SKI Magazine's Top North American Resorts: Eight Colo. Resorts Make Top 20

SKI Magazine has released its annual ranking of North America's best ski resorts this week. For the fourth year in a row, Deer Valley Resort in Park CIty, Utah claimed the number one spot.

Despite losing out on the number one spot, Colorado was strongly represented in the top 20. Vail, which has claimed SKI magazine's top spot more than any other resort in the 23-year history of the survey, was rated the second-best for 2011 after slipping to number three in 2010. Beaver Creek, Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Breckenridge, Aspen Highlands, Telluride and Steamboat rounded out the Colorado representation in the top 20.

The rankings were based on a comprehensive survey of over 20,000 SKI Magazine readers.

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Vail, # 2

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Comments

[fleaba]

11:15 PM on 10/12/2010

Back in the day...my dad and his buddies used to ski Loveland pass, aka. The Mine Dump. They named many runs after each other and their wives. Bud's Bowl, Roy's Run, Doggie's Meadow.The Bald Hill..La Femme Fatal (the ladies run)...The powder was always waist deep. They all shared rides and food...Very European type skiing. The often hitchhiked to the top.
One Saturday my dad was hitching and a black limo picked him up. There was only a driver and one woman in the car. She asked my dad why he didn't ski Vail where they had lifts and gondolas a. My dad replied, "Well, ma'am, with all due respect, even Vail doesn't have chauffeur driven gondolas.." .

[timPac]

07:14 PM on 10/08/2010

wow, what a waste of time..this means nothing...wait, i'm wasting my time!

[acsdenver]

12:58 PM on 10/08/2010

ABASIN FTW!

[cboss]

11:39 AM on 10/08/2010

SKI magazine's demographic has a different concept on what quantifies "Best", and therefore this list is always disappointing for me.

For Doctor's offices and Airport lounges, "Best" means apres shopping, condo resale value, and the average pricetag for vehicles at the coffee shop.

For the skier's skier, "Best" means something different altogether. For me "Best" is snow quality, steepness, adventure, and terrain. Beaver Creek would never get on that list, while Silverton, Alta, Jackson, Crested Butte, and Whistler do.

Why do I even bother wondering what SKI has to say? PowderMag is much better.

[Elk Hunter 1]

09:01 AM on 10/09/2010

My thoughts exactly. There are many things that these people do not take into concideration.

I would be more impressed with a list of the best ski resorts for your money. I have been going to deer valley at least once every year for a very long time. It is not a challenging resort, it is overprices, and it is the only place I have been told to slow down while away from the lodges and other people. That resort is a joke.

[OutAtFirst]

05:56 PM on 10/09/2010

But they give you Kleenex in the lift line and carry your skis out to the car at Deer Valley.

[ClassicalGas]

10:03 PM on 10/07/2010

Where's Winter Park? Doesn't anyone like the Jane?

[SkiingGator]

01:29 AM on 10/09/2010

not particularly. the cirque is the only challenging terrain and it's a bit of a hike with a horrible ski out at the bottom

[fleaba]

11:31 PM on 10/12/2010

Outhouse? Railbender? As for the ski out...you aren't going fast enough.

[eilish]

09:49 PM on 10/07/2010

I practically grew up at Aspen Highlands, I was thrilled to see it included. Started skiing there in the 1970's. It was close to home (Glenwood Spgs), reasonably priced and lots of variety. Don't know so much about today, since I live in AZ and rarely get there these days.

And - skiing in AZ sucks rocks.

[UtahScott]

08:21 PM on 10/07/2010

I don't know which Colorado ski resorts were rated in the top 20, but I do know that Deer Valley Utah was rated number 1............again.

[joncardella]

05:43 PM on 10/07/2010

It's no surprise that Deer Valley in Park City took #1 again. The snow is groomed into perfect little corduroy rows that seem to go on forever. Even if it hasn't snowed in weeks, which is highly unusual for this part of the Wasatch in the winter, the skiing is unbelievable at Deer Valley. It's probably because they limit ticket sales, groom incessantly, and have amazing lifts and on-mountain facilities. The food is amazing, to say the least, and I use http://www.localtourist.com to book reservations ahead of time. Happy skiing!

[wurzelsepp]

07:18 PM on 10/07/2010

I think Deer valley sucks especially compared to alta, brighton or snowbird.
I don't really care if they carry my skis or if everything is groomed. I like challenging terrain with lots of powder. Deer Valley is probably unbeatable as a tourist destination for the super wealthy average to poor skier.

[DBtv]

02:29 PM on 10/07/2010

As a snowboarder, I love Snowboardtown Breckenridge the best. That is where I learned to ride, and that is where I broke my arm doing what I love. But you can't beat Beaver Creek, Keystone, the back bowls of Vail and Arapahoe Basin for killer riding. Please, Ulr, send early and abundant powder this season.

[SkiingGator]

01:26 AM on 10/09/2010

I second that motion - lots of powder for all

[Boobuzuela]

01:46 PM on 10/07/2010

I used to write for SKI. When I pointed out that a cover shot, ostensibly taken at Purgatory/Durango Mountain Resort was actually taken somewhere else....

Well, I don't write for SKI magazine anymore.

[lizr]

09:30 PM on 10/07/2010

LOL