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 ...

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 ...

Killington, VT

It's difficult to say anything about Killington—because everything applies. This beast of the East is the region's largest resort, and it 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Park City, UT

Appearances can deceive—from the parking lot of Park City Mountain Resort, the main allure appears to be the massive half pipe, which dwarfs the surrounding mountain, a lazy-looking stretch of rolling hills interlaced with lifts. Don't be fooled, however. Hop on the King Con high-speed quad ...

Aspen, CO

As a ski area, Snowmass is the giant among the four Aspen options—and one of Colorado's biggest, with the nation's second-greatest vertical. It is huge, sprawling over a complex landscape of peaks, ridges, gullies, and open slopes that offer the greatest range of terrain, from the gentle ...

Olympic Valley, CA

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 ...

Avon, CO

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 fries to make their first turns, a mountain full of electrifying challenges, and most of all, a huge ski area with ...

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 ...