Ski Area Count 2019

I update at the end of season, but below is a manual edit of that with what I recall from this year. I'm sure I have the areas right, day counts in the 3rd column might be off in a few cases.

Nevada
1 Ski Las Vegas 1
114 Mt. Rose 3

Arizona
90 Arizona Snowbowl 2

Southern California
2 Mt. Baldy 72
3 Kratka Ridge (lost) 4
4 Mt. Waterman 15
5 Mountain High 29
7 Snow Valley 5.5
9 Snow Summit 46.5
10 Bear Mt. 18
11 Ski Sunrise 2
17 San Gorgonio* 5


Northern/Central California
6 Northstar 5
8 Mammoth 387
12 Heavenly Valley 20
13 June Mt. 7
18 Sugar Bowl 2
19 Squaw Valley 21
20 Kirkwood 15
21 Alpine Meadows 10
29 Mt. Reba Bear Valley 1
59 Sierra at Tahoe 2
104 Tioga Pass* 1
157 Mt. Shasta* 2
191 Diamond Peak 1

Colorado
14 Aspen Highlands 8
15 Snowmass 9
16 Aspen Mt. (Ajax) 8
34 Beaver Creek 5.5
35 Vail 16.5
36 Copper Mt. 5
41 Arapahoe Basin 9.5
42 Winter Park 4
43 Keystone 4
47 Steamboat 3
53 Crested Butte 9
54 Telluride 10
55 Purgatory 2
62 Loveland Pass* 1
63 Breckenridge 4.5
91 Wolf Creek 2
92 Monarch 1
112 Silverton 1
156 Loveland 2
184 Powderhorn 1
185 Sunlight 1
186 Buttermilk 1

Utah
22 Park City 7.5
23 Snowbird 120.5
24 Alta 56.5
38 Deer Valley 7
39 Brian Head 2
40 Brighton 4.5
45 Solitude 5.5
46 Utah Powderbirds 1
50 Powder Mt. 4
68 Snow Basin 11
79 The Canyons 2.5
137 Sundance 1
183 Eagle Point 1

Oregon
32 Mt. Bachelor 26
49 Timberline 1
56 Mt. Hood Meadows 2
86 Mt. Bailey Snowcat 1

Washington
33 White Pass 1
57 Crystal Mt. 5
134 Mt. Baker 1
170 Mt. Rainier Sunrise* 1
238 Stevens Pass 1

Alaska
126 Chugach Powder Snowcat 2
127 Alyeska 8
128 Chugach Powder Heli 3
169 Points North Heliski 4

Idaho
30 Sun Valley 9
84 Schweitzer 4
145 Pomerelle 1
146 Brundage 2
147 Bogus Basin 1
166 Silver Mt. 1
190 Lookout Pass 1

New Mexico
31 Taos 8
58 Ski Apache 1
124 Santa Fe 2
125 Sandia Peak 1
239 Pajarito 1

Wyoming
37 Jackson Hole 16
60 Targhee Snowcat 1
61 Grand Targhee 5
118 Snow King 1
181 Beartooth Basin 2

Montana
87 Montana Backcountry Adventures (lost) 1
88 Big Sky 5.5
89 Yellowstone Club 1
96 Whitefish 4
116 Bridger Bowl 2
117 Moonlight Basin 2.5
167 Montana Snowbowl 1
182 Logan Pass* 1
192 Lost Trail 1
193 Discovery 1

Minnesota
142 Lutsen 1

Maine
225 Sunday River 1

New Hampshire
48 Tuckerman's Ravine* 1

Vermont
44 Killington 4
97 Stowe 1
98 Mad River Glen 1
99 Jay Peak 1
224 Stratton 2
226 Sugarbush 1

Quebec
100 Stoneham 1
101 Mt. Ste. Anne 1
102 Le Massif 1
103 Mont Grands-Fonds 1

British Columbia
51 Blackcomb 15
52 Whistler 14
64 Island Lake Snowcat 11
65 Fernie Alpine Resort 11
66 Whitewater 4
67 Red Mt. 10
73 TLH Heliski 3
74 Selkirk-Tangiers Heli 1
75 Apex Alpine 4
76 Big White 5
77 Silver Star 2
78 CAT Powder Skiing (lost) 2
81 RK Heliski 1
85 Retallack Snowcat 2
93 CMH Kootenay Heli 2
94 Kicking Horse 12
105 Panorama 2
113 Great Northern Snowcat 3
119 Mike Wiegele Heli 8
120 Sun Peaks 2
122 Chatter Creek Snowcat 16
140 Revelstoke 10
141 Eagle Pass Heli 1
143 Mustang Powder Snowcat 28
144 Kimberley 1
165 Baldface Snowcat 4
168 White Grizzly Snowcat 4
179 Purcell Heliski 1
180 Wild Horse Snowcat 1
211 Valhalla Powdercats 1
212 Mt. Baldy B.C. 1

Alberta
80 Castle Mt. 13
82 Lake Louise 8
83 Sunshine Village 6
95 Mt. Norquay 1
123 Marmot Basin 1
135 Nakiska 1
136 Canada Olympic Park 1

Austria
171 Lech/Zurs 5
172 St. Anton 4
173 Stuben 2
202 Warth-Schrocken 1
203 Ski-Welt Wilder Kaiser 1.5
204 Kitzbuhel/Kirchberg 0.5
205 Pass Thurn 0.5
206 Westendorf 0.5
207 Saalbach-Hinterglemm 2
208 Fieberbrunn 1
209 Ischgl 2.5

France
108 Le Tour 1
109 Grands Montets 2
110 Vallee Blanche 2
113 Brevant/Flegere 1
138 La Grave 4
139 Serre Chevalier 1
221 La Clusaz 1
222 Val d'Isere 4.5
223 Tignes 3.5
235 Morzine/Les Gets 1
236 Avoriaz 1
237 Chatel 1

Switzerland
112 Verbier 1
174 Klosters Madrisa 0.5
175 Davos/Klosters Parsenn 2.5
176 Davos Jakobshorn 1
177 Flims/Laax 2
178 Andermatt - Gemsstock 3
187 Zermatt 3.5
188 Klein Matterhorn 2
210 Samnaun 0.5
227 Arosa 0.5
228 Lenzerheide 0.5
229 St. Moritz - Corvatsch 1
230 St. Moritz - Corviglia 1
231 Diavolezza/Lagalb 1
232 Engelberg - Titlis 2.5
233 Brunni 0.5
234 Andermatt - Sedrun 1

Italy
111 Courmayeur 1
189 Cervinia 2.5
213 Pila 1
214 Alpi di Suisi/Seceda 1
215 Arabba/Marmolada 1.5
216 Civetta/Falzarego 0.5
217 Val Gardena 0.5
218 Alta Badia 0.5
219 Alagna/Gressoney 1.5
220 Champuloc/Gressoney 0.5


Iceland
194 Hlidarfjall 1
195 Arctic Heliskiing 4

Japan - Honshu
151 Goryu/Hakuba47 1
152 Happo One 2

Japan - Hokkaido
153 Niseko 11
154 Rusutsu 2
155 Chisenupuri (lost) 1
196 Furano 1
197 Tomamu 1
198 Moiwa 1
199 Kiroro 1
200 Sapporo Kokusai 1
201 Sapporo Teine 1

Australia
69 Thredbo 1

New Zealand
25 Mt. Hutt 2
26 Tasman Glacier 1
27 Coronet Peak 3
28 Whakapapa 1
70 Treble Cone 3
71 Cardrona 1
72 Harris Mt. Heli 2
121 Remarkables 1
148 Mt. Olympus 1
149 Porters 1
150 Broken River 1

Chile
129 Portillo 2
130 Arpa Snowcat 2
131 Valle Nevado 2
132 La Parva 0.5
133 El Colorado 0.5

Argentina
115 Las Lenas 19
158 Martial Glacier * 1

Antarctica
159 Wiencke Island * 1
160 Paradise Bay* 1
161 Brabant Island* 1
162 Charlotte Bay* 1
163 King George Island* 1
164 Livingston Island* 1

* = backcountry
 
Here's my lift-served list. I officially began downhill skiing when I was 36 so I started at a disadvantage. :eusa-shifty:

NY
1. Belleayre
2. Hunter
3. Plattekill
4. Greek Peak
5. Mount Peter
6. Song Mountain
7. Skaneateles Ski Club
8. Hickory *
9. Whiteface
10. Windham
11. Bobcat *
12. Gore
13. East Hill

NJ
14. Mountain Creek
15. Campgaw

PA
16. Shawnee
17. Camelback
18. Alpine*
19. Elk
20. Montage

QC
21. Mont Blanc
22. La Réserve
23. Tremblant
24. Morin Heights
25. Mont Saint Sauveur/Avila
26. Bromont
27. Sutton
28. Mont Orford
29. Massif du Sud
30. Mont Sainte-Anne
31. Mont Grand-Fonds
32. Stoneham
33. Le Massif
34. Owl’s Head
35. Mont Glen *
36. Mont Shefford *
37. Mont Édouard
38. Mont Garceau

VT
39. Ascutney *
40. Jay Peak
41. Smugglers Notch
42. Magic Mountain
43. Okemo
44. Pico
45. Sugarbush
46. Stowe
47. Mad River Glen
48. Burke
49. Bolton Valley

NH
50. Bretton Woods
51. Cannon/Mittersill
52. Wildcat
53. Attitash

AB
54. Sunshine Valley
55. Lake Louise
56. Norquay

NM
57. Angel Fire
58. Taos
59. Santa Fe
60. Pajarito
61. Sandia Peak
62. Sipapu
63. Red River

WY
64. Jackson Hole
65. Snow King

UT
66. Solitude
67. Alta
68. Brighton
69. Snowbird
70. Sundance
71. Deer Valley
72. The Canyons
73. Snowbasin
74. Brian Head

CO
75. Sunlight
76. Loveland
77. Monarch
78. Crested Butte
79. Arapahoe Basin
80. Keystone
81. Vail
82. Copper Mountain
83. Eldora
84. Cooper
85. Winter Park
86. Powderhorn

WA
87. Mount Spokane
88. 49 Degrees North

ID
89. Grand Targhee
90. Lookout Pass
91. Schweitzer
92. Silver Mountain

AT
93. Alpbach
94. Westendorf
95. Wilder Kaiser Skiwelt
96. Auffach
97. Ischgl
98. See
99. Kappl
100. Galtür
101. Lech
102. Diedamskopf
103. Warth-Schröcken
104. Damüls-Mellau
105. Golm
106. Montafon Silvretta
107. Gargellen
108. Brandnertal
109. Zürs
110. Werfenweng
111. Tauplitz
112. Wurzeralm
113. Hinterstoder
114. Planneralm
115. Riesneralm
116. Hochkönig
117. Zwölferhorn
118. St. Anton/Rendl
119. Kitzbühel
120. Saalbach-Hinterglemm
121. Bezau
122. Hochhäderich
123. Walmendingerhorn
124. Ifen
125. Kanzelwand

DE
126. Söllereck
127. Fellhorn
128. Grasgehren

CH
129. Bivio
130. Arosa
131. Lenzerheide
132. Pizol
133. Ebenalp
134. Tschiertschen
135. Hasliberg
136. Axalp
137. Grindelwald
138. Wengen
139. Portes du Soleil (Morgins, Champoussin, Les Crosets, Champery)
140. Davos/Madrisa
141. Hochstuckli
142. Klewenalp
143. Rigi
144. Mythen
145. Stoos
146. Hoch-Ybrig
147. Savognin
148. St. Moritz/Corvatsch
149. St. Moritz/Corviglia
150. St. Moritz/Diavolezza-Lagalb
151. Gspon
152. Flumserberg
153. Heuberge
154. Obersaxen/Mundaun
155. Brigels
156. Grimentz
157. Zinal
158. Samnaun
159. Rothwald
160. Aletsch Arena
161. Grächen
162. Unterbäch
163. Bürchen
164. Visperterminen
165. Bellwald
166. Schilthorn/Mürren
167. St. Luc/Chandolin
168. Atzmännig
169. Vercorin
170. Anzère
171. Evolène
172. Arolla
172. Nax

IT
173. Bardonnechia

FR
174. Espace Lumière/Val d'Allos
175. Châtel
176. Grand Bornand
177. La Clusaz/La Balme
178. Megève
179. Espace Diamant
180. Thollon les Mémises
181. Portes du Soleil (Avoriaz, Chatel, Morzine, Les Gets)
182. Mont Chéry
183. Isola
184. Auron
185. Roubion
186. Valberg
187. Seignus
188. Serre Chevalier
189. Puy Saint Vincent
190. Vars
191. Ceillac
192. Arvieux
193. St. Véran
194. Les Contamines
195. Bonneval sur Arc
196. Val Cenis
197. Les Trois Vallées
 
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An impressive list, with some strange omissions in a list that comprehensive: Maine, Italy, British Columbia.

I've noted before that key ski regions of Italy are bilingual: French in Aosta, German in the Dolomites.

BC has quite a few of the off-the-beaten-path areas that James values. And they tend to be bigger than the ones in the US, though not as big as in the Alps.

I realize Maine is a haul from NYC metro. Liz had been to Sunday River once before last December, and never to Sugarloaf. Nonetheless I get the strong impression that Sugarloaf often has the best spring skiing in the Northeast.
 
Tony Crocker":2y3tsg0x said:
An impressive list, with some strange omissions in a list that comprehensive: Maine, Italy, British Columbia
There are many ski areas in Maine and British Columbia that are of interest; however, from where I live (15 minutes from EWR), traveling to the Alps is less onerous and a better fit for me culturally.
 
Those lists are truly impressive. There is real effort required to accomplish visits to so many areas.

I myself live in a subtropical area of Australia that happens to be about 1000 miles from the nearest ski area. That represents a 2 hour flight to Canberra and a two and a half hour drive to Perisher/Thredbo. Alternatively I can take a 3 and a half hour flight to Queenstown in NZ to ski similar terrain and similar (very modest) snow conditions.

Aside from less than 10 days skiing (total) in my early twenties I 'rediscovered' skiing at 37 years of age on a holiday to NZ. I had a 2 year old and 4 year old and wife with me. Those additions have made the skiing I've done in the following 10 years both expensive and logistically challenging. But we love it anyway.

You will see an obvious bias toward Mountain Collective hills and against Vail hills in the modest list below. Another observation is it is easy to ski a number of 'resorts' in Europe because they are often interlinked.

AUSTRALIA
Thredbo
Perisher (before Vail ownership)
Charlottes Pass

NZ
Coronet Peak
Remarkables
Mt Hutt

USA
Northstar California (Our first 'big mountain' ski experience. We quickly worked out skiing in Oz and NZ was second rate by comparison)
Mammoth
Alta
Snowbird
Brighton
Sun Valley
Jackson Hole
Grand Targee
Snowbasin
Aspen
Aspen Highlands
Snowmass
Buttermilk
June
Squaw Valley
Alpine Meadows

CANADA
Sunshine Village
Lake Louise
Sun Peaks
Whistler/Blackcomb (a couple of times prior to Vail ownership)

AUSTRIA
Mayrhofen
Tux
Gerlos
Zell am Ziller
Hochzillertal
Hochfugen

ITALY
Pila
Cervinia
La Thuile
Cortina D'Ampezzo
Arabba
Alta Badia
Val Gardena
Val di Fassa

FRANCE
La Rosiere

The obvious omission for someone that lives where I do is Japan. I plan on addressing that in about 8 months time.
 
The following comment is only of interest to those nutcases who keep count of their visits --

A few weeks back on Alpinforum, there was a discussion of what constitutes a ski area given how there are so many gigantic interconnected circuits in the Alps composed of what were at one point separate lift-served mountains. For example, should the Portes du Soleil be considered one ski area or should you list all the separate components that in the past were self-contained (Les Gets, Morzine, Avoriaz, etc.).

One solution offered that makes sense to me is: there has to be lift access in both directions; thus, the Portes du Soleil should be one area (I've divided mine out into the French and Swiss sectors); however, Mont Chery is separate. Westendorf was separate when I visited in the early 00s; however, it is now connected to the Skiwelt in both directions. OTOH, Arosa and Lenzerheide should be considered separate ski areas connected by a tram. Same deal with Whistler and Blackcomb. Likewise for Diavolezza and Lagalb even though they're physically very close together (connected by a moving carpet in one direction). Tony, where does Fieberbrunn stand compared to Saalbach-Hinterglemm? Haven't been there since they've been connected.

That's going to be my criteria moving forward unless I can be talked out of it.
 
[Updated May 2023] I'm only at ~115 different places (not all resorts). I have few enough visits to the ski circus' on the other side of the pond that I'm keeping Whistler Blackomb as one resort :). Also because it was connected and I used the peak to pek for example skiing it like one resort.

Can we have a contest to having skied the most now-defunct ski areas too? Not sure if 100% accurate but I think my count is 9 for no-longer operating ski areas...

In sort-of geographic region order, I've hit the following States, Provinces and France:

NY (28)
Addison Pinnacle*
Greek Peak
Scotch Valley/Deer Run*
Holimont
Holiday Valley
Kissing Bridge
Swain
Bristol
Brantling
Hunt Hollow
Song
Toggenburg
Mystic Mtn*
Labrador
McCauley Mtn
Snow Ridge
Willard
HighMount*
Bellaeyre
Hunter
Windham
Holiday Mtn
West Mtn
Gore
Whiteface
Big Tupper*
Cazenovia
Oak Hill (backcountry)

PA (8)
Tussey
Eagle Rock
Elk Mtn
Blue Marsh*
Seven Springs
Hidden Valley
Montage
Blue Mountain

VT (6)
Mt Snow
Stratton
Killington
Mad River Glen
Stowe
Smugglers Notch

NH (1)
Waterville Valley

MD (1)
Wisp

VA (1)
Bryce

GA (1)
Sky Valley*

TN (1)
Ober Gatlinburg

NJ (1)
Vernon Valley/Great Gorge (Mountain Creek)

CO (24)
Eldora
Breckenridge
A-Basin
Loveland
Steamboat
Winter Park
Vail
Beaver Creek
Sunlight
Snowmass
Buttermilk
Aspen
Aspen Highlands
Monarch
Crested Butte
Silverton
Wolf Creek
Copper
Ski Cooper
Howelson Hill
Berthod Pass (resort)*
Loveland Pass (car)
Steamboat Powder Cats
Polar Star Hut

NM (2)
Taos
Angel Fire

WY (3)
Snowy Range
Grand Targhee
Jackson Hole

MT (2)
Bridger Bowl
Big Sky

UT (11)
Alta
Snowbird
Sundance
Snowbasin
Park City
Canyons
Solitude
Brighton
Deer Valley
Eagle Point
Powder Mtn

WA (1)
Crystal Mtn

OR (1)
Mt Bachelor

CA (9)
Iron Mtn*
Heavenly
Homewood
Kirkwood
Squaw Valley
Alpine Meadows
Northstar
Mt Rose
Mammoth

AB (5)
Marmot Basin
Lake Louise
Sunshine
Norquay
Castle Mtn

BC (3)
Cypress
Whistler
Fernie
Revelestoke
Mustang Powder (Cat)

France (4)
Brevent-Flegere
Grand Montets
Alpe D'Huez
LaGrave


* are resorts that are no longer operating
 
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EMSC":6j03x15v said:
Can we have a contest to having skied the most now-defunct ski areas too? Not sure if 100% accurate but I think my count is 9 for no-longer operating ski areas
You beat me in this category. I have six lost ski areas: Bobcat and Hickory (NY), Alpine (PA), Mont Glen and Mont Shefford (QC), and Ascutney (VT).
 
And I thought the spray on the rock climbing forums was sometimes overwhelming........ :?
 
EMSC":h85w5lj0 said:
Scotch Valley/Deer Run
That place closed a couple years before I started downhill skiing. There was allegedly a bowling alley in the main lodge. Amazing how many people in these parts mention "I grew up skiing there."
 
jamesdeluxe":2wee1dxj said:
There was allegedly a bowling alley in the main lodge.

Yes. Yes there was.

But then you should go to Seven Springs, PA - bowling, indoor putt-putt golf, etc... in that rambling and huge series of base buildings.

No overlap at all with my defunct list:
Addison Pinnacle (NY) - this is where I learned to ski up til about age ~7 or 8
Scotch Valley/Deer Run (NY) - skied here under both names
Mystic Mtn (NY) - went to races here in CNY
HighMount (NY) - the defunct but possibly someday resurrected area next to Bellaeyre
Big Tupper (NY) - they keep trying to do something, but hasn't actually operated in years last I knew
Blue Marsh (PA) - tiny bump about 300 verts in SE prt of the state
Sky Valley (GA) - it was Georgia's only ski area. As with much of the SE US, terrain was not the problem; weather was.
Berthod Pass (CO) - got a few days in here before it closed down and they removed the lifts
Iron Mtn (CA) - interesting 'upside down' area west of Kirkwood.
 
sbooker":3jdtzhvc said:
Northstar California (Our first 'big mountain' ski experience. We quickly worked out skiing in Oz and NZ was second rate by comparison)
Presumably sbooker is less impressed by Northstar now that he has been around both North America and the Alps some more. I'll take Treble Cone or Mt. Hutt in full operation over Northstar any day. Unfortunately Mt. Hutt's advanced/expert terrain was off limits both of my days there.

sbooker covered a lot of ground on that Alps trip this season, as much as any of ours. We never heard any details though. I see a lot of time in the Dolomites (Cortina plus Sella Ronda), which were very lean on natural snow this season. Did the vaunted snowmaking live up to its billing? Were all pistes open? Was there a lot of frozen granular from skier traffic on nearly all manmade snow? At least the Aosta and Austrian areas had plenty of natural snow on that trip.

Did EMSC live in the Southeast sometime to get those obscure places?

My lost area list consists of just Kratka Ridge in the traditional sense of a no longer exiting ski area in any form. Montana Backcountry Adventures and CAT Powder skiing are defunct snowcat operations whose terrain was taken over by lift service, Moonlight Basin and Revelstoke respectively. Chisenupuri is the opposite, lift served when I skied there in 2011; the lift is now shut down but the terrain is used for cat skiing.
 
sbookers list is actually pretty impressive for someone living in Aussie land. Those are long flights to the northern hemisphere.

Tony Crocker":1hh6as6y said:
Did EMSC live in the Southeast sometime to get those obscure places?

I worked in Hotlanta for a bit over 2 years (for the organizing committee of the Altanta Olympics)... Though I'd describe it more as Humidlanta. During that time I hit a few short trips (eg Sky Valley was only 1 day to say I did it, since it was like 2 runs and one double chair of ~300 verts). Mostly I went to the airport and hit Colo and Calif a couple times, plus one trip back 'home' to upstate NY.
 
jamesdeluxe":1r8sp4u6 said:
Here's my lift-served list, which only covers two continents compared to your six and only 18 years of alpine skiing compared to your 30+.
That would be 40+ years. After 18 years I had only 63 areas, so I would say the odds are high James will pass me by eventually.

No backcountry skiing for James? Whiteface Toll Road? Tuckerman's? I'm fairly sure he has no cat or heli days. Backcountry skiing in the Alps is typically lift assisted (so included in the lift served), and I know James has done that. I suspect he will eventually schmooze a heli drop somewhere in the Alps.

Arnie Wilson's area count was 746 when we met him in Iceland in 2015.
 
Tony Crocker":3ij7skuh said:
sbooker":3ij7skuh said:
Northstar California (Our first 'big mountain' ski experience. We quickly worked out skiing in Oz and NZ was second rate by comparison)
Presumably sbooker is less impressed by Northstar now that he has been around both North America and the Alps some more. I'll take Treble Cone or Mt. Hutt in full operation over Northstar any day. Unfortunately Mt. Hutt's advanced/expert terrain was off limits both of my days there.

sbooker covered a lot of ground on that Alps trip this season, as much as any of ours. We never heard any details though. I see a lot of time in the Dolomites (Cortina plus Sella Ronda), which were very lean on natural snow this season. Did the vaunted snowmaking live up to its billing? Were all pistes open? Was there a lot of frozen granular from skier traffic on nearly all manmade snow? At least the Aosta and Austrian areas had plenty of natural snow on that trip.

Did EMSC live in the Southeast sometime to get those obscure places?

My lost area list consists of just Kratka Ridge in the traditional sense of a no longer exiting ski area in any form. Montana Backcountry Adventures and CAT Powder skiing are defunct snowcat operations whose terrain was taken over by lift service, Moonlight Basin and Revelstoke respectively. Chisenupuri is the opposite, lift served when I skied there in 2011; the lift is now shut down but the terrain is used for cat skiing.

Rambling post incoming.

We have never skied NZ in great conditions and if we did in the early days we weren’t up to taking advantage of the advanced terrain.
Northstar was an eye opener for us. Those long blue runs lined with conifers on lovely snow was what we then thought was as good as it gets. Of course my kids were just 4 and 6 and myself and my wife were even more intermediate than we are now so anything more would have been lost on us.
The year later we went to Mammoth in late March. It started snowing late on the afternoon we pulled into the Alpenhof and didn’t stop snowing until the next night. It was the first time we saw a big dump of snow but we didn’t do it justice. That was the trip that got us hooked though. We were impressed by how steep some of the runs were and we loved you could be at one end of the mountain without being able to see the other.
Because of the distance we are from the snow and my reluctance to take lessons for fear of ‘missing out’ on ski time while being ‘stuck’ in lessons we spent plenty of time on groomers for the next couple of years. Even so we went to some great areas and we now realise Northstar is second rate itself in comparison to some of our favourites. We have great memories but some are particularly special. Spending a few days going up and down the Symphony and Harmony areas of Whistler (where the kids first took to skiing off the groomers), Mineral Basin at Snowbird, a snowy day at a virtually deserted Sacajawea side of Grand Targhee and a day at Sun Valley in early 2017 where we lapped a lift on the Warm Springs side for hours in uncontested powder will remain etched in our memories.

Europe was great. We got lucky with snow in the Zillertal on the day we got there. After that first day skiing powder we woke for the second day skiing. My daughters reaction (“Dad they flattened all the soft snow”) probably sums up why we think North American skiing is more suited to us. We like to ski as a family and my wife prefers groomers so hiring a guide and avi gear is wasted. It’s much easier for us to be able to jump on a lift where there is safe ungroomed terrain with a groomer close by. That said the scenery and vastness of the ski areas more than impressed us.
We only skied at Cortina because we had to take a taxi to Passo Falzarego to ski the Hidden Valley run (Emily was dying to do the horse tow thing). Just across the road from the cable car was the lift to the Cinque Torri area so we spent some time there. The Dolomites ‘snow’ was amazing and piste skiing was superb. Well over 95% of the runs were open and we encountered no ice at all - it was like skiing on packed powder. I think we were lucky to have consistently cold remperatures for the few days we were there. The mind blowing scenery, super efficient lift system (I’d prefer less gondolas though) and wonderful cheap on mountain food were all fantastic but the skiing was a bit ‘samey’. We skied the Marmolada glacier and both the Gran Rosa and Sasslong World Cup runs.

When we were based in Aosta the highlight was skiing from Italy into France. (I’ve noted you’ve not skied La Thuile and La Rosiere. :stir: ). La Rosiere is south facing so we spent a few hours skiing soft bump runs because of the steady diet of groomers we had at Pila and Cervinia. Cervinia was the only place we experienced lift lines of any significance and I suspect that was due to lift closures up high. We didn’t get to go over the top to Zermatt so only spied the Matterhorn from the ‘wrong’ side. Even so the scenery of Mont Blanc and the other huge mountains in that region made up for it.

This year will be a few days in Thredbo before we ski Japan early next winter. Even if we experience the famous Japanese powder I think my wife’s love of groomers will make Canada and the US our ‘go to’ areas. Others on here might think Japan will have something to offer all of us?
In February we’ll fly into SLC for our first trip without the kids. We intend to do our first lessons in the hope that Kylie will gain enough confidence to really embrace skiing off the groomers. We will be taking friends. Two couples - one of which are early intermediates who have only skied Oz and the other who are both never evers. As a result we may be a little limited as to what we can do. I hope the likes of Alta, Snowbird, Big Sky and Aspen blow them away. We hope to be at Snowbird by ourselves at the end of the trip so you can push both of us out of our comfort zone.

I’ll try to post some Euro pics.
 
Europe January 2019.
 

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Frenchmen, lifts enthusiasm and monoskier RodoAF is above 500 ski areas visited.

Finnish skier Planet_skier is somewhere in the 300-400 range I believe.

As for myself, I'm at about 150.
 
Sbooker":3inofcgn said:
My daughters reaction (“Dad they flattened all the soft snow”) probably sums up why we think North American skiing is more suited to us.
Personal preferences can't be argued but I'm not sure where to start with the implication that there's very little ungroomed offpiste in the Alps.
 
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