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.