run by the White Mountain Apache Tribe on their own land in the eastern part of the state. Three mountains sit above 2850 metres, and the elevation is what makes skiing possible this far south. The terrain is broad and forgiving with a broad range of easy runs, and the tribe has invested steadily in snowmaking and lifts. Crowds are light outside holiday weekends. The setting is high ponderosa pine country rather than dramatic alpine rock, and the drive in across the White Mountains is a large part of the experience. Phoenix is around four hours away, which makes this the winter escape for a city that spends the rest of the year avoiding the heat.

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A resort in the mountains of west central Idaho above Lake Cascade, opened in 2004 and the first entirely new destination resort built in the United States in more than two decades. The terrain gives over a thousand metres of vertical with long groomed descents, tree skiing and open bowl terrain higher up. The lift network is small in number but well placed, and the mountain is rarely busy. The base has condos and a village that is still developing, and McCall a short drive away is a lake town with restaurants and hot springs nearby. Boise is around two hours away, and prices sit well below the better known Rocky Mountain resorts.

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A mountain in northern New Mexico with a reputation for steepness that goes back decades, founded by a European emigrant who chose the terrain deliberately. Over half the runs are graded expert and the ridge above the lifts requires a hike, which puts a great deal of serious terrain within reach of anyone willing to walk. The ski school here has an equally strong reputation. The snow is dry and abundant for this latitude because the mountain is high, with the summit approaching 3800 metres. Taos town, half an hour below, is an old adobe settlement with a pueblo that has been inhabited for a thousand years and a long history as an artists' colony. It is unlike any other ski town in America.

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The most dramatic setting of any resort in the United States. A preserved mining town sits at the closed end of a box canyon with the ski area rising directly behind it, and a free gondola connects the town to the purpose built Mountain Village on the other side. It runs late into the evening. The skiing is steeper than most of Colorado, with hike to peaks, serious bowls and sustained bump runs above town. Intermediates get long groomed cruising on the Mountain Village side, and beginners are catered for without much room to roam. Historic hotels and rentals fill the town, condos fill Mountain Village, and the restaurants punch far above the population, so reserve them. Getting there is the obstacle, with Montrose airport an hour and a quarter away, and that difficulty is exactly why the slopes stay quiet.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

A small mountain in Plymouth in central New Hampshire, closed several times over the years and reopened again, with a following among people who want to see it survive. The terrain is modest with four lifts and a good vertical for its size, and the mountain is quiet even at weekends. Prices are lower than at the larger New Hampshire resorts and the atmosphere is unpolished. Plymouth is a small college town nearby, and the White Mountains with their bigger areas are within half an hour. Check current operating status before planning a trip.

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A private members club on Haystack Mountain in southern Vermont, near Wilmington. There is no public access, no lift ticket to buy and no way to ski here as a visitor, since use of the mountain comes with membership. The terrain is a genuine Vermont hill with a good deal of runs, and because the number of skiers is small the snow stays untracked for far longer than at a public resort. This entry exists so that the mountain appears correctly in comparisons rather than so that anyone plans a trip around it. If you found it while looking at southern Vermont, Mount Snow next door is the one you can actually ski, with more terrain and a public lift system.

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The Summit at Snoqualmie is the closest ski area to Seattle, less than an hour up the interstate, and made up of four separate base areas along the Snoqualmie pass. That proximity is the point. It is the mountain that Seattle uses after work, with one of the largest night skiing operations in the United States and a substantial share of the terrain floodlit. The snow is coastal and heavy and the pass sits low, so conditions vary a great deal with the freezing level and rain at the base is possible. Check before setting out. The terrain is mostly gentle and intermediate across the four areas, with Alpental holding the serious ground for people who want it.

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The only place in North America where you can ski every month of the year, on the Palmer glacier high on the south face of Mount Hood in Oregon. Summer race camps run here through July and August. Timberline Lodge itself is a national historic landmark, built by hand in the 1930s under federal work programmes, with carved beams and stonework throughout. It also served as the exterior of the hotel in The Shining, which visitors are usually aware of. The winter terrain is mostly intermediate with a long descent and a good spread of runs, and the season is extremely long. Cloud and wind on the upper mountain are common, so keep an alternative in mind. Portland is around ninety minutes away.

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Terrain parkGlacier

The Back Bowls are why people come. Miles of wide, treeless, sun facing terrain sit behind the front side, and it is one of the few places where a strong blue skier can ski powder for the first time without trees to worry about. Take a lesson if that is new to you. Beginners have proper terrain at mid mountain, and Blue Sky Basin beyond the bowls adds gladed runs in more sheltered ground. The village is pedestrian mock Tyrolean, convinces nobody, and works anyway, with genuinely good restaurants and a lively bar scene. It is one of the most expensive ski resorts in the world and also one of the largest and best organised. Hotels, condos and rentals spread across two village centres with a free bus between them. Eagle County airport is thirty five minutes away and Denver is two hours over a pass that closes in storms. The altitude takes a day or two to settle into, so keep the first afternoon easy.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out

A private development in the Wasatch mountains north of Salt Lake City, on a ranch of around 12,700 acres, with lifts and terrain reserved entirely for property owners and their guests. There is no public access of any kind. You cannot buy a ticket, book a room or ski here as a visitor. The terrain is genuine, with a long ridgeline, substantial vertical and around 400 inches of annual snowfall, and the skier density is close to zero by design. This entry exists so the area appears correctly in comparisons rather than so anyone plans a trip. Snowbasin is ten minutes away and is the one you can actually ski, with more terrain and a public lift system.

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A resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, built in a valley surrounded by national forest with no through road, which keeps the whole place self contained. The mountain has a long racing history and hosted World Cup events for years, with a consistent fall line and thorough snowmaking. The terrain suits families and improvers well. The village at the bottom is a planned development with lodging, a sports centre and an ice rink, several kilometres from the slopes with a shuttle between them. The surrounding White Mountain National Forest means the setting stays undeveloped. Boston is around two and a half hours away.

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A ski area in the Cannon River valley in southeastern Minnesota, tucked into a wooded ravine, around an hour from Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The vertical is modest but the layout uses the valley well, with runs on several faces and a good spread of terrain including well built parks. Snowmaking covers essentially everything and night skiing runs most of the week. The setting in a wooded valley is more attractive than most Midwestern hills manage, and prices are moderate. Weekends fill with traffic from the cities.

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A ski area on White Pass in Washington State, south of Mount Rainier, and the mountain where the Mahre twins learned to ski before winning Olympic medals. The terrain is a good spread with gentle groomed runs and a back side called Paradise Basin that opened relatively recently and roughly doubled the area. The snow is heavy coastal snow in quantity, and the pass sits high enough to keep it cold more often than not. There is limited lodging at the base and Yakima sits an hour away. Mount Rainier national park is right next door and the whole area is quiet.

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The greatest vertical drop in the eastern United States, and the mountain that held the alpine events of the 1980 Winter Olympics. The runs are long and the pitch is sustained in a way few eastern hills manage. It is owned by New York State rather than a resort company, so there is no real estate at the base and the ticket prices reflect that. The Slides area at the top opens when conditions allow and gives genuine expert terrain. Lake Placid, ten minutes away, is the village. It hosted the Games twice, in 1932 and 1980, and the bobsleigh track, the ski jumps and the speed skating oval are all still there and open to visitors. That combination of a serious mountain and a town full of Olympic history is not available anywhere else in the east.

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A big mountain in northwest Montana with an unpretentious town at its foot and prices that have not caught up with its size. It is one of the better value large resorts in the United States. The mountain is known for its snow ghosts, trees frozen into white shapes by fog and rime, and for tree skiing that is among the best in the country. Flat light is common because of the same weather, so pack goggles for it. Whitefish town is a working railway town three kilometres away, with a proper main street, good places to eat and an Amtrak station on the line from Seattle to Chicago. Arriving by train is a genuine option. Glacier National Park is half an hour away, and the drive up the west side is worth a day even in winter.

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A mountain in Pinkham Notch in New Hampshire, facing directly across at Mount Washington and the Tuckerman Ravine, which is the finest view from any lift in the eastern United States. The terrain is a good vertical with long classic New England runs, narrow and often firm, and the mountain has a reputation for being cold and exposed. There is no lodging at the base and no development in the notch, because it sits in national forest. North Conway is around half an hour away with plenty of accommodation. The auto road up Mount Washington is right there, though it closes in winter.

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A mountain in the Catskills of New York, around two and a half hours from New York City, and traditionally the quieter alternative to Hunter across the valley. The terrain is a good spread with thorough grooming and extensive snowmaking, and the mountain suits families and improvers well. It has moved towards a membership model in recent years with limited public access, so check what is available before planning a trip. Windham village below is a small Catskills settlement, and the surrounding forest preserve is protected by the state constitution, which keeps the area undeveloped.

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The mountain splits sharply in character. One side is broad, sunny and intermediate. Mary Jane on the other is deliberately left ungroomed and produces some of the most sustained bump skiing in North America, with a devoted following to match. This is the closest major resort to Denver and the only one in Colorado reachable by ski train from downtown. The Winter Park Express runs at weekends and drops you at the base, and it is worth taking, because the drive back on a Sunday afternoon is notorious. The town a few kilometres away is unpretentious and comparatively affordable, with motels and rentals, and there are condos at the base. Everything costs less than at the Vail owned resorts. Hot Sulphur Springs is close by for a day out of the boots.

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The largest ski area in West Virginia by trail count, in the southern part of the state near Beckley, and the closest real skiing for much of Virginia and the Carolinas. The vertical is modest and the terrain is gentle, which suits its purpose, and the whole operation is built around beginners, families and the tubing park, which is one of the largest in the region. Floodlit evening skiing runs most of the season. Snowmaking covers essentially all of it. The New River Gorge national park is close by and worth a detour if you are driving up for a weekend, and lodging in the area is inexpensive.

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The only ski area in Maryland, on Deep Creek Lake in the western part of the state, and the winter destination for a substantial part of the mid Atlantic. The vertical is modest and the terrain is mostly gentle with a good learning area and extensive snowmaking, which does nearly all the work at this latitude. Floodlit evening skiing runs through the season. Deep Creek Lake is the year round draw, and the resort is set up as a four season destination with a lodge, golf and a mountain coaster. Pittsburgh and Washington are both around three hours away, which makes it a weekend rather than a week.

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The most snow in Colorado, by a considerable margin, on a pass in the San Juan mountains where storms coming up from the southwest hit first and unload. The area is family owned and deliberately undeveloped. There is no lodging, no village and no real estate, just lifts and a lodge, and the ticket prices reflect that. The terrain covers a good range of open bowls, glades and groomed runs, with hike to terrain along the ridge. Pagosa Springs, forty minutes west, has hot springs and is the usual base. South Fork is on the other side. The pass road can close in a storm, which is a reasonable price for the snow it brings. Locals plan around it.

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A private members only resort in Montana with its own lifts and terrain, next to Big Sky. There is no public access of any kind, since membership requires buying property inside the club. The terrain is real and substantial, with bowls, chutes and long groomed runs serving a very small number of skiers, so queues do not exist and fresh snow stays untracked for days. This entry exists so that the resort appears correctly in comparisons rather than so that anyone plans a trip around it. If you found it in a list of large North American areas, Big Sky next door is the one you can actually ski, with more terrain, a public lift system and a higher summit.

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Terrain parkSki-in / ski-out