The Great Ski Area Count

[Admin]

Today there was a reference in another topic (Jackson Hole's new tram) about the number of ski areas skied over a lifetime, and as we haven't done a list since 2003 I thought it would be fun to resurrect the Great Ski Area Count.

I'll start.

VT:
Jay
Smuggs
Stowe
Bolton
Burke
MRG
Sugarbush
Glen Ellen (when it was separate)
Pico (when it was separate)
K-Mart
Okemo
Bromley
Stratton
Mt. Snow
Magic
Ascutney
Haystack (when it was separate)
Middlebury
Bear Creek Club (formerly Roundtop)

NH:
Cannon
Loon
Waterville
Wildcat
Mt. Washington
Gunstock
Crotched
Tenney
Bretton Woods

MA:
Berkshire East
Brodie (now closed)
Jiminy Peak
Butternut
Mt. Tom (now closed)
Wachusett
Nashoba
Bousquet

ME:
Sugarloaf
Saddleback
Sunday River

QC:
Le Massif
Le Valinouet
Mont-Edouard
Massif du Sud
Le Relais
Stoneham
Tremblant
Ste.-Anne
Sutton
Orford
Bromont
Owl's Head
St.-Sauveur

NY:
Willard
Whiteface
Gore
Huntah
West Mountain
Plattekill
Hickory Ski Center (now closed?)
Holiday Valley
Holimont

CT:
Mohawk
Sundown
Powder Ridge

PA:
Camelback
Big Boulder
Shawnee

RI:
Yawgoo

MN:
Buck Hill
Afton Alps
Welch Mountain
Wild Mountain

WI:
Trollhaugen

CO:
A-Basin
Keystone
Copper
Breck
Vail
Winter Park
Steamboat
Steamboat Powdercats (was Blue Sky West)
Eldora
Snowmass
Beaver Creek

UT:
Brian Head
Elk Meadows (now closed)
Alta
Snowbird
Solitude
Brighton
Pow Mow
Snowbasin
Sundance
Park City
Deer Valley

NV:
Mt. Rose

CA:
Alpine Meadows
Squaw
Sugar Bowl
Kirkwood

MT:
Bridger
Big Sky
Red Lodge

OR:
Timberline

WY:
Jackson
Targhee

NM:
Taos
Angel Fire
Red River
Santa Fe

AB:
Castle Mt.
Lake Loo
Sunshine Village

BC:
Whitetooth (now Kicking Horse)
Fernie
Panorama

Europe:
Zermatt
Courchevel
Meribel
Val Thorens
Cervinia

That makes 121 spread over 18 states, 3 Canadian provinces, and 5 countries.

 

[riverc0il]

admin made it really easy for me, i just copy and pasted and then deleted a few and added a few to NH, lol. 31 for me, not bad for only new england. there are a lot more i want to add. i once made the goal of skiing every open area in new england eventually. it is a lot harder staying to that commitment based on some changes i made recently :lol:

VT:
Jay
Stowe
Bolton
Burke
MRG
Sugarbush
Pico
K-Mart
Bromley
Magic
Haystack

NH:
Cannon
Loon
Waterville
Wildcat
Mt. Washington
Gunstock
Crotched (Peaks Version)
Tenney
Ragged
Black
Mittersill (Lost)
Watatic (Lost)

MA:
Berkshire East
Wachusett
Nashoba
Bradford
Sea View (Lost)

ME:
Sugarloaf
Saddleback
Sunday River

 

[Admin]

Thanks, Riv...you reminded me about Tenney.

 

[Patrick]

Okay...I had a feeling that this topic was going to come up again.

This is the same list, modified with the current data, that was included in that thread 3 years ago. What happened since then? I ski the US West for the first time last June and the local areas have gain much importance. Skiing with Kids


The list includes ski areas skiied since 1981-82 season @ age 16).

List of areas in order of skidays per region (overall # in parentheses for the top 10).
+: areas probably skiied between 1968-69 and 1980-81, skidays not included.
* might included share days with another ski area.

CANADA EAST

QUEBEC (Laurentains/Lanaudière)
Tremblant: 96+ (1)
Chanteclerc: 47 (2)
St-Sauveur: 40+ (5)
Gray Rocks: 31+ (7)
Gabriel: 27+ (9)
Mt-Blanc: 19+
Garceau: 12
Avila: 8*+
Belle-Neige: 5+
St-Côme: 5
Morin Heights: 2
Olympia: 2+
Habitant: 2+
Vallée Bleue: 1
Sun Valley: 0+
Mont Faustin: 0+

QC (Outaouais/Ottawa area):
Edelweiss: 44 (4)
Fortune: 32 (6)
Vorlage: 24 (10)
Cascades: 13
Ste-Marie: 6

QC (Eastern Townships):
Sutton: 11+
Owl's Head: 7
Bromont: 5+
Orford: 2+
Adstock: 2
Glen: 1+

QC (Quebec/Charlevoix):
Ste-Anne: 16
Stoneham: 5
Le Relais: 2
Massif: 1

QC (Gaspe Peninsula):
Mt-Comi: 7
Val-Neigette: 6
Val d'Irène: 1

QC (Montreal Area):
St-Bruno: 2+
Mt-Royal: Lac des Castors: 0+
Mt-Royal: Université de Montréal: 0+
Mt-Laval: 0+
Mt-Soleil: 0+

ON
Calabogie Peaks: 3
Pakenham: 2

US EAST

VT
Killington: 46 (3)
Jay Peak: 24+
Mad River Glen: 23
Smugglers': 11+
Stowe: 9
Sugarbush: 7
Burke: 5
Bolton: 1

NY
Whiteface: 31+ ( 8 ) - one extra day in 1980.
Titus: 2

ME
Sunday River: 10
Sugarloaf: 5

NH
Mt.Washington: 6
Cannon: 5
Wildcat: 2


CANADA WEST

AB
Lake Louise: 8
Sunshine: 6
Marmot: 3
Fortress: 1
Norquay: 1

BC
Blackcomb: 9
Whistler: 3

US WEST

CA:
Mammoth: 11

WY:
Jackson: 4
Grand Targhee: 1
Snow King: 1

UT:
Alta: 2
Snowbird: 2

MT:
Big Sky: 2*
Moonlight Basin: 2*
Bridger: 1

OR:
Timberline: 4

EUROPE

FRANCE (*includes shared days between mountains):
Flaine: 8
Val Thorens (3 Vallées): 6 (total days 3V=6)
Val d'Isère (Espace Killy): 5 (total days EK=5)
Tignes (EK): 3*
Meribel (3V): 3*
Alpe d'Huez: 3
Les Menuires (3V): 3*
Courchevel (3V): 2*
Les Arcs: 2
Chamrousse: 1
Brévent-Flégère: 1
Grands Montents: 1
Vallée Blanche-Mt.Blanc: 1

SWITZERLAND:
Kleine Scheidegg-Mannlichen: 2
Schilthorn-Murren: 2

ITALY
Courmayeur: 1


Grand Total since 1981-82: 83
Lifetime? At least: 89

 

[Admin]

I'll admit that mine's a lifetime list -- since age 4 or 5. The majority, though, have been since age 13 or 14 or so. I keep going back to edit the list as I remember more.

 

[Patrick]

I'll admit that mine's a lifetime list -- since age 4 or 5. The majority, though, have been since age 13 or 14 or so. I keep going back to edit the list as I remember more.

As my only definite list is since age 16, I just did a copy and paste of the last thread which was a copy of the mini-database.

Pre-teen areas that I haven't skied since would included or probably included (the 0+ listed above plus these):

Mt. Echo
Mt. Shefford?
Rougemont???

Mt Ste.Agathe??
Mt Faustin
Sun Valley
Mt Christie?

In the Montreal area:
Mt Royal - Beaver Lake
Mt Royal - U of M
Mt Soleil
Parc Cabrini?
Parc Boyle (where the Olympic Stadium is)?
Mt Laval
Rigaud??

However from the age 8 to my teen years we would mainly ski at Tremblant and a few days elsewhere in the Laurentians. Prior to that would concentrated in the Eastern Townships, mainly at Sutton, but also Echo, Glen, Bromont.

It hard to remember back about a certain area when the last ski you skied there was when you were 4 or 5 yrs old. :lol:

 

[Admin]

It hard to remember back about a certain area when the last ski you skied there was when you were 4 or 5 yrs old. :lol:

Honestly, I can't say that I find it difficult. I remember plain as day my very first time on skis at Winter Park -- I could even describe the colors of certain things to you. After that I remember a base-area poma at Keystone as if it were yesterday. I also remember family holidays at Breckenridge when I was 5 or 6, as well as visiting Snowmass around that timeframe.

Ironically, I've only skied two of those since: Breck and Keystone.

After that my family moved to Connecticut. I remember our first eastern vacations to Sugarloaf/Saddleback and Sugarbush/Glen Ellen, and by that time I was getting old enough that the addiction was set. I'd sit in second and third grade classrooms doodling like every other kid...but my doodles were trail maps that I'd draw from memory. I'd gather ski area brochures and just stare at them and daydream for hours at a time. By the time I was 10 I was planning the family ski trips then submitting the info to my father for approval.

So it's all rather clear.

After moving east and up to my high school years, though, we didn't ski much -- a holiday week trip for 4 or 5 days, plus a few daytrips a year to Vermont, and maybe a couple of nights at local hills like Powder Ridge or Ski Sundown. I ran the high school ski club with a partner for the whole four years I was there, so that's when my skiing really became more frequent...family trips stayed the same, but the club added two weekends and a handful of daytrips per season.

Then came the dark years during college when I skied very little due to time constraints and being flat-ass broke.

Right out of college, though, I started skiing much more frequently again. Then I started patrolling, which meant I pretty much spent 99% of my ski days at Jay Peak and Willard Mountain for 8 years until I moved to Florida. That's when I really started traveling to ski, still logging 30 days or so per season from there.

But I digress...badly...

 

[Patrick]

It hard to remember back about a certain area when the last ski you skied there was when you were 4 or 5 yrs old. :lol:

Honestly, I can't say that I find it difficult. I remember plain as day my very first time on skis at Winter Park -- I could even describe the colors of certain things to you.

Okay I also remember does shoelace boots and skiing between my mom's legs when I was 3 near Beaver Lake on MT. Royal (I always though I was 4, but it seems I was younger). I remember visiting my dad at Glen Mtn. But I also remember that we would move around quit a bit and maybe go a ski day here and there.

Of course I remember most frequent places, however I'm sure there's a few that I've been only once or twice. Holidays at Sun Valley (QC), I might have been 5. The next year it was Belle Neige or maybe was it Sutton then Belle Neige? Then we bought a cottage near my mom's hometown which was 10 miles from Mt. Faustin, Blanc, Gray Rocks and 15 miles from Tremblant. Prior to that we were always in the Eastern Townships on weekends.

I'd sit in second and third grade classrooms doodling like every other kid...but my doodles were trail maps that I'd draw from memory. I'd gather ski area brochures and just stare at them and daydream for hours at a time. By the time I was 10 I was planning the family ski trips then submitting the info to my father for approval.

We definitely have the same background. I wasn't only planning ski trip, but our summer vacation also. I guess becoming a geographer as a logical extension for me, however I work in a cube or on the slopes.

I ran the high school ski club with a partner for the whole four years I was there, so that's when my skiing really became more frequent...family trips stayed the same, but the club added two weekends and a handful of daytrips per season.

Our ski club would try to night skiing once a week in the Laurentians or Bromont. Also in those years my grand-mother was living in our cottage, so we didn't necessarily go up as often. I would take the subway with my ski equipment and take one of the many buses that would leave downtown Montreal hotels to go skiing. Daily services to the Laurentians (stops in St.Sauveur and Gabriel, Tremblant), Jay Peak or Smuggs. Those were fun years, especially coming back at rush hours (on PD days) and take the subway back home.

Then came the dark years during college when I skied very little due to time constraints and being flat-ass broke.

Ski team years!!! Mostly Free Skiing across Quebec, mostly free beer across Quebec.

Right out of college, though, I started skiing much more frequently again.

I started free skiing (but not for free) again during the winter months. No more training and small hills. I had enough on small verts, I started driving to every big vertical ski area within a 3 hour drive from Montreal.

Then the move to Ottawa, but still driving to Montreal on most weekend to go back to New England. Our favorite route to Montreal would involved a slight detour toward Tremblant or Whiteface.

Then Morgane was born and started skiing. Started appreciating the small Ottawa hills plus I started racing again. I needed something to get motivated in skiing the small hills again and again. Yes, I would travel more often to the Alps or the West since I left University.

But I digress...badly...

I agree...me too. :wink:

 

[tirolerpeter]

Revision to post on "Jackson Hole" thread.

First time: age 3 1/2 in the Tirol where I was born. The rest in no particular order.
NY: Catamount, Cortina Valley (now closed) Hunter, Belleayre, Whiteface, Gore, Windham, Greek Peak
NJ: Vernon Valley/Great Gore, also as Mountain Creek
MA: Catamount, Butternut, Brodie, Jiminy
VT: Haystack, Mt. Snow, Bromley, Stratton, (old) Magic, Stratton, Okemo, Pico, Stowe, Jay Peak (Been there twice, couldn't ski at all once due to wind, the second time they only had greens open so we bailed south to Killington!) Sugarbush
PA: JackFrost-Big Boulder, Camelback, Shawnee, Tanglewood
VA: Wintergreen
NH: Loon
ME: Sunday River
CA/NV: Heavenly (Went to Reno after three days, got snowed in, couldn't reach Squaw Vally or Kirkwood...had to gamble for three days instead!
CO: Vail, Copper Mountain, Arapaho Basin, Breckenridge
UT: Alta, Snowbird, Solitude, Brighton, Park City, The Canyons, Deer Valley, Snowbasin
Canada: Tremblant, Owlshead, Mt. Sutton

I have also visited but not skied (on summer trips)
Austria: Pitztal Gletcher (glacier)
Brian Head UT,
Purgatory CO (Now called Durango Mt. Resort because they were offending the Bible thumpers!),
Taos NM,
Summit at Snoqualmie WA,
Jackson Hole, Grand Targhee WY,
Sun Valley, Lookout Pass ID

SUMMARY: 47 areas actually skied, an additional 9 visited for "scouting purposes." I may have missed some, but age does that to you.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Here's the list, reworked by state/country to be more comparable to those above. Leading number is the order in which I first skied these areas. The seasonal details of days and vertical feet can be found by clicking on each region at http://bestsnow.net/vertfeet.htm .

SoCal
2 Mt. Baldy
3 Kratka Ridge (Lost)
4 Mt. Waterman
5 Mountain High
7 Snow Valley
9 Snow Summit
10 Bear Mt.
11 Ski Sunrise
17 San Gorgonio

California Sierra
6 Northstar
8 Mammoth
12 Heavenly Valley
13 June Mt.
18 Sugar Bowl
19 Squaw Valley
20 Kirkwood
21 Alpine Meadows
29 Mt. Reba Bear Valley
59 Sierra Ski Ranch
104 Tioga Pass

Nevada
1 Lee Canyon (now Ski Las Vegas)
114 Mt. Rose

Arizona
90 Arizona Snowbowl

Oregon
32 Mt. Bachelor
49 Timberline
56 Mt. Hood Meadows
86 Mt. Bailey Snowcat

Washington
33 White Pass
57 Crystal Mt.

Idaho
30 Sun Valley
84 Schweitzer

Montana
87 Montana Backcountry Adventures (Lost)
88 Big Sky
89 Yellowstone Club
96 Big Mountain
116 Bridger Bowl
117 Moonlight Basin

Wyoming
37 Jackson Hole
60 Targhee Snowcat
61 Grand Targhee
118 Snow King

New Mexico
31 Taos
58 Ski Apache

Utah
22 Park City
23 Snowbird
24 Alta
38 Deer Valley
39 Brian Head
40 Brighton
45 Solitude
46 Utah Powderbirds (Lost)
50 Powder Mt.
68 Snow Basin
79 The Canyons

Colorado
14 Aspen Highlands
15 Snowmass
16 Aspen Mt. (Ajax)
34 Beaver Creek
35 Vail
36 Copper Mt.
41 Arapahoe Basin
42 Winter Park
43 Keystone
47 Steamboat
53 Crested Butte
54 Telluride
55 Purgatory
62 Loveland Pass
63 Breckenridge
91 Wolf Creek
92 Monarch
112 Silverton

British Columbia
51 Blackcomb
52 Whistler
64 Island Lake Snowcat
65 Fernie Alpine Resort
66 Whitewater
67 Red Mt.
73 TLH Heliski
74 Selkirk-Tangiers Heli
75 Apex Alpine
76 Big White
77 Silver Star
78 CAT Powder Skiing
81 RK Heliski
85 Retallack Snowcat
93 CMH Kootenay Heli
94 Kicking Horse
105 Panorama
113 Great Northern Snowcat
119 Mike Wiegele Heliski
120 Sun Peaks

Alberta
80 Castle Mt.
82 Lake Louise
83 Sunshine Village
95 Mt. Norquay

Vermont
44 Killington
97 Stowe
98 Mad River Glen
99 Jay Peak

New Hampshire
48 Tuckerman's Ravine

Quebec
100 Stoneham
101 Mt. Ste. Anne
102 Le Massif
103 Mont Grands-Fonds

France
108 Le Tour
109 Grands Montets
110 Vallee Blanche
113 Brevant/Flegere

Italy
111 Courmayeur

Switzerland
112 Verbier

Australia
69 Thredbo

New Zealand
25 Mt. Hutt
26 Tasman Glacier
27 Coronet Peak
28 Whakapapa
70 Treble Cone
71 Cardrona
72 Harris Mt. Heli

Argentina
115 Las Lenas

On August 24 I will ski The Remarkables in New Zealand, putting myself in a dead heat with admin at 121 areas.

I skied Holiday Hill as a separate area in 1977-79 before it was acquired by Mountain High in 1980, but have not tracked my skiing since then separately. It is also possible to ski backcountry between Mt. High West and the former Holiday Hill. I skied Bear Mt. many times before it was acquired by Snow Summit in 2002 and continue to track vertical there separately. The areas are about 2 miles apart and will never be connected as the intervening terrain is unsuitable. The now defunct Montana Backcountry Adventures snowcat terrain was entirely within what has now been developed as Moonlight Basin.

 

[Admin]

On August 24 I will ski The Remarkables in New Zealand, putting myself in a dead heat with admin at 121 areas.

Guess I have to get busy then. :wink:

 

[Admin]

A comparison of my ski areas list with admin's will demonstrate that it's much easier to run up that area count number in the East than in the West. But I'll take mine for quality :wink:.

Ooh. Harsh.

I'll agree that geography makes it easier. But I'll disagree, as always, over the "quality over quantity" assertion. Life...and skiing...is what you make it, and I've had wonderful experiences both east and west.

 

[Patrick]

I'll agree that geography makes it easier. But I'll disagree, as always, over the "quality over quantity" assertion. Life...and skiing...is what you make it, and I've had wonderful experiences both east and west.

Maybe because I'm an Easterner, but I also disagree about the East being of lesser quality than the West. I guess it's something that most Western skiers wouldn't understand. :wink:

About the Jackson Hole double move to the Craggs. I might be mistaken, but I think some of the hardcore crowd wouldn't necessarily be happy with that move or am I mistaken?

 

[Patrick]

Vermont
44 Killington
48 Tuckerman's Ravine

I knew that Killington wanted to be part of New Hampshire, but I didn't it was part of a trade for Tuckerman? :wink:

Quebec
100 Stoneham
101 Mt. Ste. Anne
102 Le Massif
103 Mont Grands-Fonds

You actually skied a ski area in Quebec that I have never been to? I understand for Admin, but a Californian at Grand-Fonds?

France
113 Brevant/Flegere

On August 24 I will ski The Remarkables in New Zealand, putting myself in a dead heat with admin at 121 areas.

:wink:

You could go ahead of Admin with a reclassification, because I believe that Brevent and Flégère are still two seperate ski areas, but can be skied with a single ski ticket. However I also counted them as one area instead of two.

 

[Geoff]

I am not going to count interconnected places that used to be separate like Blackcomb, Glen Ellen, Pico, Haystack, or 1 town/many mountain things like Aspen or many places in Europe...

Maine:
Sugarloaf
Sunday River
Pleasant Mountain (now Shawnee Peak)

NH:
Loon
Waterville
Cannon
King Ridge
Gunstock
Cranmore (learned to ski there)
Wildcat
Attitash
Crotched

Vermont:
Jay
Smuggs
Stowe
Mad River
Sugarbush
Kmart/Pico
Okemo
Mt Snow
Stratton
Bromley

Mass:
Blue Hills
Nashoba
Wa-wachusett

Rhode Island:
Pine Top
Yawgoo Valley

Colorado:
Aspen/Snowmass/Highlands
Steamboat
Vail
Copper
Breckenridge
Loveland
Crested Butte
Monarch
Wolf Creek

New Mexico:
Ski Santa Fe
Taos

Utah:
Snowbird/Alta
Brighton
Deer Valley
Park City Mountain Resort
The Canyons

California:
Squaw
Heavenly
Sugar Bowl

Washington:
Mt Baker

British Columbia:
Whistler/Blackcomb
Big White
Monashee Powder Adventures (cat)

Europe:
Kitzbuhel
Innsbruck
Cortina
St Moritz
Tignes/Val d'Isere
Chamonix

New Zealand:
Treble Cone
The Remarkables
Coronet Peak
Ohau Ski Field
Mt Hutt
Harris Mountain Heli-Ski

Chile:
Valle Nevado/La Parva/el Colorado
Termas de Chillan

I'm at 60-ish and could probably pad it out to around 70 by counting separate mountinas.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Fixed Tuckerman. On my website I just have broad regional groups and missed that one on the manual reclassifications.

The 4 Quebec areas were attended by NASJA as a group at the 2003 annual meeting, which was based at Manoir Richelieu in the Charlevoix for 3 of the 4 nights. I was in Vermont for the front end of that week and chose those areas primarily on recommendation from admin. This process will likely be repeated when NASJA returns East to Bretton Woods in 2008.

We discussed the joined-areas issue on the previous thread but I'll recap my opinions. Firstly a day of skiing is only one day. If it's split between two areas I count 1/2 day for each. Then at the end of the season when you add them up you'll get the right answer.

When an area is a separate area is more subjective. First you have the areas which are marketed separately but are adjacent and you can pay a premium to ski combined: Alta/Snowbird, Brighton/Solitude, Big Sky/Moonlight. Most of us count those as separate. For the combined areas first criteria is did I ski the areas when they were separate? The answer is yes for Whistler/Blackcomb and Snow Summit/Bear Mt., no for Brevent/Flegere. Then you get into questions of topography and scale. In general I think this applies mainly in Europe. I haven't been to either but my feeling is that Val d'Isere/Tignes should be 2 and Trois Vallees 3. I think Whistler/Blackcomb is the only place in North America where this discussion applies. It should be 2 because the mountains are physically separate and either one alone would be in top 10 in size in North America.

So Geoff should count 3 for Aspen (this seems easy, lots of destinations sell package lift tickets good at multiple areas), 2 for Whistler/Blackcomb, Alta/Snowbird and Val d'Isere/Tignes. Sugarbush is a direct parallel to the Big Bear/Mt. High situations and would depend upon if and/or how often he skied Glen Ellen before the combination. I haven't seen the Valle Nevado group, but it might qualify as more than one based upon marketing/tickets even if it's not as big as W/B or the Euro examples.

Brevent/Flegere have a lift connection and are not W/B or Val d'Isere in scale. IMHO the closest calls on my list are not counting Holiday Hill and counting Moonlight/MBA as separate even though they are the same terrain, once by snowcat and once by lift service. I recall consulting either Patrick or admin about the latter and getting the opinion "separate."

 

[Tony Crocker]

Where I was going about the comparison of my list to admin's was that he is likely to pull away from me once he gets back into wanderlust mode. Now that he lives in the West there are quite a few new major areas he'll hit. I've covered nearly everything of even medium size in the West by now. Largest/most interesting areas not skied are places like Mt. Baker/Loveland/Sundance/Homewood/Marmot (I'm open to suggestions).

So further swift growth in my list is likely to come after retirement when I will likely have time for more small areas and go to Europe more often.

My comments about relative quality of ski areas do not necessarily translate to "not worth skiing." They do mean that I'm not willing to spend as much time and $ to visit. But I will still check things out if there's sufficient incentive (subsidized NASJA trips to the East) or if I'm in the area for other reasons and marginal cost is low (Australia). To illustrate this point, the 2009 NASJA meeting is in Lutsen in Minnesota. If it were your decision how low would the price have to be to go there? If the rest of the 4-day trip were free, would you still buy a $400 plane ticket and use 2 vacation days?

 

[JimG.]

To illustrate this point, the 2009 NASJA meeting is in Lutsen in Minnesota. If it were your decision how low would the price have to be to go there? If the rest of the 4-day trip were free, would you still buy a $400 plane ticket and use 2 vacation days?

I'm not fussy...the way I look at it, a crappy day skiing is still way better than the best day at work.

If the skiing in Minnesota is that bad, you could always drive up to Mt. Bohemia and check that place out...I'd like to.

 

[From_the_NEK]

I actually didn?t REALLY start skiing until I came back to Vermont from college :shock: . I skied 2 times before I went to college (I grew up playing hockey). Both times were at Burke (10 and 13 years old). I went to college in Iowa, began to appreciate mountains more and have been skiing ever since ! You will see that my list is rather New England oriented but I don?t think it is too bad for 6 seasons of skiing.

Vermont:
Burke
Jay Peak
Okemo
Smuggs
Stowe
Sugarbush
Bolton
Mad River Glen
Lyndon Outing Club

New Hampshire:
Cannon
Loon
Bretton Woods
Tenney
Mt. Washington

Colorado:
Arapahoe Basin
Breckenridge
Copper
Keystone

West Virginia:
Snowshoe

Washington:
Crystal Mtn.

Grand Total of 21. (only a little over 100 behind Marc and Tony)
I may be suffering a bit from the syndrome that Admin has in Salt Lake City (not enough wonderlust). Sometimes it is hard to justify going somewhere else when, IMO, the best skiing experience around is right next door (see Jay Peak and Burke). Although, for the near future I have a decent list of places that I would really like to try out (not counting numerous western resorts): Sugarloaf, Saddleback, Wildcat, Orford, Le Massif, Magic, and Whiteface. Maybe I?ll have to team up with Riverc0il to hit some more of these.

 

[Tony Crocker]

If the skiing in Minnesota is that bad, you could always drive up to Mt. Bohemia

Better review your geography. They are on opposite sides of Lake Superior, 309 miles of secondary roads apart according to Mapquest. This is in fact the main deterrent to the trip. Most easterners tell me I'll be bored with skiing at Bretton Woods in 2008. But Wildcat, Cannon and Tucks (weather permitting) are close by, and I can easily ski in Maine (more likely in order to try new areas) or Vermont before the meeting. Are there any alternative attractions (skiing or otherwise) in the Lutsen/Duluth area to lure me there?

As in many subjective discussions the truth can be smoked out by neutralizing the economic factors. Let's put some skiers in the Midwest, say Chicago, and give them 10 flights to say, Reno, SLC, Burlington or Quebec City. How many skiers would use even one of the 10 flights to one of the eastern cities? Now give some NYC skiers 10 flights to Reno, SLC, Geneva or Zurich and I'll bet you have a lively debate with most skiers trying all four.