Snowbird, UT

Snowbird's Aerial Tram plows into the early morning mist, packed to the hilt with lucky skiers, mountain rescue crews, and liftees, all expectantly awaiting just one thing: first tracks down the slopes of one of North America's top-rated resorts.

And even though the scenery remains ...

Taos Ski Valley, NM

Taos, of course, is the stuff of legends. In skier lore, it ranks with Aspen, Sun Valley, and Squaw Valley among North America's must-ski places. So, when I'm standing at the bottom of Al's Run, the legendary trail at the legendary resort, and reading the sign that starts out by saying "Don't ...

Rossland, BC

Start your Red Mountain experience with a middle-of-the-road cruiser like the Back-Trail off the Red Chairlift or the Paradise Area on Granite Mountain, where you create your own line through the well-spaced pine. Then it's time to up the ante and move on to the Motherlode Chair for some deep ...

Alta, UT

Alta is the land of free-heel skiing, wool pants, hiking for untracked powder, Wasatch wahoos, and old-fashioned fixed lifts. Alta is old-school skiing at its best—and that also means NO SNOWBOARDING. Quality, not quantity, is what counts here. The best lines are all a hike from the top of ...

Lake Louise, AB

Of the Banff-Lake Louise area's three ski resorts, Lake Louise is the biggest, weighing in at a whopping 4,200 acres. It posts some other impressive stats, too, including a summit elevation of 8,650 feet, a longest run of five miles, ten lifts to take you to all corners, plus two mid-mountain ...

Nelson, BC

Chances are you have heard the whispers about Whitewater Ski Resort outside Nelson, British Columbia, and just how epic the skiing can be—deep powder, few crowds, plenty of steeps. And then you get there, and looking up at three lifts, measly base lodge, and smattering of runs with barely ...