10 reasons we love skiing in the USA

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all! The SNO office is ready to tuck into the turkey and pumpkin pie, but for starters, we’re celebrating our favourite things about skiing in the big ol’ US of A.  From champagne powder and bluebird days to free cookies and cowboys, we have lots of reasons to thank our stateside SNO mates – three cheers for the top ten…

1 – Dreamy resort names

We’re taken to Nirvana just hearing of Heavenly and Spirit Mountain, while Solitude and Hidden Valley conjure images of blissful sanctuaries… Then there’s the warm and fuzzy feeling brought on by Moonlight Basin, Sundance and Sunrise Park. As for the likes of Buttermilk and Sugarloaf? Surely good enough to eat.

Heavenly: Corey Rich

2 – …and slogans

Across the pond there are some seriously inspirational taglines to put the wind in your sails. Get a load of Park City’s philosophical Time is Life and Vail’s celestial Like Nothing on Earth.  We love Beaver Creek’s honest Not Exactly Roughing it, but best of all (and don’t they know it) Breckenridge’s: The Perfect Mountain. The Perfect Town.

Breckenridge: Aaron Dodds

3 – So much sunshine…

If you yearn for bluebird days and goggle tans, Colorado and the California side of Lake Tahoe should turn the odds in your favour. Colorado averages 300 sunny days a year and California, well, people wax lyrical about the sun there. Nothing beats the views over a glittering Lake Tahoe. Just ask this guy:

South Tahoe

4 – …but still shedloads of snow

Let’s face it, one thing matters more than anything else: the white stuff. Good news, then, because there’s absolutely tonnes of it here! The quality isn’t too shabby either – Colorado’s legendary ‘champagne powder’ delivers some of the best skiing in the world.

Vail

 5 – Trail maps that make you smile

Did you know that Winter Park has Alice in Wonderland themed runs? If the beginner-friendly March Hare and Mad Tea Party runs don’t have you grinning, the intermediate White Rabbit, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee definitely will. There’s even a lift called Looking Glass. Jumping for joy yet?

Winter Park 

6 – Genuine Cowboy Towns

If skiing’s your passion and John Wayne’s your hero, look no further than Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Once a cowboy ranch, its heritage’s still clearly visible. Hang your Stetson on the door of your log cabin, and head out for a dosey-doe in the legendary Million Dollar Cowboy Bar.

Jackson Hole’s Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

7 – Awesome parks

There’s a reason the USA won the most freestyle skiing & snowboarding medals at the winter Olympics. These are the parks baby snowparks want to be when they grow up. In the words of Olympian & four time British halfpipe champ, Dom Harrington: “Breckenridge definitely has one of the best snow parks in the world”. We beg not to differ.

Breckenridge: Zack Black

8 – Glorious groomers

These resorts are mighty proud of their corduroy pistes – none more than Vail, where tending to 1200 acres every night lets them claim the best grooming in the world. Meanwhile, the A-List clientele of Aspen are often preoccupied grooming themselves (or their Shih Tzu’s at Barking Beauties Dog Spa…), so if their special “grooming report” gives the go-ahead, the piste’s all yours.

Aspen

9 – All that backcountry

Though flawlessly manicured pistes are second to none, sometimes there’s nothing better than taking to the wild. The rugged American landscape’s one of the best for backcountry and the safest too – it’s smattered with lift-serviced zones, which include manned gates and patrols.  Jackson Hole even puts on a safety clinic, for maximum piste-of-mind.

Jackson Hole

10 – Sweet Treats

The best things in life are free – or sugary sweet. Knowing a winning combination when they see one, Beaver Creek declares the afternoon ‘Cookie Time’, giving out free chocolate chip cookies at the bottom of the main lift. You’re more about the mallow? Satisfy the sweet tooth at Winter Park’s ‘S’mores By The Fire’ evenings.

Beaver Creek

Of course the list goes on – if anything springs to mind that we haven’t mentioned, join the parade in the comments below!

Happy Thanksgiving!