Region Category

Top Beginner Friendly Ski Areas in North east

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

Titus Mountain, NY

Titus is a great confidence builder! They keep safety first and have incredible snow conditions.

Image courtesy of Titus Mountain

Magic Mountain, VT

Best kept secret in VT. This mountain has a great old school vibe and a great mountain community.

Image courtesy of Magic Mountain

Bretton Woods, NH

Amazing variety of terrain and phenomenal views of Mt. Washington.

Image courtesy of Bretton Woods

Belleayre, NY

Beginner area is separated from the main mountain so beginners can have a safe, non-intimidating environment to learn.

Image courtesy of Belleayre

Bousquet, MA

Image courtesy of Bousquet

King Pine, NH

Gentle terrain and quality snow. Instructors are well trained and make learning a new sport enjoyable.

Image courtesy of King Pine

Bolton Valley, VT

Awesome family resort.

Image courtesy of Bolton Valley

Ragged Mountain, NH

The Bebe Woods ski program allows you to learn for FREE!

Image courtesy of Ragged Mountain

Pats Peak, NH

Image courtesy of Pats Peak

#10

Wachusett, MA

Image courtesy of Wachusett

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