Worldskitraveller's USA Road Trip
- Thread starter jamesdeluxe
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ChrisC
Well-known member
Yes. But the title?! 
And I spent a lot of time at Jiminy Peak and know not many days look like the one below. Same for Mt. Washington, but more often....
I just never felt I really 'skied' an area until I visited most of its lift sectors/ski terrain pods. Often led me back to ski places again.
And I spent a lot of time at Jiminy Peak and know not many days look like the one below. Same for Mt. Washington, but more often....
I just never felt I really 'skied' an area until I visited most of its lift sectors/ski terrain pods. Often led me back to ski places again.
You want to title an interview? You write it!
From both James' interview and Roger's own website, it was clear to me that @Worldskitraveller's priority is collecting lifts not ski areas. Accordingly, I agree with James that Roger's priority is upfront and crystal clear but also with ChrisC that the title should be changed.
On March 3 I said:
I was naturally lured further into the World Council of Skitistics. I was pleased to say that my independent formulation of what counts as a ski area (generally agreed by other FTO posters too) conforms quite closely to the World Council of Skitistics. Specifically, separate discounted one area lift tickets (Portes du Soleil) must have geography defining separate ski areas, and the same for areas with a lift but no ski connection (Arosa-Lenzerheide).
I have browsed Jimmy's Skiing around the World books numerous times for so many countries, but must confess I never read his skiday/ski area definitions on pp. 23-25 of volume 2 until I read Roger's home page mention of it.
Jimmy has a very loose definition applied to Euro ski villages, counting all of them unless they have the same name such as Les Arcs and Courchevel do with different numbers based upon elevation. I sent him the following e-mail to clarify his view (no response yet):
I would question the Skitistics comments on sand skiing and ski touring. I think a ski day needs to be on snow (most of our FTO crowd agrees). I have 17 countries but could add 3 more with liberal definition of sand. I rode sand dunes standing on a board at Siwa Oasis in Egypt https://bestsnow.net/TRsFTO/20060329EgyptEclipse.html , sitting on a sled in Dunhuang in China https://bestsnow.net/TRsFTO/20080801ChinaEclipse.html , and prone on a toboggan in Namibia https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/threads/skeleton-coast-namibia-june-25-27-2024.15029/ . Perhaps a strict requirement of using ski equipment would weed out most marginal cases like mine.
Ski touring I’m more liberal than Jimmy and Skitistics. Surely broad sectors (not specific itineraries) should count as a ski area (eg. Tioga Pass, Mt. Shasta, etc.). 15 of my 297 areas are exclusively ski touring, 7 of those on the 2011 Antarctic trip.
On March 3 I said:
I encourage anyone with the slightest interest in the subject to review Roger's concisely summarized home page. I'll note that among the 12 people with the most ski areas, only 3 have also counted lifts. I count lots of stuff but it never occurred to me to count lifts until this thread. I used to count a running total of ski lift vertical each ski day before I got the Vertech watch in 1995.
I was naturally lured further into the World Council of Skitistics. I was pleased to say that my independent formulation of what counts as a ski area (generally agreed by other FTO posters too) conforms quite closely to the World Council of Skitistics. Specifically, separate discounted one area lift tickets (Portes du Soleil) must have geography defining separate ski areas, and the same for areas with a lift but no ski connection (Arosa-Lenzerheide).
I have browsed Jimmy's Skiing around the World books numerous times for so many countries, but must confess I never read his skiday/ski area definitions on pp. 23-25 of volume 2 until I read Roger's home page mention of it.
Jimmy has a very loose definition applied to Euro ski villages, counting all of them unless they have the same name such as Les Arcs and Courchevel do with different numbers based upon elevation. I sent him the following e-mail to clarify his view (no response yet):
When we were chasing the fresher snow in Ports du Soleil and Grand Massif, Jimmy and his girlfriend were in the far southwest Alps at the places that got the most snow mid-season. He mentioned several places I do not recall and said his ski area count is still rising into the mid-700s.
I would question the Skitistics comments on sand skiing and ski touring. I think a ski day needs to be on snow (most of our FTO crowd agrees). I have 17 countries but could add 3 more with liberal definition of sand. I rode sand dunes standing on a board at Siwa Oasis in Egypt https://bestsnow.net/TRsFTO/20060329EgyptEclipse.html , sitting on a sled in Dunhuang in China https://bestsnow.net/TRsFTO/20080801ChinaEclipse.html , and prone on a toboggan in Namibia https://www.firsttracksonline.com/boards/threads/skeleton-coast-namibia-june-25-27-2024.15029/ . Perhaps a strict requirement of using ski equipment would weed out most marginal cases like mine.
Ski touring I’m more liberal than Jimmy and Skitistics. Surely broad sectors (not specific itineraries) should count as a ski area (eg. Tioga Pass, Mt. Shasta, etc.). 15 of my 297 areas are exclusively ski touring, 7 of those on the 2011 Antarctic trip.
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His initiative was titled Project 101, meaning 101 ski areas, ergo the title of the interview. I appreciate how much you and ChrisC have engaged with this story and your protests have been duly noted but come on.
We are taking the cue of the what the title should be from the horse's mouth. 
That is our view as well. Most Euro ski areas have enough scale that we rarely repeat a run at a new place unless conditions are exceptional. That mostly means fresh powder. This is a key critique of prioritizing lifts vs. ski areas. Some places have immense terrain variety from a single lift. That was why @Worldskitraveller completely missed the boat at Stowe. Even Baldy's Thunder Mt. is an excellent example of high variety from one lift. On the right day you could spend all of it just lapping Zermatt's Gant-Hohtalli tram as snowbirdsurfer was fortunate to do a week after we were not. @Worldskitraveller's antithesis would be the Squallywood fanatics who only ski KT-22.
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The interview is posted on Harvey's website so it's up to him to change the title of the piece.
ChrisC
Well-known member
I don't really read the NYSkiBlog since I no longer do much East Coast skiing, although there are some interesting outings/adventures on it. And, of course, the site has evolved to include other regions and continents. Didn't read the interview until his IG post popped up in my doom scroll.
I did not really follow any of this over the winter, nor read interviews; I just assumed it was a skiing-focused trip that went awry.
...Too busy skiing and transitioning startups to everything AI - I mean Blockchain, who? Web 3.0, what? NFTs? Meme crypto? Lol. Fortunately/unfortunately, I live near the center of the AI revolution (5 to 7 minutes to OpenAI HQ, depending on traffic or getting stuck behind a buggy/confused Waymo). Years ago, it was just one of the sunniest, least-foggy neighborhoods with downtown SF skyline views and access to US-101, SFO, and Silicon Valley. Now it's overrun with Gen Zers/Millennials recreating/relearning the lessons of Internet 1.0 (circa 2000) in 8-people living in 2- or 3-bedroom Victorians - trying to do circular business development deals with one another.
No one wants that.
I cannot be bothered to proofread, check whether AI assist is on/off, or really care about journalism.
Leave that to the experts.
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He's skiing at Ischgl's end-of-season event this weekend with the huge concert at Idalp headlined by Christina Aguilera. I requested photos along with a final tally of the ski areas he visited in 2025-26.
ChrisC
Well-known member
Ischgl = Ibiza of the Alps.
Ischgl's closing concerts are generally phenomenal! The moving walkway between the two pedestrian centers of Ischgl has great memorabilia from all the events.
Meanwhile, in the USA, a Grateful Dead cover band could be playing on Closing Day as skiers tailgate, enjoying beer from a microbrewery teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
There is a host of things the US Ski Industry could learn from the Europeans, and modify for the North American market. It's the story of Starbucks (and founders sold to Howard Shultz because they wanted to buy Peet's Coffee).
Although Vail had a John Summit weekend. Frat Bro Techno.
Worldskitraveller's season closer at Ischgl with a note about two new-to-him lifts that he skied there (incorrectly translated by Google as "elevators"). Maybe he'll pop in here for a final word with his fans on FTO.
An interesting note is that the closing-day concert used to be a free extra until last season; however, day ticket buyers now have no choice but to pay a mandatory ski/concert bundle of €165 unless you have an Ikon Pass. But hey, if 19,000 people attend, apparently that's the "correct" price according to supply and demand. You almost have to admire the flagrant money-grubbing!
Above the speakers, you can see Ischgl's tagline: "Relax. If You Can" -- cribbed (one could surmise) from Mad River Glen's famous slogan:
An interesting note is that the closing-day concert used to be a free extra until last season; however, day ticket buyers now have no choice but to pay a mandatory ski/concert bundle of €165 unless you have an Ikon Pass. But hey, if 19,000 people attend, apparently that's the "correct" price according to supply and demand. You almost have to admire the flagrant money-grubbing!
Above the speakers, you can see Ischgl's tagline: "Relax. If You Can" -- cribbed (one could surmise) from Mad River Glen's famous slogan:
snowbird surfer
Member
Lift collectors TOP in state/providence itinerary - conditions permittingWe are taking the cue of the what the title should be from the horse's mouth.
That is our view as well. Most Euro ski areas have enough scale that we rarely repeat a run at a new place unless conditions are exceptional. That mostly means fresh powder. This is a key critique of prioritizing lifts vs. ski areas. Some places have immense terrain variety from a single lift. That was why @Worldskitraveller completely missed the boat at Stowe. Even Baldy's Thunder Mt. is an excellent example of high variety from one lift. On the right day you could spend all of it just lapping Zermatt's Gant-Hohtalli tram as snowbirdsurfer was fortunate to do a week after we were not. @Worldskitraveller's antithesis would be the Squallywood fanatics who only ski KT-22.
Plunge (T-ride)
KT-22 (SVU)
John Paul Jones (Snowbasin)
Sublett (JH)
Peak or showcase (WB)
Golden Eagle (KH)... other contenders include Stoke and the sleeper Goat's Eye
Zephyr (NY)
4runner (VT)
Gant (Zermatt)
Celo Alto (Cervinia)
Indren (MR)
Jump in with additions/corrections!
ChrisC
Well-known member
I might change some lifts due to the 'potential' terrain they serve, versus what one could lap efficiently.
Telluride - For example, I prefer Revelation Bowl lift - good terrain (too small vs. Plunge), but access to Gold Hill chutes (1-10), which are the best bang-for-buck skiing in Telluride (Alps-like (La Grave/Dolomites/Verbier) couloir skiing plus open bowl/high-elevation skiing for 2-2.5 k vertical feet. And 4-4.5k vertical ft sidecountry of Bear Creek (compares somewhat to Andermatt with its 5k vertical skiing plus 15-30+ min runout to town). But Plunge gives the best laps - steeps, moguls, and lots of underrated trees! Almost all the woods are now gladed around Ch 9, and it's equivalent to Steamboat with a NW flow storm, but steeper and with lodgepole pines.
UT - Alta's Collins or Snowbird Tram reigns supreme. But for Snowbasin - yes!
Squaw - I prefer the long, uncrowded lines of Broken Eagle when it runs. But yes, XT22 is the classic. And Headwall is amazing. And Silverado. Too many!
Cervinia, Italy - Celo Alto - oh please! Great when NOTHING is open, but the Plateau Rosa Tram serves tons of couloirs/bowls that go neglected. Not at all comparable. I finally learned to ski Cervinia as an expert after a friend's trip 2 years ago, and revisited it this year when it had much better snow than Zermatt (and hired a guide).
Monterosa - The Indren Cable Car/Tram is one of the world's (Top 5-10) ski lifts for experts.
Courmayeur - Here, there is a good fight of the Trams (Arpa or Skyway/Pt. Helbronner). Both! Courmayeur's 5k north- and east-facing off-piste vs. Mont Blanc massif's north (Vallee Blanche variants) and south (Toula, etc) routes.
ChrisC
Well-known member
This should have been in my Alpe d'Huez write-up, but one would likely want to avoid the Tomorrowland Festival in the late March period.
Tomorrowland Winter 2026 takes place in Alpe d'Huez, France, from March 21–28, 2026. The festival features world-class techno and electronic music across snowy, high-altitude stages. Packages, including lift access, start around €185 for daily passes and up to €910–€1,000+ for 7-day experiences, excluding accommodation.
Definitely one of the pre-eminent EDM/techno festivals with a great line-up, but I would not want a week of it overpowering the skiing and inflating lodging/food costs. My last big DJ show was Calvin Harris in Ibiza in 2019; surprisingly, he started at 9/9:30 since the outdoor club Ushuaïa has to close by 11 pm.
Tomorrowland.
That explains @Worldskitraveller's totally misleading comments about Stowe after presumably riding the Forerunner quad only once. What really takes the cake is being close to ends-of-the-earth Mt. Bohemia and passing up a 2 foot powder day there to stay on his molehill tour schedule.
I'm also personally annoyed if weather/lift closures prevent me from getting an adequate overview by my standards, especially if what I missed is reputedly the most interesting part of the ski area. This was the situation with Avoriaz and we persisted for 7 days over two trips for adequate visibility to do the place justice.
I will say that it is extremely rare that I will ski a day that involves removing ski boots to drive to a second location. Only three such days come to mind, all in Front Range Colorado. One way I have covered more ground in the Alps is to ski the day in one direction, then take a bus or train back to my starting point.
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How many times are you going to
? WST didn't come here to do what you want or expect him to. He was here to drive across the country and It's no different than me relentlessly questioning why Harvey stays in NYS and doesn't make the easy hop over the border to the Eastern Townships or northern Vermont. That's not what I would do but I'm not Harvey any more than WST isn't you.
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Skiing big picture should prioritize terrain (whatever each individual enjoys most personally) and snow conditions. Yes, I know the saying, "there's good snow and there's snow that's good for you." But when bad conditions reach the point of lifts/terrain closed (that includes off-piste if that's a key attribute of an area), that's the point where it's not a good use of your time or $$, especially if you're a long way from home.
For many people, resort ambience is equally important, and it's not an accident that ChrisC posted numerous Megeve pics from the resort area. So he and I might get criticism from some quarters that we aren't getting the full experience on these one-day-per-area pedal-to-the-metal ski excursions. But @Worldskitraveller is moving at perhaps an even more frenetic pace and missing a lot of the ski highlights as well.
I think ChrisC and I were set off by @Worldskitraveller's trip because it was presented as "Collecting Ski Areas," which sounded like our own priorities. No North American skier gets anywhere close to 300 ski areas without making that some level of priority and putting some sustained effort into it. When someone raised the topic on TGR, there were far fewer respondents there than here who had even 100 ski areas.
So as WST's trip unfolded in real time it looked more and more bizarre to us. Only at the very end did we find out that the prime objective was ski lifts not ski areas.
We have a lot of eccentric ski priorities on this forum. We have been
at Patrick for over a decade now. I believe that in indulging the eccentricities we need to avoid the "tail wags the dog" situation. In April 2018 we stayed put in Val d'Isere for 11 days due to fabulous conditions even though at that time we had not yet skied anywhere else in the Tarantaise. Thus my criticism of Patrick has not been about what he's doing in the northern summer; it's what he's NOT doing in the northern winter in order to support The Streak.
I would suggest that the collecting of lifts vs. areas promotes chronic "tail wags the dog" situations. It had not even occurred to me that someone would do this, and on WST's home page listing 12 people who have skied tons of ski areas, 9 of them have n.a. in the lifts column because it probably didn't occur to them either. One of the guys who does runs the excellent liftblog site, an obvious tie-in.
</soapbox>
For many people, resort ambience is equally important, and it's not an accident that ChrisC posted numerous Megeve pics from the resort area. So he and I might get criticism from some quarters that we aren't getting the full experience on these one-day-per-area pedal-to-the-metal ski excursions. But @Worldskitraveller is moving at perhaps an even more frenetic pace and missing a lot of the ski highlights as well.
I think ChrisC and I were set off by @Worldskitraveller's trip because it was presented as "Collecting Ski Areas," which sounded like our own priorities. No North American skier gets anywhere close to 300 ski areas without making that some level of priority and putting some sustained effort into it. When someone raised the topic on TGR, there were far fewer respondents there than here who had even 100 ski areas.
So as WST's trip unfolded in real time it looked more and more bizarre to us. Only at the very end did we find out that the prime objective was ski lifts not ski areas.
We have a lot of eccentric ski priorities on this forum. We have been
at Patrick for over a decade now. I believe that in indulging the eccentricities we need to avoid the "tail wags the dog" situation. In April 2018 we stayed put in Val d'Isere for 11 days due to fabulous conditions even though at that time we had not yet skied anywhere else in the Tarantaise. Thus my criticism of Patrick has not been about what he's doing in the northern summer; it's what he's NOT doing in the northern winter in order to support The Streak.This is his first year living at Gore and skiing 100 days. He was served a steady diet of powder through February, of which we westerners could be quite envious. Will he still do that in an eastern season like 2012 or 2016? He won't have to ski "industrial resorts." As I've noted before, he could be very happy at a bunch of interior NW or Canadian areas with similar ambience to what he likes best in the East.
I would suggest that the collecting of lifts vs. areas promotes chronic "tail wags the dog" situations. It had not even occurred to me that someone would do this, and on WST's home page listing 12 people who have skied tons of ski areas, 9 of them have n.a. in the lifts column because it probably didn't occur to them either. One of the guys who does runs the excellent liftblog site, an obvious tie-in.
</soapbox>
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We've been going in circles on this for months.
He never presented it as anything other than trying to step foot in as many ski areas and riding on as many lifts as possible (no need to FIFY, he tracks both as reflected in the original title of his trip: "Project 101") with no preference to biggest, best, snowiest, best preservation, etc. This is absolutely not how I would spend my time (for example, leaving MRG on a top-shelf day was brutal to behold); however, it clearly makes him happy so who am I to say that he "should" instead do this or that based on my preferences.
Harvey hates flying and is perfectly content going exclusively to NYS ski areas, where he scores a good percentage of powder days; however, I enjoy long-haul destination travel to "James ski areas" too much. Regardless, I 'm not going to say that he "should" do this or that based on my preferences.
I'd argue that this is the most egregious tail-wagging-the-dog situation of all (in some ways even nuttier than WST). Regardless, if that's how he derives enjoyment -- flying to Timbuktu to ski in likely subpar conditions predicated purely on the month -- hey, go with god. Moreover, including far-flung indoor ski areas constitutes blatant cheating on the streak's premise but it's his streak to violate or revise at his whim. He's not making any money off it so who cares? Once again, who am I to say that he "should" do this or that with his time and money based on my preferences?We have been
ChrisC
Well-known member
The purpose of a lift is to ski.
I do not care which plane (make/model) I take to a ski destination. Nor the car I drive to it. Nor do I care how I get to the ski terrain (hike, helicopter, cat, high-speed lift, surface lifts, etc). It's a bit irrelevant to actually skiing. Just logistics. Things that should be done as cheaply as possible.
I do care about the ski conditions, the skis I use, and the sport.
I never think "God, that was a great lift ride!"
Worldskitravellers objectives align more with Lift Blog or maybe Roller Coaster Aficionados, less a ski forum.
Weather and conditions do not impact:
https://www.coaster101.com/
or
coasterbot.com
He hid the fact that he was a "Lift Junkie". Took me months to figure out it was a priority. Thought it was one more random metric to count, not a priority.
Even the Ski Lift Blog: so many ski lifts are visited in the summer. While a necessity, I see closed chairlifts in July, and they lose some relevancy to me.
I do not care which plane (make/model) I take to a ski destination. Nor the car I drive to it. Nor do I care how I get to the ski terrain (hike, helicopter, cat, high-speed lift, surface lifts, etc). It's a bit irrelevant to actually skiing. Just logistics. Things that should be done as cheaply as possible.
I do care about the ski conditions, the skis I use, and the sport.
I never think "God, that was a great lift ride!"
Worldskitravellers objectives align more with Lift Blog or maybe Roller Coaster Aficionados, less a ski forum.
Weather and conditions do not impact:
https://www.coaster101.com/
or
Our Favourite Roller Coasters: Updated — coaster bot
What’s your favourite roller coaster? That's got to be our most asked question. Everyone wants to know
coasterbot.com
He hid the fact that he was a "Lift Junkie". Took me months to figure out it was a priority. Thought it was one more random metric to count, not a priority.
Even the Ski Lift Blog: so many ski lifts are visited in the summer. While a necessity, I see closed chairlifts in July, and they lose some relevancy to me.