Top Ski Resorts for North American Skiing

Whistler-Blackcomb

?

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 ...

Alta

?

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 ...

Vail

?

Vail is the 800-pound gorilla of American skiing. This massive mountain is all things to all skiers and riders—a soothing beginner environment, a nurturing place for small fry to make their first turns, a mountain full of electrifying challenges, and most of all, a huge ski area with ...

Aspen Mountain

?

Aspen is Colorado skiing at its most fulfilled—epic terrain with plenty of variety, an après-ski and town scene that pulls celebs and star gazers alike, and customer service that should serve as the benchmark for all North American resorts, including "ski ambassadors" who give ...

Snowbird

?

Snowbird's Aerial Tram ploughs 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 ...

Mammoth Mountain

?

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 ...

Killington

?

It's difficult to say anything about Killington—because everything applies. This beast of the East is the region's largest resort, and offers something for everyone. With the recent addition of neighboring Pico, there are now seven distinct peaks to explore. Not only can you find what you ...

Big Sky

?

If you want skiing that's uncluttered, scenic, and laid-back, then Big Sky's your place. A big turnout in this 3,812-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 ...

Squaw Valley

?

Squaw is the American birthplace of extreme skiing. About 25 ago, Squaw locals began skiing impossible lines from the Palisades, essentially a cliff with snow stuck to it. In the early 1980s, Scot Schmidt, arguably the father of extreme skiing, arrived in Squaw to pull 100-foot cliff ...

Sun Valley

?

Hollywood hotties, Olympic skiers, and John Kerry may flock to sexy Sun Valley these days, but America's first ski resort has been drawing us hoi polloi since '36. Swaths of immaculate corduroy run for miles here, so pray your legs last. No sweat if they don't: French chefs and other fanciness ...