A lesser-known vacation rental company dug deep into climate and snowfall data, lift ticket prices, and more to rank the top 100 ski resorts in the country. Which U.S. ski resort is the best? Hint: There’s no wrong answer.
Which ski resort is the best? This is a highly subjective question. Maybe it’s the one with the easiest access from your hometown, or maybe it’s the one with the biggest snowfall, best terrain park, or your favorite on your pass. We can all argue overall “best” — countless publications have already done so.
But vacation rental company Koala is taking a new approach, leaning more on climate and snowfall data, and using physical data to come up with its American Ski Index list.
Specifically, Koala scored the resorts based on length of runs, number of ski lifts, ski pass price, online review score, number of Instagram hashtags, last year’s snowfall total, and the average November-to-April temps.
Below are the top 10. See the entire top 100 list.
The Best Ski Resorts in the US
- Park City, Utah
- Vail Resort, Colorado
- Winter Park, Colorado
- Breckenridge, Colorado
- Big Sky Resort, Montana
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming
- Snowmass, Colorado
- Telluride, Colorado
- Keystone Resort, Colorado
- Mount Baker, Washington
Do you agree with the rankings? Which ones surprised you? Let us know in the comments below.
Our staff in Denver was pretty happy to see six of the top 10 resorts are in Colorado. Of course, there are lots of top-ranked resorts in other states as well that we’d be happy to rip at. (We’re looking at you, Jackson Hole.)
Of course, in a pandemic and world with travel restrictions, there are fewer opportunities for traveling in search of pow. And looking ahead to a ski season with operating and masks restrictions, we’re going to stand by our first instinct.
So, which U.S. ski resort is the best? The one closest to you.
