Forbes Top 10 Ski Resorts

[molson14]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christop...ates-for-2013/

The Top 10 Ski Resorts in the United States for 2013

Rankings have become so ubiquitous in our world – top colleges, top cities, top jobs, top sandwiches – that they’ve begun to lose value. Everybody has a ranking about everything. Making matters more confusing, most rankings get so granular that nearly every person, place and thing is ranked No. 1 for something.


Wear a helmet: The home to Corbet's Couloir retained its No. 1 ranking for 2013.

In the ski world, there’s been a bit of this specialization ranking creeping in as well. To be sure, some of it is fair. Winter Park, for instance, can’t compare its terrain to that of Snowbird, but the Colorado resort does offer some of the greatest access to disabled and adaptive skiers in the world – and it deserves credit for that. Other outlets rank snow, grooming, family friendliness, food, lodging, customer service and even the quality of the booze on mountain.

All of those things matter to somebody. But here we only rank one thing: Awesomeness. It’s the most important thing we can measure. If you can know a place’s awesomeness, do you need to know anything else?

Answer: No.

We measure awesomeness with strict adherence to quantitative and scientific methods. The rankings you see here are the product of the most honed algorithms ever unleashed on the ski world. Being on this list means something. It means awesomeness. We don’t rank 50 resorts, we rank only ten — and we’ve included extended and 100% new material on the top six.

There’s nothing east of the Rockies on the list because no resort east of the Rockies has the snow or terrain to crack our awesomeness rankings–something that matters for both beginners and experts (soft western snow >> eastern ice). Not that there isn’t fun to be had in the East or even the Midwest. Ski wherever you can. We plan to do a separate, eastern list next year.

Again, we rank awesomeness and awesomeness only. If you want to find out what ski resort has the best hot chocolate and marshmallow bar, you’ll find that list elsewhere. If you want the hard facts on what ski mountain gives you the best possibility of a soul-moving experience on and off the snow, then you need rankings based on our patented Pure Awesomeness Factor. In the ski business, this is known as PAF. It’s not something that resorts make public, but every mountain knows where it stands. Most big resorts employ at least three data scientists who spend their days looking for methods to raise the resort’s PAF score. Boost that score, and you get closer to excellence.

Awesomeness is the only proxy for awesomeness. It’s the critical path to a vacation that becomes legendary. So for the second time ever, here are the top ten resorts in the United States according to PAF:


Everything is big--and awesome--at Jackson Hole.

1. Jackson Hole, Wyoming (PAF = 98.5):

The lift lines at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort are like those at a highway rest area bathroom at 2:00 a.m.: Almost nonexistent, except when they exist. And just like that line at the bathroom, if a queue has grown large at Jackson Hole, then there is probably a great reason to get in it immediately.

One of the few spots where lines used to bubble up at Jackson was at the Thunder chairlift, which gets skiers to the hairier southern side of the resort. On a powder day, Thunder was to be avoided; you planned your morning around it. JHMR is a place run by skiers and they were more than aware of the choke point Thunder created.

So before last season, the people in charge installed a new chairlift, Marmot, whose base sits adjacent to that of Thunder’s. It functions as a pressure-release valve for Thunder and provides the dual purpose of getting skiers back to the top of the Bridger Gondola for a snack or lunch without forcing them to ski to the bottom of this very tall mountain. One medium-sized lift, one huge improvement.

All of the other things that made Jackson No. 1 in last year’s rankings remain true. It’s still the best skiing mountain in North America. It still has the best continuous fall line, the best terrain and the best backcountry of any mountain not in the Himalayas. And there’s that $30-million ascending jam fest of music, sweat and rollicking cheers, also known as The Tram, which offers the best return on 10 minutes of standing that you’ll ever be offered (all 4,139 feet of vertical, at once).

Jackson gets extra points for coming through with decent snow last winter (the winter that wasn’t) when most of the country’s ski resorts were still putting up with random patches of brown grass on January 15. And it never hurts to have the most famous ski run in the world – Corbet’s Couloir – inside the boundaries.

On top of skiing, Jackson has come into its own as a culinary destination, a nifty feat for a place so small and thinly populated. The area is awash in new and creative eateries: Roadhouse Brewing Co., the Handle Bar at the Four Season (a Michael Mina concept), a great contemporary spot in town in The Kitchen, and the reincarnation of a longtime local favorite, Billy’s Burgers. On the mountain, don’t miss waffles stuffed with Nutella and bananas at Corbet’s Cabin.

A minor gripe on the foot front (very minor): one of this column’s favorite restaurants in Jackson, Trio, made the mistake last winter of messing with one of the best burgers in America when it switched its meat patty from local bison to ho-hum angus beef. It remains a fine burger, but it no longer stands out from stalwarts in New York and Chicago.

No time to eat? You can still have it all: Stuff your pockets with Tram Bars, the most delicious energy bar in the world, sold all over at Jackson Hole and made just over the ridge in Victor, Idaho.


Snowbird: Best snow, epic terrain, epic lift.

2. Alta and Snowbird, Utah (PAF = 97):

For most people, these two resorts that occupy a splendid apron of Little Cottonwood Canyon just 35 minutes from downtown Salt Lake should be the default ski vacation. Direct flights to Salt Lake can be had from most cities and the trip from the airport to the snow here is a leisurely stroll compared with the white-knuckle pilgrimage between Denver and Colorado’s resorts.

We rank Snowbird and Alta together because they are together. They share a boundary line and even, for those who choose to purchase it, a joint lift ticket. If you go to one, you should go to the other. Unless you’re a snowboarder, in which case Alta won’t allow you to plow through its chutes and trees—and what glorious chutes and trees they are.

The terrain at Alta and Snowbird is the terrain against which all others are measured. Snowbird’s tram, which, like Jackson’s, also traverses from the base of the resort to the top, is the only lift that compares with the tram at Jackson Hole. The lift line for the Snowbird tram on a prime powder day can get ugly—one of the drawbacks of being on top of a greater metropolitan area of 2 million people.

The good news is that not all of those people ski and, even better, this place has a lot of powder days—it gets 600 inches a year—more than anywhere outside of Alaska. The snow is dependable and comes in a density that’s user friendly, like a stiff dollop of whipped milk on a cappuccino. If you’re going on a trip for three days or less, it’s hard to go anywhere but Utah. We can’t stress enough how awesome the skiing is here. If you haven’t been, just go.

Not to be missed: Snowbird’s Cliff Lodge, a wonderful modern building whose raw, reinforced concrete edifice evokes the work of architect Paul Rudolph, a brilliant shaper of glass and poured stone.

[butterscotch]

^^^ The list is specifically for the United States, which is not located in Europe.

[hatchgreenchile]

The complete rankings:

Jackson, LCC, Telluride, Eagle County CO, Park City area, Squaw & Alpine, Silverton, BCC, Big Sky, Wolf Creek CO, A-Basin.

The FLAIL/FAIL/ French for "Traverse" hordes will destroy this thread in 3-2-1….

[thommy21]

"The Top 10 Ski Resorts in the United States for 2013"
Might be why they left out Europe.

Edit: ^^^^ Beat me to it.

[Benny Profane]

Damn, for Forbes, that's a nice list. Except for Vail.

[4matic]

Damn, for Forbes, that's a nice list. Except for Vail.

Or Park City over Mammoth.

[sqikunst]

^^ Sorry my quote didnt seem to work.

It still has the best continuous fall line, the best terrain and the best backcountry of any mountain not in the Himalayas

I know that is just a way of selling it but that is a naiive view of things mate.







and that is just on Tirol the access in Switzerland/France and the Trams that are down in the Dolomites are bonkers forbes should be giving the euros some love cause it doesnt have the best fall line and terrain outside of the Himalayas. The states will always come out on top considering that snowmobiles are legal, Heli skiing makes sense, but resorts have a difficult time holding a candle to the lift accessability in Europe. The list is NA specific but that comparision is tragic.

[hatchgreenchile]

It’s a pretty good list, but I think there’s a GLARING omission:

Aspen Snowmass. I’d boot Vail/BC and put Aspen in its place.

[PNWbrit]

Jackson: It still has the best continuous fall line, the best terrain and the best backcountry of any mountain not in the Himalayas.

Bullshit.

[efsandstrom]

When Crested Butte has snow, (which there was nothing last year) it is great! 2010 to 2011 was unbelieveable praying for it to be better this year. Boot Vail off that list though

[Buster Highmen]

Forbes: utter bullshit crafted for the people who still think that they're the 1%ers.
JH wouldn't make it in the alps.

[Bromontana]

Surprised no love for the PNW areas that get shit on winter after winter. Baker already has a 100" effing base.. jeebus

Jackson > Europe, Canada = Bullshit.

+1

[PNWbrit]

Surprised no love for the PNW areas that get shit on winter after winter. Baker already has a 100" effing base.. jeebus

But we don't have any resorts.

But there were a bunch of Paris Match or Milano Finanza reading euro tourists at the mountain last weekend. Standing around in the middle of the Snorting Elk in fine furs and leather drinking Camparis and sniffing suspiciously at the house red - seemed a bit incongrous among the sweaty, steaming, locals and pitchers of IPA . Spotted them on the hill occasionally. Bognors/Sunglasses and headbands were a giveaway

[Buster Highmen]

Surprised no love for the PNW areas that get shit on winter after winter. Baker already has a 100" effing base.. jeebus

STFU Klondike.

[JaytaeMoney]

It’s a pretty good list, but I think there’s a GLARING omission:

Aspen Snowmass. I’d boot Vail/BC and put Aspen in its place.

Biased because I live here but yeah, agreed. I think he left it off because of Aspen's off-mountain reputation because anyone who would rank Vail over Aspen in a list like this has obviously never skied Highlands. I also can't remember the last time I stood in line for longer than 5 minutes other than waiting for first chair on a pow day.

[Buster Highmen]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/christop...ates-for-2013/

A minor gripe on the foot front (very minor): one of this column’s favorite restaurants in Jackson, Trio, made the mistake last winter of messing with one of the best burgers in America when it switched its meat patty from local bison to ho-hum angus beef. It remains a fine burger, but it no longer stands out from stalwarts in New York and Chicago..

What? They're serving hoof and mouth disease? It's clearly affected the writers, proofreaders and editors brains.

[Benny Profane]

Forbes: utter bullshit crafted for the people who still think that they're the 1%ers.
JH wouldn't make it in the alps.

Well, I wouldn't know. Only the 1% can afford a ski trip to the Alps.

[Buster Highmen]

Well, I wouldn't know. Only the 1% can afford a ski trip to the Alps.

More horseshit: Add up RT flights and a week at inumerable places in CH/FR/IT.

I did one last year for $600 rt Seattle/Zurich, $200 train transfers and 620 euros for 4 nights, 4 days lift tickets and 4 half board (break & dinner) in Switzerland. I can't name a decent ski area in the US where you can get a room, food and lift tickets for $650 for 4 nights & days. Plus the skiing made JH look like a midwestern ski area.

[userA]

yeah but aren't you a gynocologist? i heard they make good bank.

[sqikunst]

I really don't get the whole price thing last time I was in the Dolomites in march (10/11) I was there for 3 days skiing 2 nights paid €86 for lift tickets and it was €32 a night for the hotel it was the one right at the base of marmolada bit run down but the beds were comfortable and the room I had had three beds in it I mean no cable or wifi but who cares and I asked him what if I had come as a group he would have done €50 a night for the room. In terms of food just don't eat out italian cheese meat and bread from the super market sandwiches for the day and eat on the lift. The only time I refuse to eat on the mountain is at the big Austrian glacier resorts but even in Arabba bitching coffee on the mountain was €2 or €2.30 or something like that. It's not the 1%ers just don't go to st. Moritz. Bang for you buck Austria, Italy some parts of France.

[Buster Highmen]

yeah but aren't you a gynocologist? i heard they make good bank.

No, I'm a tartsnatching chest her arthroscopic surgeon.

[Benny Profane]

More horseshit: Add up RT flights and a week at inumerable places in CH/FR/IT.

I did one last year for $600 rt Seattle/Zurich, $200 train transfers and 620 euros for 4 nights, 4 days lift tickets and 4 half board (break & dinner) in Switzerland. I can't name a decent ski area in the US where you can get a room, food and lift tickets for $650 for 4 nights & days. Plus the skiing made JH look like a midwestern ski area.

You sir, should be my travel agent.

But, there's still the jet lag issue. That robs you of some time coming and going if you are limited in that respect.

[Cosmic Suncloud]

That robs you of some time coming and going if you are limited in that respect.

Not really.

[Benny Profane]

Not really.

I just flew back and forth to Europe. So, explain not really.

I could be skiing the same day at Alta flying out of Newark, and the morning on the day back.

[Buster Highmen]

You sir, should be my travel agent.

But, there's still the jet lag issue. That robs you of some time coming and going if you are limited in that respect.

I'll be your doctor too, all for a price.
Try melotonin.

Besides I was so spankticularly jazzed to be farting around in ye auld Yrup I couldn't sleep anyway and had to pound myself mercilessly before retiring to gluhvein, rosti and Wagner.