The ski season is well underway, and resorts across the country are competing to attract winter-sport enthusiasts and après socialites who have hundreds of destinations to choose from.
To help narrow down the options, Travel by Luxe set out to rank every mountain state by ski resorts, snow quality, and the overall experience of taking alpine trips there. “People aren’t just chasing snow totals anymore. They want longer seasons, reliable lifts, and places where they can ski hard during the day and still enjoy the destination afterward,” Amy Doherty, an expert at Travel by Luxe, said in a press release. “For a lot of Americans, ski trips are annual traditions. What this study shows is that the best ski states are the ones that make those trips easier, longer, and more enjoyable.”
Unsurprisingly, Colorado claimed the top title as the best state for skiing. It beat out all the competition in three crucial categories, with a 2,575-foot average vertical drop, average of 104 trails per resort, and a 185-day ski season, the longest in the U.S. Colorado also had a strong showing in the après-ski category, trailing only behind No. 1 state California.
There’s something worthwhile for every skier in The Centennial State’s Rocky Mountains, from Telluride’s rugged trails to Aspen’s luxurious slope-side accommodations. Pair that with an abundance of sunny days and a highly respectable annual snowfall of 288 inches, and you have one of the country’s most reliable winter wonderlands.
The boutique travel company, which specializes in private tours, considered nine key factors in its analysis. Each state’s average vertical drop per ski resort, average number of trails per ski resort, and average skiable areas per resort were weighted at 15 percent. The next most significant metrics were annual snow fall and average ski lifts per resort, weighted at 13 percent. The length of the ski season was also considered and accounts for 11 percent of the overall scores. To measure “scenic beauty,” the company examined Instagram hashtags. When it came to après scenes, they considered the average number of restaurants with high customer ratings at each state’s ski resorts. The beauty, après-ski, and a Google Maps rating each counted for 6 percent of the scores. Data sources included SkiCentral, SkiResort.info, OnTheSnow, Yelp, SnowSunSee, Snowboarding Profiles, Snow-Forecast, CurrentResults, Instagram, and Google Maps.
In the runner-up spot, Colorado neighbor Utah dominated the competition with an unmatched 414 inches of snowfall a year and 2,200 average skiable acres per resort. It’s easy to see why powder-chasers flock to hotspots like Deer Valley, Powder Mountain, and Park City to make their tracks.
You may think of sunny beaches and boulevards lined with palm trees when you think of California, but The Golden State has plenty of the white stuff, too. Resorts like Mammoth Mountain, Heavenly, and Northstar benefit from the state’s yearly 328 inches of snow, and California’s solid resort infrastructure took it to the top spot for average number of lifts. Plus, the state’s social atmosphere translates to the most robust après scene in the country.
Rounding out the top 10 were Montana, Vermont, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Idaho, and New Mexico.
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