Best Ski Resorts in United States

The United States has 960 ski areas with 9,674 km of mapped downhill runs and 3,286 lifts. That puts it #1 of 73 skiing countries by number of resorts and #1 by kilometres of slopes, with 18.7% of all mapped slopes in the world. The average ski area has about 19.4 km of runs.

Biggest ski resorts in the United States

The largest ski areas are Park City Mountain Resort (256 km), Big Sky Resort (238 km), Vail (215 km), Deer Valley Resort (183 km) and Beaver Creek (167 km). Together these 5 hold 11% of the country's slopes. By size, 45 resorts have 50 km or more of runs, 174 mid-sized areas have 10–50 km and 741 smaller ski hills have under 10 km — most skiing here happens on local hills close to towns.

Slopes and difficulty

Across all resorts, 25% of the slopes are beginner or easy, 44% intermediate and 31% advanced or expert — plenty of challenging terrain for strong skiers. At least 206 km of runs are mapped with snowmaking. Cross-country skiers will find 7,546 km of nordic trails.

Where to ski in the United States

The highest skiing is at Breckenridge, up to 3,910 m, followed by Loveland Basin Ski Area (3,866 m). The longest vertical drop — 1,372 m — is at Timberline Lodge Ski Area. Most slopes are in Colorado (60 areas, 1,883 km), Utah (26 areas, 1,126 km) and Vermont (56 areas, 772 km).