Whistler, BC

Welcome to Whistler/Blackcomb, Land of Oz. Like Oz, Whistler is a magical place—especially when the guy behind the curtain lets the sun out. The stats foreshadow the enormity of the possibilities.

Whistler and Blackcomb are separate mountains and were once separate, competing ...

Teton Village, WY

The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is, in its own words, "Like nothing you have skied before." This sign, on a T-shirt in nearly every shop in town, hangs above the entrance to the resort's tram dock and goes on to say, "It is huge. With variable terrain from groomed slopes to dangerous cliff ...

Mammoth Lakes, CA

For once, the hyperbole actually applies. A summit elevation of 11,053 feet and a hefty 3,100-foot vertical drop are just some Mammoth stats that don't need any embroidering by Bay Area marketing whiz kids. The mountain is served by 28 lifts numbered in the order they were built, giving a nod to ...

South Lake Tahoe, CA, CA

Heavenly is unique in that it sprawls across state boundaries. Part of the ski area is in California and part is in Nevada, and for my money, the Nevada part is the better part. The fall line is more sustained, meaning that runs tend to be longer.

For novice skiers, Heavenly can be ...

Big Sky, MT

If you want skiing that's uncluttered, scenic, and laid-back, then Big Sky's your place. A big turnout in this 3,832-acre resort is around 4,000 people a day. The lines here are ridiculously short, if they exist at all, and Big Sky has consistently worked to keep lift capacity higher than the ...