Skiing in North America

Whistler Blackcomb is North America’s largest ski resort by area, with more than 200 marked runs across two mountains joined by the Peak 2 Peak Gondola. Whistler village is pedestrianised, buses and shuttles run up the Sea to Sky Highway from Vancouver airport, and the coastal snow is heavy and deep, though rain can reach the lower runs in mild spells. It is an Epic Pass resort.

Inland, Revelstoke has the greatest lift-served vertical in North America, at about 1,700 m, and big snowfalls on the Selkirk and Monashee mountains, with cat- and heli-skiing operators in town.

Utah’s “Greatest Snow on Earth” slogan rests on the Wasatch Range above Salt Lake City. Alta and Snowbird, at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon, average around 13 m (500 inches) of snow a season; Alta is one of the few resorts that still bans snowboards. Brighton and Solitude sit in Big Cottonwood Canyon next door. Over the ridge, Park City is the largest ski area in the US, linked to Canyons, with a historic main street and the more upscale Deer Valley next door. All are within about 45 minutes of the airport, so you can land in the morning and ski the same afternoon. Canyon roads close for avalanche control after big storms, and the canyon traffic on powder mornings is notorious.

Colorado has the most resorts and the highest base areas, mostly 2,400 to 2,900 m, which means dry snow and a real risk of altitude headaches on the first day. Vail is one of the largest single mountains in North America, with the Back Bowls on its far side; Breckenridge, Keystone and Beaver Creek are nearby on the I-70 corridor, about two hours from Denver when the traffic is light, and much longer on weekend afternoons.

Aspen has four mountains on one ticket: Aspen Mountain above town, the steeps of Aspen Highlands, beginner-friendly Buttermilk and big Snowmass. Steamboat trademarked “Champagne Powder” and is known for tree skiing; Telluride links its old mining town to the slopes with a free gondola; and Crested Butte and Winter Park are less expensive alternatives. Our Skiing in the United States guide goes resort by resort.

Lake Tahoe, on the California and Nevada border, has more than a dozen resorts within an hour of Reno airport. Palisades Tahoe, the former Squaw Valley, hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics and has steep terrain; Heavenly above South Lake Tahoe has lake views and casinos at the base. Sierra snow is wetter than the Rockies, but storms can be enormous, and the sun comes out between them.

Mammoth Mountain, above Mammoth Lakes on the east side of the Sierra, sits high enough for one of the longest seasons in the country, often from November to June and occasionally into summer after a big winter. It is about five hours’ drive from Los Angeles.

Eastern skiing is shorter in vertical and harder underfoot, with extensive snowmaking to make up for thaws. Stowe on Mount Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, pairs good tree skiing with a white-steepled village. Killington, the “Beast of the East”, is the largest resort in the eastern US and usually the first to open and last to close. In New York, Whiteface near Lake Placid hosted the 1980 Olympic alpine events.

Mont-Tremblant, about 90 minutes from Montreal, has a pedestrian village at the foot of the slopes and is the most popular resort in eastern Canada. Near Quebec City, Le Massif runs down to the St Lawrence River. Expect bitter cold in January, with wind chill well below minus 20°C.

The Epic Pass (Vail Resorts) covers Vail, Park City, Whistler Blackcomb, Breckenridge, Heavenly and Stowe; the Ikon Pass (Alterra) covers Aspen Snowmass, Palisades Tahoe, Mammoth, Steamboat, Alta, Snowbird, Revelstoke, Mont-Tremblant and the Banff resorts. Both also sell cheaper limited-day versions, and both raise prices through autumn, so buy early. If you will ski five or more days, a pass usually beats day tickets.

The season runs from late November to mid-April at most western resorts, with the deepest base and best powder odds from late January to early March. Christmas to New Year, the Martin Luther King and Presidents’ Day long weekends in the US, and Family Day in Canada are the busiest and most expensive weeks. March brings sun and longer days; early December is cheapest but snow cover can be thin.

The easiest airports are Salt Lake City for Utah, Denver for Colorado (with small airports at Vail, Aspen and Steamboat), Reno for Tahoe, Vancouver for Whistler, Calgary for Banff and Kelowna for the Okanagan. Snow tyres or chains are required on many mountain roads in winter.