Region Category

Top Beginner Friendly Ski Areas in High west

These are the ski areas that respondents said are the most beginner-friendly. Participants took into consideration quality of instructors and programs, terrain and snow; crowds; size of resort; and cost of lift tickets, rentals and programs.

#1 Titus Mountain, NY
#2 Eagle Point, UT
#3 Magic Mountain, VT
#4 Snowy Range, WY
#5 Bretton Woods, NH
#6 Belleayre, NY
#7 Bousquet, MA
#8 King Pine, NH
#9 Big Sky, MT
#10 Diamond Peak, NV

Eagle Point, UT

Mild slopes, few crowds and very friendly staff.

Image courtesy of Eagle Point

Snowy Range, WY

The quality and the integrity of the instructors are beyond compare.

Image courtesy of Snowy Range

Big Sky, MT

Such diverse terrain.

Image courtesy of Big Sky

Grand Targhee, WY

500+" of snow annually & champagne powder.

Image courtesy of Grand Targhee

Snowbasin, UT

The perfect mix of just about everything you could want.

Image courtesy of Snowbasin

Brighton, UT

The terrain is conducive to learning and the staff of instructors is very patient and skilled.

Sundance Resort, UT

It has a lot of beginner areas, a great atmosphere for new people, and is very economic.

Deer Valley, UT

Excellent grooming on top of great snow. The world's best grooming team.

Image courtesy of Deer Valley UT

Brian Head, UT

#10

Ski Cooper, CO

Wide runs and great prices for someone just starting.

Image courtesy of Ski Cooper

Discover the resorts that skiers and riders are most passionate about in North America.

Frequently Asked Questions

Discover the resorts that skiers and riders are most passionate about in North America.

How is the 2018-19 Best in Snow Awards, Powered By Liftopia different than other ski rankings? Customers told us they want a ranking system that is new and different and doesn‘t simply reward the same, large resorts. Because Liftopia has an unparalleled dataset of resorts and ski information, we knew we could come up with a ranking system that would be the most useful for skiers and riders, new and old.

Who participated in the survey? We collected thousands of responses from consumers of every skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced, expert). Participants said they normally ski or snowboard anywhere from 1 to 15+ days every season.

Why these categories? These are the categories our customers said were most important to them, and would be most helpful in their search for new ski and snowboard experiences.

I am surprised that there aren’t many big resorts in the list, why is this the case? When we look at the sheer volume of ratings, all of the great large resorts that we know and love are in the list. The resorts that made the top 10 Overall Best in Snow when weighted by our algorithm (skier and snowboarder visits annually, acreage, average true cost of skiing, and uphill capacity) were the ones that have an outsized group of passionate customers.

What is interesting about this list? At Liftopia we personally know so many ski areas, and know that each ski area has its own soul and value proposition regardless of how big it is. We were excited to see some of the resorts we love best rise in the rankings based on how much other skiers/riders love them too. The results also proved how valuable our dataset is to our customers and our ski area partners. Winners like Magic Mountain in Vermont and Mt. Bohemia in Michigan show what we already believed to be true - that customers do have amazing passion for ski areas of all sizes.

2019 WINNERS