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USA Ski Resorts

Ski Resorts in the USA.

Skiers and boarders heading to the United States for the first time are in for a treat, and just about guaranteed to be impressed by the great facilities and slick organisation at the top resorts.  Many of them have mastered and perfected the art of providing a terrific skiing experience – with every convenience you can imagine catered for.  Thanks may be partly due to the influence of the many Europeans who left their alpine and mountain homelands to settle there. 

Perhaps it is because Americans don’t like to ‘stand in line’ (or ‘queue up’, as we say here in Blighty).  Whatever the reason, you will find an abundance of high speed lifts, gondolas, and ways to get up the mountain as quickly as possible and maximise the time you spend getting back down again.  Service is top-rate just about everywhere, from the ski schools and rental shops, to the après ski scene, the (often-free) ski shuttles and transportation, shops, and restaurants.  Perhaps the tipping culture influences the friendliness and service to some degree, but, hey, just enjoy it – and don’t forget to leave a tip!

The Western states are renowned for reliable, drier, lighter snow and ‘champagne’ powder, as well as great Spring skiing and lots of blue sky, sunny, days. They include: 

• Colorado (Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge, Telluride, Steamboat Springs)
• California (Mammoth, Heavenly, Squaw Valley-Lake Tahoe)
• Utah (Park City, Deer Valley, Alta, Snowbird)
• Not forgetting:  Wyoming (Jackson Hole), Montana (Big Sky), and New Mexico (Taos, Santa Fe) – to name just a few of the better-known resorts

The East Coast resorts tend to be less favoured by the ski holiday companies, and therefore remain unexplored by visitors, except the very adventurous. The mountains there have a reputation (deserved or not) for icier conditions, with snow often unreliable or arriving late. They include: Stowe and Killington in Vermont, and Sugarloaf in Maine. 

However, the East and West are just a part of the U.S. skiing jigsaw.  There are, in fact, dozens of ski resorts in locations throughout the country, some of which might surprise you – try New York, Tennessee or Alabama!  If you are visiting the U.S., or on a business trip, check to see if there is a resort, park, or ski area close by – chances are there will be!

Tip:  If you are booking your own ski trip to the U.S. remember to check dates of public holidays (long weekends) as the resorts tend to be extremely busy at those times:  For instance:  Martin Luther King Day in mid-January, Presidents’ Day in mid-February (also called Washington’s Birthday), Thanksgiving holiday (end of November), and, of course, the Christmas and New Year periods. It you are heading to Utah, the Sundance Film Festival normally takes place at the end of January, meaning that Park City and other resorts may be booked and busier than usual.

Buckle up your ski boots, grab your favourite tunes, and ‘Have a Nice Day’!