Ski Vacations

That was the question answered recently by the experts at money.co.ua, an online comparison service with a singular focus on consumer savings. Recognizing that most people who travel for ski vacations do research ahead of time, particularly those with families, it makes sense to look at these search results. That’s exactly what Money analysts did when they sifted through Google search data to find which ski areas people were most popular. Using the term “ski[resort]” to review more than 1,130 resorts here’s what they found.

Progress Continues

After 23 seasons, Alta finally decided to upgrade its Sunnyside lift in an attempt to reduce lift lines in the Albion base area and improve access to the Sugarloaf and Supreme lifts. This summer they have been working to install the replacement, a new high-speed six-pack lift made by Leitner Poma.

The Skiing Experience

The ski industry changes every year. New technology. New designs. New gear. You name it. And the ski resorts are changing, too. You see improvements to guest services, amenities, and online conveniences being made all across the country. But what rarely seems to change is the skiing experience itself.

Related: The 9 Best Independently Owned U.S. ‘Mom-and-Pop’ Ski Resorts, According to SnowBrains Readers

As tough as it is to define a list of ‘up-and-coming’ ski areas, we chose to identify those that are showing signs of advancement and ambitious development of the true skiing experience. While no list is perfect, and this one undoubtedly misses a few, we are excited to share a very nice collection of candidates. We hope you enjoy reading.

Simple Beginnings

From its simple beginnings in 1956 with only two Poma lifts to today’s presentation with more than 78 trails and seven lifts including a resort village, things have changed quite a bit at Smugglers’ Notch. What hasn’t changed though is perhaps its focus.

The Million-Dollar Question

A safe answer would be to say ‘it depends’ but that’s no fun and more importantly it doesn’t help us make a better decision. We still have questions like:

Which pass gets you access to the most resorts?

What is the cheapest way to access the biggest and most popular resorts?

Which pass is the best to use for the holidays?

Which is the best option for those who don’t ski or ride on the holidays, but enjoy the rest of the season?

We recently reached out to our loyal readers to ask the question, “What are your favorite independently owned mom-and-pop ski areas?” Here’s a list of the top responses. Thank you, and we hope you enjoy reading.