The 2010 Reader Resort Survey

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from hankejh on 10.16.09.

I look at Sun Valley, ID on this chart and wonder: how believable/accurate/useful could this data set possibly be? And who subscribes to Ski, anyway? Posers?

Damion Hankejh

from Norge75 on 10.20.09.

Im confused by the comment too? Do you like SV or not? Personally it is still my favorite mountain to ski; and I love the fact it is difficult to get too.

from gbuofu on 10.20.09.

The only categories that really matters are: Snow Quality, Terrain Variety, Value. But mostly snow quality. That's where the real winners shine. Alta, Snowbird, you get a lot of quality mountain for your money.

from 200Underfoot on 10.22.09.

RE: Sun Valley - If you look at some of the specific categories, SV does pretty well: Resort Service (#2 I think behind Deer Valley) and On Mountain Food, Dining, Nightlife, but then obviously gets killed in Terrain Variety, Snow, Challenge, Access, etc. Pretty accurate I'd say.

from 200Underfoot on 10.22.09.

...although I have definitely had fun skiing there.

from Emilio2000 on 10.24.09.

Here's why I don't like Sun Valley, besides the fact that it's expensive and with women in furs and high heels parading themselves around the base area with their pocket-sized dogs in hand, with obviously no intention to ski. My main gripe is: Everything at Sun Valley is misleading in some way.

1. Sun Valley is not the mountain you ski on. You ski on either Bald Mt. or Dollar Mt.

2. Sun Valley is not even the name of the town. The town is called Ketchum. Nice town, by the way.

3. Sun Valley is really just the name of a nearby resort, about a mile or two away from the slopes. So, it's not even ski-in ski-out. For ski-in ski-out convenience, you can't beat Schweitzer Mountain, Idaho. Much better and with more varied terrain than Sun Valley.

4. There are no green trails on Bald Mt. (which is the mountain most people think of when they think of Sun Valley). The map shows lots of green trails, but that is a huge exaggeration and totally misleading. None of those are suitable for beginners. They are simply too steep for beginnners. So, calling them green is misleading. The only green runs are on Dollar Mt., and you can't ski there from Bald Mt. So, if you have beginners in your group, they'll have to ski on a separate hill, and you can't even meet for lunch! The color code for trail rating is somewhat flexible, and varies a bit from one ski area to another. But, at Sun Valley they really went overboard, completely skipping a category. All green trails on the map are actually blue. All blue trails are really black. If you are an advanced skier, you might not notice that. But try looking at the mountain through a beginner's eyes, and you won't like what you see.

5. Warm Springs is the coldest, darkest part of the mountain, on the north side, in the shade of the mountain. Just another misleading name!

6. The mountain isn't all that sunny either. The valley is. But not the mountain. The mountain slopes are sunny only in the morning. By the time you've had lunch, most of the slopes will be in the shadow of the mountain, with poor visibility (flat light) even on a nice day.

7. Most of the trails are clear-cuts, bulldozed in a straight line from top to bottom. Whoever "designed" the trails had no imagination to make the trails more interesting. No meandering through the forest, no trees left standing, just a boring, wide clearcut, encouraging speed-skiing, but with little safety for slower skiers, and simply too boring (unless you are an adrenaline junkie hungry for pure speed, with no care for scenery).

8. When you get to the top of Bald Mt., you then have to take a horizontal chairlift along a windy ridge. Either that, or take a long and bumpy run on a steep, ungroomed slope full of moguls. Neither seems like a very attractive option. I understand that this situation has been improved recently, with the introduction of a new gondola.

9. There's not a lot of variety. Each trail is just another clear-cut, just another straight line, just another wide open piste encouraging speeders. If speeding down a straight line is your thing, that's fine. But, I prefer a bit more variety.

In other words, the readers who rated Sun Valley low were actually right on!

from larellstephens on 10.24.09.

Very accurate for Utah. I have skied in Utah all my life and have never been to Park City before last season. It was a waste of my time - snow was bad, runs were short or closed and the staff was rude. I tried to find a good run all day but it just got worse. My favorites for Utah are Alta of course, Brighton and Snowbird.

from crashbiggs on 10.28.09.

I like this program each year but think it needs a refresh. Maybe more transparency in the voting. Or specify certain levels in certain categories, like cost of Apres or tickets or something.

Here's the thing, Powder is Powder and no longer does resort reviews that aren't commercial, Ski Press is dead, Skiing changes its ranking formats every 6 minutes, so you are the only game in town. But, not every skier out there is a "price is no object" skier. Nor a family skier. Nor a ripper, or a senior etc....

If I'm exactly in your reader demo, this works, because 4-10 grand for a trip is nothing. But I'm not in your reader demo. And I'm not in Skiing's, although I'm so glad the marmot crap is gone. I'm just an average 44 year old with 2 kids who loves ski trips but needs to consider price, snow, terrain for all levels, some nightlife, getting to the slopes without paying limo prices and such.

from skiandbeer on 12.12.09.

I'd just like to echo crashbiggs' comments somewhat - because I can't imaging trying to decipher the survey/ratings to plan a trip for a family, paticularly where 4-10 grand isn't an issue.

I moved to Colorado on purpose, and live within about an hour of Copper Mountain (less than half an hour communte to Denver). I'm not the most well-traveled skiier by a longshot having located myself in great ski country, so I can only comment on the survey from my knowledge.

And that gets me to my point. Without personal knowledge of the resorts, I don't know how one could gleen anything useful from the survey/ratings. I ski Copper, Winter Park and Steamboat every year, and frequently ski Keystone and Vail. The chart above makes sense based on my knowledge and likes/dislikes for each resort, but one wouldn't be able to understand anything I know based on the chart alone. In other words, what use is the chart, or the survey for that matter, if it doesn't provide any real information for skiers to learn about the resorts?

What would be more helpful, IMHO, to those trying to plan a trip or to expand their skiing experiences without emptying their bank account at complete risk of disappointment is to have lengthy, unbiased reviews of resorts from differerent perspectives. This would take time and effort through years of articles - but isn't that what readership should be able to expect from a publication?

I know that means you can't lump all resorts together and compare them directly - but who really wins in the survey/ratings currently provided? The resorts who can use it for marketing bragging rights. Certainly not the consumers - that is, other than those who for similar "bragging rights" need to have ski trips to the top-rated resorts because "price is no object" and image is everything.

In sum, I see then need to help the "crashbiggs" fathers out there who want to provide great skiing vacations for their families. Thus, I'm not asking for myself, as I can more than survive on my local Colorado skiing wonderland. Still, I might venture out if enticed by useful information.

I'm off - the base is finally here. Wish everyone an extra 6" of unexpected powder each time out this season - cheers!

from prasadhurpade on 5.27.10.

..although I have definitely had fun skiing there.

from mark hamby on 9.26.10.

Sun Valley is my favorite ski resort period. If I could only ski for a few days a year it would be here. Great fall lines, fantastic bumps, hard to get to so there are few people. Plus a great town. If I were to move from Bend, Oregon it would be to Ketchum.

Mark Hamby

from SkiGRRL7 on 2.25.11.

Um, you lost me there with the cruise ship. Did it have a ski run? @gbuofu--snow, terrain variety, and value might be all that matter to you, but not to everyone. I need a resort with a real town, not a canned one like you get at Vail and Beaver Creek, and I need fine ski-in/ski-out dining with a wine, beer, and full bar. Alta is a great mountain, and I love that it is not developed, but you don't have to develop a mountain to serve edible food, do you? They really need to hire a competent chef or something. Anything. We walked to Snowbird in hopes of finding it--zero, zilch, nada. It's why I prefer Europe where they strike a happy medium between civilization and wilderness experience without being bogus. The ski huts in many places, for example, have served mountain travelers for centuries who skied and hiked as part of their workaday world. So, they are very authentic. You can often spend the night and you can ski for days--in and out of little villages, from hut to hut, from region to region. And, if you are not up to it, you get the same amazing food and service within reach of your hotel, which is probably nestled in some cut little village, with real life going on. And the Europeans are better stewards of the land than American ski resort management companies, who are mainly in the business of real estate. They care little for the environment or the ambience that is lost with all those hideous condos.

from SkiGRRL7 on 2.25.11.

Regarding the East Coast, where I live, I am continually surprised to see that Waterville Valley is not on the list. At Waterville Valley you get great history (the Kennedy's made it their local mountain and it was the last place Bobbie skied before his assassination), the World Cup was there, it has great lessons and value, accessibility, and 4 of its runs made the top 99 gnarliest run list (True Grit--wicked steep, bumpy--try it on ice, and you see what I mean). The village of Waterville Valley is accessible by shuttle bus (5 minute ride) and it is very locally-owned. It is a wonderful place to learn, due to its Learn-to-Ski program and to advance due to its variety of intermediate slopes, from gentle to very challenging. It is a great mountain without a corporation to back it up, and I wonder if that explains why it is not making the cut. Waterville Valley did get mentioned in a magazine I saw recently (I can't remember the name of it--skier, skiing, whatever, some variation on the word "ski" (duh, LOL!).

from mfallen86 on 6.24.11.

Does anybody seriously claim that east coast skiing contends with west?

from SkiGRRL7 on 11.14.11.

East Coast skiing is tough. Conditions can be very unpredictable, so it is a good place to learn and earn your stripes. Blue ice doesn't even phase me. For the average New Englander, it is just another condition. And, there are a few places in Vermont to go for powder, like Jay Peak, which consistently has 300+ inches of dry and powdery snow annually. As for the overall ski experience, I prefer the ski culture on the East Coast. It isn't as pretentious and East Coasters are much better conversationalists. What can I say? I like meeting people. Talking to Westerners is like talking to a Stepford Wife. In the US, Vermont is my favorite place to ski because you get old mountain forested beauty that is free from boxstores and billboards, a commitment to sustainability, truly interesting people, as well as great local food and drink. Plus, it is close to home; My job, which allows me to fly West and to Europe to ski two or three times a year is on, you got it, the East Coast. Given the choice between Europe and the Western US I would rather go to Europe.

from SkiGRRL7 on 11.14.11.

Fake ski towns bug me.

from SkiGRRL7 on 11.14.11.

@Mark Hamby--I tried to "like" your comment but for some reason a "dislike" appeared when I clicked. Sorry about that. I like what you say about Sun Valley. NO CROWDS, beautiful terrain, and...history. I like resorts with a bit of history.

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